By Donna Isbell Walker And David Dykes

President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address outlined policies that could be beneficial to small businesses in South Carolina, said Frank Knapp, president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce.

“The labor shortage is the No. 1 issue facing small businesses,” Knapp said, adding that Biden’s proposed cap on child care costs could help bring women with children back into the workforce.

Biden’s proposed extension of the child tax credit would help women who have left the workforce because during the pandemic because of the escalating costs of child care, so “capping child care costs would be big,” Knapp said. 

Immigration reform, especially providing a path to citizenship for Dreamers and other undocumented immigrants, could ease the labor shortage, Knapp said.

“We have a demographic stagnation,” he said. “We are not producing the numbers of people we need to be working.”

Even if everyone currently receiving unemployment benefits went back to work, there would still be thousands of open positions in South Carolina businesses, Knapp said. Part of that is due to the numbers of women who simply left the workforce due to child care concerns but who are not receiving unemployment benefits.

Health insurance costs are another factor that is affecting small businesses in the state, Knapp said. Biden’s proposal to cut the cost of prescription drugs and allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices of prescriptions would help stem the rising cost of health care and health insurance, he said.

While Knapp sees positive implications for South Carolina in Biden’s speech, the others were less upbeat about the president’s proposals.

“With all due respect to President Biden, we’re not going to be okay unless we adjust our policies,” GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., tweeted. “We’re not going to be okay unless we change course on the border, return to energy independence, retake our streets from criminals, and show stronger resolve in the face of evil.”

Republican Congressman William Timmons, who represents South Carolina’s 4th District, took aim at such issues as immigration and crime.

“Our nation is in a state of self-inflicted crisis that has escalated into global catastrophe,” Timmons tweeted. “Americans are paying more for just about everything, the crisis at our border is only getting worse, our energy independence has been severely compromised, crime is skyrocketing, our allies no longer trust us, and our enemies no longer fear us.

“Tonight I did not hear anything new to address these pressing issues. Instead, Biden doubled down on his same failed progressive policies.”

Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a Republican who represents South Carolina’s 1st District, praised the “optimism” she heard in Biden’s speech, and expressed hope that the two parties could “meet in the middle.”

But Mace also criticized Biden’s immigration policies. 

“To fix the flow of illegal drugs, we have to fix the border,” Mace tweeted. “Fixing the border means not allowing 2 million migrants to cross the border illegally in record numbers.”

Congressman Tom Rice, who represents the 7th District, criticized the president’s policies on immigration and energy, as well as his approach to the economy.

“Biden’s war on American energy has consequences,” Rice tweeted. “His anti-energy agenda has caused gas prices to hit an eight-year high.”

Meanwhile, several Clemson University professors, and others from South Carolina colleges such as the College of Charleston, The Citadel, Charleston Southern, Anderson University and Wofford College, were among 373 economists from universities, think tanks and businesses across the country who were listed in The Wall Street Journal March 1, 2022, as denouncing Biden's Build Back Better agenda. 

Biden priorities as part of that stalled plan, according to The Journal, include cutting the cost of prescription drugs, reducing energy costs and lowering the cost of child care.

They disagree the agenda will alleviate some of the strain caused by inflation and, in fact, would increase inflation, increase the federal debt, reduce the number of people working, badly misallocate capital and hobble economic growth. 

“President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda is wrong for America,” they said.