You’ve seen the ads. You’ve received the mail. You’ve probably even been bothered during dinner with the phone calls. A big Election Day is right around the corner.

This is one of the most important elections in recent history. Conservatives have a chance to take back Congress and we have the opportunity to elect a true reformer as our next Governor. But those aren’t the only items on the November 2nd ballot. There are four very important statewide ballot referendums that you need to know about.

Amendment 1:

Must Article I of the Constitution of this State, relating to the declaration of rights under the state’s constitution, be amended by adding Section 25 so as to provide that hunting and fishing are valuable parts of the state’s heritage, important for conservation, and a protected means of managing non-threatened wildlife; to provide that the citizens of South Carolina shall have the right to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife traditionally pursued, subject to laws and regulations promoting sound wildlife conservation and management as prescribed by the General Assembly; and to specify that this section must not be construed to abrogate any private property rights, existing state laws or regulations, or the state’s sovereignty over its natural resources?

That’s a lot of words to say something as simple as “we need to protect our hunting and fishing rights.” As DNR Director John Frampton recently said, there are “radical anti-hunting and animal-rights activists” with a “radical agenda under the guise of wider gun-control laws.” He’s right. There are plenty of out-of-touch liberals who continuously threatening our gun rights. This year the attack was on dove hunting, which spurred the passage of this law. We are holding strong and protecting your 2nd Amendment gun rights. I urge you to vote YES on Amendment #1.

Amendment 2:

Must Article II of the Constitution of this State, relating to the right of suffrage, be amended by adding Section 12 so as to provide that the fundamental right of an individual to vote by secret ballot is guaranteed for a designation, a selection, or an authorization for employee representation by a labor organization?

I’m proud to say that this is a bill I championed and pushed through the State Senate to guarantee the right to a secret ballot in union elections. Union bosses and their friends in Congress are trying to pass something called the Employee Free Choice Act. If the bill were to become law, unions could organize a workplace simply by persuading a majority of workers to sign authorizations, a very intimidating process commonly known as “card check.” Under card check, there would be no subsequent secret-ballot election – and no chance for management to present its case as to what unionizing might mean to the workplace and employees’ futures. After seeing what’s happened to Detroit and our nation’s automobile industry, I’m sure that you agree with me – the last thing we need are more unions in South Carolina. Even if you don’t agree that we need to fight union formation, I’m sure you agree that everyone is entitled to vote by secret ballot.

By voting YES to Amendment #2, you are creating a constitutional amendment that guarantees the right to a secret-ballot election, fighting back against union intimidation and protecting our state’s right-to-work status.

Amendment 3:

Must Section 36(A), Article III of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to increase from three to five percent in increments of one-half of one percent over four fiscal years the amount of state general fund revenue in the latest completed fiscal year required to be held in the General Reserve Fund?

Amendment 4:

Must Section 36(B), Article III of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to provide that monies from the Capital Reserve Fund first must be used, to the extent necessary, to fully replenish the applicable percentage amount in the General Reserve Fund?

As you can see, the last two amendments are very similar. I supported these two bills and I ask you to do the same because we have to fix the hire and fire, boom and bust, cycles that our state has suffered through recently. Right now the state spends freely when times are good and tax dollars are flowing into state coffers. When we hit tough economic times we are forced to cut all the way down into the bone, laying off teachers and police officers and slashing essential services. This trend must stop now.

Amendments 3 and 4 allow us to create a “rainy day fund.” In essence, its like the savings account most of us have. We all know better than to go out and spend every dime we make. That’s why we store money in some sort of savings account to help us make it through the tough times. The state of South Carolina needs to be doing the same exact thing because it’s the fiscally conservative way to act and it will stop liberals from trying to push tax hikes through the General Assembly.

I hope you will vote YES on all four constitutional amendments on the November 2nd ballot. If you have any more questions, feel free to email me at Harvey@harveypeeler.com.