Responses to Gov. Haley’s State of State address

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Gov. Nikki Haley gave her second State of the State speech Wednesday evening. A look at some lawmakers’ responses:

—House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston:

“Most of her reforms were thing that had roots in the House. Most of these things are things that the House has done or that we are significantly down the road in accomplishing.”

—House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham, R-Cayce, who liked Haley’s get-tough approach to the federal government:

“I think we’re going to stand strong as a state when we think federal government intrusion is coming. If we believe the federal government or anybody is overstepping their bounds, we’re going to fight for what we believe in. That’s just part of our culture and part of our heritage.”

—Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg:

“I heard a lot of rhetoric that does not match the reality of my constituents and working middle-class people in South Carolina — a lot of red meat to the base. Like union bashing, like bashing of the Obama administration’s plan for health care coverage, like talking about tax relief; but no raises for state employees.”

—Rep. Leon Howard, D-Columbia:

“I didn’t hear anything that would cause me to have hope in South Carolina with the unemployment rate being near 10 percent. All I heard was a partisan political speech — a speech that trashed President Obama and his administration and a speech that said if you don’t agree with me, you’re wrong.”

—Rep. Dan Hamilton, R-Taylors, called the speech “a positive look at what we’ve actually accomplished in a year and a positive look forward” and praised the emphasis on tax changes:

“That’s something that we do feel like the time has come for and are looking forward to working with her and having her put some muscle behind our efforts her in the General Assembly.”

—Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney:

“We all must agree, she is laser focused on job creation. Not since Gov. Carroll Campbell have we had such a great salesman for South Carolina.”

—Rep. Joe Neal, D-Hopkins:

“What she put forward was a recipe for disaster as far as political work is concerned — very extreme from my point of view. It sounded good, but the practical realities of it are not realistic.”