COLUMBIA, SC – Today the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce released its annual 2020 Legislative Scorecard and announced that 53 legislators will receive recognition as “Business Champions” or “Business Advocates” based on their 2020 voting record.

Each legislative session, the Chamber tracks roll call votes on key business issues and tallies them in the Legislative Scorecard to determine an overall score for each member of the General Assembly. This year, the Chamber’s Scorecard focuses on votes including COVID-19 liability protection for businesses acting in good faith, Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund funding, broadband expansion, tax reform, and attainable workforce housing.

For the 2020 legislative session, the SC Chamber recognized six “Business Champions” who earned a perfect score of 100% (three Senators and three Representatives), and 47 “Business Advocates” who earned a score between 90% and 99% (17 Senators and 30 Representatives), for their support of pro-jobs, business-friendly policies that keep South Carolina’s economy growing.

“This year put never-before-seen pressure on our state’s business community and legislators were called upon to enact policies that supported small businesses and jobs.” said SC Chamber President and CEO Ted Pitts. “The legislators on this list showed dedication to passing legislation that will help business recover in both the short and long term. The SC Chamber appreciates their efforts and thanks them for their work to implement policies that will save business time and money while protecting jobs.”

“Business Champions” in the S.C. Senate (score of 100% on the 2020 Legislative Scorecard) include:

• Senator Thomas Alexander
• Senator Ronnie Cromer
• Senator Harvey Peeler

“Business Advocates” in the S.C. Senate (score of 90% to 99% on the 2020 Legislative Scorecard) include:

• Senator Sean Bennett
• Senator Paul Campbell
• Senator Chip Campsen
• Senator Wes Climer
• Senator Tom Corbin
• Senator Greg Gregory
• Senator Larry Grooms
• Senator Hugh Leatherman
• Senator Dwight Loftis
• Senator Shane Massey
• Senator Floyd Nicholson
• Senator Glenn Reese
• Senator John Scott
• Senator Nikki Setzler
• Senator Katrina Shealy
• Senator Ross Turner
• Senator Tom Young

“Business Champions” in the S.C. House (score of 100% on the 2020 Legislative Scorecard) include:

• Representative Cal Forrest
• Representative Jay Jordan
• Representative Russell Ott

“Business Advocates” in the S.C. House (score of 90% to 99% on the 2020 Legislative Scorecard) include:

• Representative Rita Allison
• Representative Lucas Atkinson
• Representative Bart Blackwell
• Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter
• Representative Bobby Cox
• Representative Heather Ammons Crawford
• Representative Chandra Dillard
• Representative Jason Elliott
• Representative Laurie Funderburk
• Representative Craig Gagnon
• Representative Doug Gilliam
• Representative Patrick Haddon
• Representative Pat Henegan
• Representative Davey Hiott
• Representative Chip Huggins
• Representative Joe Jefferson
• Representative Roger Kirby
• Representative Randy Ligon
• Representative Tim McGinnis
• Representative Weston Newton
• Representative Tommy Pope
• Representative Leola Robinson
• Representative Bill Sandifer
• Representative Gary Simrill
• Representative Eddie Tallon
• Representative Ashely Trantham
• Representative Jay West
• Representative Bill Whitmire
• Representative Mark Willis
• Representative Chris Wooten