Contacted Tuesday, board secretary Willie Jeffries, the former longtime head coach of South Carolina State University’s football team and who was appointed to the board in 2010, told The Nerve he was offered state health benefits by the Ports Authority early on during his board tenure. But he said he turned it down because he already receives state retiree health benefits as a former educator.
“If I took it (the Ports Authority’s offer), I would have to pay it,” he said, adding the quoted full-monthly premium then was $300.
Jeffries said the Ports Authority board is a part-time panel, meeting once a month.
Besides Jeffries and Stern, other voting board members include vice-chairman David Posek, treasurer Kurt Grindstaff, Whitemarsh Smith, Pamela Lackey, William (Wes) Jones, Kenneth Jackson and Mark Buyck. Christy Hall and Bobby Hitt, who head the state departments of Transportation and Commerce, respectively, serve as non-voting board members.
In Santee Cooper’s case, PEBA allowed ineligible board members to continue receiving state health benefits through the end of this year, contending it didn’t want to impose an “undue hardship” on those members, according to an August email from PEBA to Santee Cooper, a copy of which was provided to The Nerve.
Most members of the 12-member Santee Cooper Board of Directors each reported receiving $9,999.60 in annual compensation last year as a board member, plus $2,000 in “travel, insurance and meeting reimbursement,” their annual income-disclosure statements show.
Board members are appointed by the governor after candidates are found qualified by a 10-member, legislatively controlled committee that exerts considerable authority over the regulation of utilities in South Carolina. The Santee Cooper board is supposed to be advised by a separate panel made up of five elected state officials: the governor, attorney general, comptroller general, treasurer and secretary of state.
The Nerve revealed in 2018 that the advisory panel raised no concerns about the failed $9 billion V.C. Summer nuclear project, in which Santee Cooper and then-South Carolina Electric & Gas were partners.
By law, the state health-insurance system not only covers state and local government agencies, but also a variety of other groups, including regional tourism-promotion commissions, regional councils of government, special-purpose districts, government employee organizations and legislative caucus committees.
A separate state budget proviso allows State Transportation Infrastructure Bank (STIB) board members and S.C. Lottery commissioners to participate in the state health plan by paying the full premium.
Budget provisos are in effect for one year and are not considered permanent state law, but the proviso dealing with STIB board members and lottery commissioners has been annually renewed by lawmakers for at least 19 fiscal years, records show.
Brundrett is the news editor of The Nerve (www.thenerve.org). Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org. Follow him on Twitter @RickBrundrett. Follow The Nerve on Facebook and Twitter @thenervesc.
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State health benefits offered to another part-time governing board - The Nerve
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