Blue in a Sea of Red - Beth Bernstein

Grace [: 00:00:00

Hi, it's Grace Cowan and this is Frogmore Stew.

Beth [: 00:00:13

It's not just the general election now that you need to be involved and make sure that you're voting. Right. Because in the primary, the most active vocal minority group are the ones that are voting.

Grace [: 00:00:30

Beth Bernstein has served Richland County as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives since 2012. She's a Democrat and a female in a sea of Republican men, but she's learned to navigate the waters of a red state as a blue female really, really well. She's a moderate and a true advocate for the people of her district. She loves Schoolhouse Rock and she has an identical twin sister. Today we'll talk about the all male Supreme Court, of course the abortion debate, and why the more than 50 percent of women that live in the state are okay with an 85 percent male legislature.

you so much for asking. So in: 2012

Beth [00:01:26]

It's interesting. So in: 2012

And I really, when I decided to run, which was something that I never thought I would ever do, I mean, I think women around my age and older never really thought about going into political office like now my daughters and future generations of women, I think, are growing up to believe that they could be president of the United States.

eard, but let me get back, so: 2012

I really went full on. It was a family decision and the district, while it Reed or I consider myself a very moderate Democrat, and I think that appealed to my district and it's also who I am. I think moderation is just in every aspect of your life. You don't want to drink too much. You don't want to, you know, you don't want to be too much on the right or too much on the left. Whatever it is. I'm pretty much in the center, you know Definitely have values that are democratic and that's why I will always be in the Democratic Party but I do think it's necessary to be able to work with all people and that's kind of what I've done since I've been elected. In 2012, we were the only Democratic pickup seat. So our number was 46 at that time. Now we're 36. Now you're 36.

Grace [: 00:03:42

Yeah. So let's talk about your district. There are about 42, 000 voters in your district. And it's the interesting thing when you look at the actual numbers of voters. On an election year, it looked like there were about 13, 000 total voters. And in a non election year, There were about 6, 000 total voters, which really speaks to the fact that representative government isn't always truly representative because not everyone is participating.

Beth [: 00:04:09

We do have voter apathy, and we also don't have people coming out in the primary. And what I've tried to emphasize when I talk to groups or talk to people is It's not just the general election now that you need to be involved and make sure that your voting is probably more important right now for the primary election, right?

Because the way the districts are drawn right now in South Carolina is not unique. They're drawn to favor Republicans. But I want to be fair, there are Democratic states where they're drawn to favor Democrats, but In this state, they're clearly drawn to favor the Republican majority. So in the primary, the most active, vocal minority group are the ones that are voting.

You could have 2, 000 people elect the Republican candidate, getting the most extreme Republican. And so the one who's going to win in that primary is going to be who wins in the general. And that is not reflective of probably their particular district and South Carolina but is dictating what we're doing up at the legislature, how we debate issues, how we work together, so many facets.

Grace [: 00:05:30

And it's also not to vote straight ticket, right, is to, to do some research because Your, your party may not always represent you. And so it's so important to actually know the candidate you're voting for instead of just hitting an R or D at the voting booth.

Beth [: 00:05:46

Exactly. It's interesting because there was an effort at one time, there were some members when I was first elected who were filing bills to make sure that you can't do straight ticket voting.

I felt like when I voted in: 2020

Grace [00:06:26]

Yeah, I also feel like picking one team, whether it's the R's or the D's and just voting straight party ticket. I mean, that's some of national politics bleeding into our state. It's that tribalism. And that gives us what we have now in the State House and the State Senate.

This is a little State House 101. Can you do a walkthrough of the process from the idea of a law that should be passed to it actually getting passed and signed and turned into law?

Beth [: 00:06:54

Absolutely. I'm happy to talk about that. I mean, it is a difficult process. And I guess it should be difficult because we don't want bad laws being passed either.

I always direct people to that PBS infomercial that we had when we were growing up on just a lonely bill on Capitol Hill. The process is, you work with legislative council or a judiciary committee or one of the committees at the House, you craft the bill, you get it filed, and it is nice to have a lot of sponsors bipartisan to it.

Can't expect, especially in the Democratic minority, to have all Democrats on a bill and expect it to be passed because, you know, everything takes bipartisanship, I think, except in a supermajority when they don't need us, which we have now. So it's a small percentage of bills that really make it to the governor's desk. And then, you know, the governor can always refuse to sign it as well. It's important, though, that it's not too easy to have bills passed because we'll have a lot of bad bills.

Grace [: 00:07:59

The reason that I'm asking you about this is because I think part of the apathy of voters is it's so complicated, like, that's part of why we started this podcast is to help people follow that process and understand what is actually going on at the State House because you read the paper, it's just headlines and national issues bleeding into state politics.

Beth [: 00:08:21

Right. And I don't think people realize how much it does affect them until it's an issue like abortion. In the House, we have what's called a super majority. We have more Republicans overwhelmingly, two thirds majority. So out of the 124 House members, 88 are Republicans and 36 are Democrats. The implications of that are they don't really need us to pass any legislation.

Grace [: 00:08:50

Right. And so essentially what that becomes is one party rule of everything, right? Because all of the top elected officials in our state, the governor, the attorney general, it's a full red docket of how the state is run. And then what happens in the house and the Senate, because the Senate's close to a super majority, is that it becomes a battle not between Democrats and Republicans, but a battle between moderates and far right. And so then you just wind up somewhere in the middle of extreme and moderate, which isn't really beneficial to the 49 percent of Democrats that live in the state.

Beth [: 00:09:27

Pointed that out beautifully, and the most extreme positions are the ones that are successful the way the house makeup is right now, because Going to an earlier conversation we had because of the primary election that a more moderate Republican does not want to be primaried, lose a primary to a more conservative opponent. Right. So it makes them go more to the right and. It, it affects all of us in South Carolina, whether you're a Republican, Democrat. It, it affects everybody. I mean, gerrymandering creates these very safe districts that people don't feel like they have to represent the entire district, but just a very, very small, vocal minority of that district and that's not what service and serving an office is about or should be about.

Grace [: 00:10:22

Realistically, if you look at the total state numbers, there are more Republicans statewide Then there are Democrats, but not by that much. I think when you look at it on presidential election year, maybe there are 3 million voters and there's a difference of about 200, 000 between Democrats and Republicans, which means that there are a lot of people in the state, almost half that aren't really being represented in our government in the way that they should be.

And that brings me to women. So out of our state legislature, the House and the Senate. 15 percent are women, and in the state, 52 percent of us are women. We're literally not being represented to our fullest capacity in the state legislature. And I believe that's why things are getting passed, like the abortion legislation, that I still can't believe that passed.

Beth [: 00:11:19

And that's why it's so important for women to get more involved, put themselves out there. Doesn't necessarily mean you have to run for office, but being on boards. If we don't have a seat at the table, how are we ever going to have our voice? That's right. I'm going to go ahead and say that, uh, we have a lot of women in this state who are really underrepresented in this state.

As you pointed out, we have more women than men in this state, but in the legislature, the men are making the decisions for all of them. And they've lost sight of what, you know, what's going on. Women in the state really want by using your example of abortion, but even open carry, you know, gun safety legislation is not passing in South Carolina, which I believe like 93, 94 percent of South Carolinians want some kind of credible background check, even when you're dealing not with just abortion, but even when you're dealing with gun safety, we're lacking in enacting really common sense, smart legislation to protect our citizens.

Grace [: 00:12:26

Well, it feels like women were hoodwinked. The state Supreme Court voted on the issue of abortion when there was a female member and when she had to retire because she'd reached the age that required her to, she was replaced by a man and then they immediately overturned what they'd just passed.

Beth [: 00:12:42

It was effectively the same bill that was found to be unconstitutional in January, and then that decision came out June, July. It was found to be okay, because the makeup changed by one person, and you're right. It's glaring when you look at the Supreme Court, and right now we have Only one African American judge, and he's about to retire.

So, it'll be interesting to see what's going to happen to the makeup of the Supreme Court. But clearly, I feel like that there was a pressure out there because the majority of the numbers felt like they had to vote for the abortion bill.

Grace [: 00:13:21

People are afraid to get primaried, right? So, This is one of those issues where a very small portion believes in the extreme law that we have, but they're the ones that vote in the primary. And so even though we are a state made up of nearly 52 percent women, we are the only state to have an all male state Supreme Court, which also it means we are not being represented in how the laws are being perceived according to our constitution, which that to me seems outlandish.

Beth [: 00:13:52

Exactly. And we have more women than men who are graduating from law schools. But we don't have that female representation on the judiciary, like we should. Most of the female members of the judiciary happen to be in family court, which is fine. But sure, it doesn't mean that just because you're a woman, that's the only. area of expertise that you can have. I remember my uncle who, when I graduated from law school, I mean, he just assumed that I would go into the, you know, family law, do domestic work, which I've never done and don't have an interest in it. But that was that old school kind of thinking because he was an older generation. where there are very few women who are even graduating. So I think that's interesting that we do have more female lawyers coming out, but we really could do a better job of electing more female judges, particularly on the state Supreme Court. Obviously, that's the most clearing example.

Grace [: 00:14:52

There were two other things that I think are pressing. That hate crime is one, and then the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, how that's going to affect public schools. So, Let's start with the hate crimes bill. I know that this is your passion and Particularly what's going on in the world right now. This is a critical bill Where is it? And what do you think the holdup has been?

Beth [: 00:15:17

So we have passed the bill in the house, which is remarkable and I'm thankful But we have a handful of senators who have put an objection on the bill, and so it's being prevented from being debated on the Senate floor. And I can't give any rational reason why we should not enact this legislation.

We're only one of two states in the nation that does not have some form of hate crime bill on its books. And also because we have endured and overcome the gracefulness of the families of those victims of the manual nine, which is one of the worst hate crimes in this nation. And we continue to fail to pass this legislation.

I mean, I can give you some of the reasons. But they're not sound reasons, because they're saying it's going to somehow curb free speech, or a preacher on a Sunday morning isn't going to be able to talk about gay marriage, or the LGBTQ community, or whatever it may be. But it has nothing to do with free speech concerns.

It is a crime. That is, the victim is chosen just because of that victim's race, religion, gender, whatever it may be that characteristic that defines that person. And that's why the victim is chosen, not because it's just somebody who's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Right. And what's happening right now in Israel, as the only Jewish American member of the South Carolina General Assembly, I mean, it's scary what we are seeing as a result of what's happening in Israel, and I think now more than ever is the time that we should enact this legislation, and it is very personal for me, and it's very personal for so many members in, I'll tell you, an instant here that we had flyers put out in the neighborhoods here in Richland County that talked about promoting Nazism, kind of like, you know, Hitler was right.

That happened in Mount Pleasant about a month ago. While those might not be per se hate crimes, it's showing that that could escalate into a crime. They're getting more comfortable being able to, To be out to the forefront.

Grace [: 00:17:40

Yeah. And those flyers are kindling. Those are the, the little pieces that start the bigger fire and then it turns into an explosion.

Beth [: 00:17:48

I love the way you said that.

Grace [: 00:17:49

Okay. The education Scholarship Trust Fund, Just to explain what that is, is it's money that follows the kids. So for every child in public school system in South Carolina, there's a formula that determines how much money that child receives. And it changes over time, like kindergarteners get more money, if you're in a Title I school you get more money. So, the way that this bill is written is that that money will then follow the student if you choose to put that student into a private school, and that would go toward tuition.

Beth [: 00:18:21

That is right. You know, I'm glad you highlighted this new law, because it was something that I did not support. We're saying, okay, our public schools aren't good, so let's bolster these private schools and send people to private schools without addressing the problem of our public schools. So we should not be shifting the resources away from our public schools.

It's also important to note that the money that's going to the private schools, you don't have the oversight like you do in the public schools. Right. The oversight is not there. So we could really start seeing these different private schools just opening up just to take care of This money that's being given by the state and they have no oversight and really then our kids really aren't being educated.

Grace [: 00:19:07

Will you please come back another time because I feel like there are 20 other things.

Beth [: 00:19:12

There's so many issues Yes, I would be delighted to thank you. Thank you for inviting me. This was great.

Grace [: 00:19:18

You're such a great resource in our state legislature. So I feel like we have a lot to learn from you. Thank you. That's all this stew for today. Talk to you next week,

The Frogmore Stew Podcast with Grace Cowan is produced and directed by TJ Phillips with the Podcast Solutions Network.