MYRTLE BEACH (WPDE) -- A bus full of more than 60 Tea Party Members and republicans from the Grand Strand and Pee Dee are heading to Columbia, SC Monday. Their mission: to clearly tell their state senators their displeasure with the senate's current districting plan."I think we will be heard," Myrtle Beach Tea Party Chairman Joe Dugan said.
RIght now Horry County is in the first district,a plan passed by the South Carolina House of Representatives would put Horry County along with Georgetown County and several counties in the Pee Dee in the new seventh district. However senate plans released Friday do not put all of Horry County in the new district.
One plan keeps the county in the first district, another puts all of Horry County except Myrtle Beach and the southern part of the county along the coast in the new district.
Dugan says the group will attend a senate public hearing Monday to demand senators put Horry County and many counties in the Pee Dee, including Florence County, in the new seventh district.
The House and Senate have to both agree on a plan that will be sent to Governor Nikki Haley for approval, then to the federal government for their OK.
Dugan says Horry County is more deserving of the new congressional district than other counties.
"Absolutely. You look at the tax dollars that we contribute to the state, you look at our population growth and we don't get a chance to do that again for another decade," he said.
If you would like to join the group going to Columbia, you can e-mail Tea Party organizer Gerri McDaniel at geekgirl2u@gmail.com.
(This report courtesy WPDE and CarolinaLive.com)
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