Beyond Policy

Before the 2026 legislative session begins, Dr. Oran Smith presents a deep-dive tax policy briefing examining how South Carolina raises revenue—where we stand among our neighbors, and where reform opportunities exist. This briefing explains how federal conformity affects our tax code, how income tax rates influence our state’s competitiveness, and what policymakers should consider regarding sales,...

Before the 2026 legislative session starts, Dr. Oran Smith presents a deep dive into one of South Carolina’s most pressing challenges: access to affordable, high-quality healthcare—especially in rural communities. Using national comparisons, workforce statistics, and regulatory insights, his briefing walks listeners through the current scope-of-practice debate surrounding advanced practice registe...

Before the 2026 legislative session kicks off, our team has prepared a series of policy briefings on some of the most important issues the South Carolina General Assembly will face in 2026. Palmetto Promise’s Director of Education Policy Ryan Dellinger takes the outlines trends lawmakers should watch, opportunities for reform, and the policy choices that could better serve students and families in...

In this episode of Beyond Policy, Victoria Avramovic, Executive Director of the North Carolina Innovation Council, discusses the dynamic landscape of innovation in North Carolina, particularly in the fintech sector and with the state’s new regulatory sandbox program. She highlights the importance of collaboration between public and private sectors, the role of regulatory flexibility in fostering i...

This very special episode of Beyond Policy features a roundtable discussion focused on the energy landscape in South Carolina, highlighting the state's growth, the challenges faced by the nuclear energy sector, and the importance of energy in both economic development and national defense. We were pleased to be joined by a very distinguished panel: Congresswoman Sheri Biggs (SC-03), Dr. Jody L...

We are joined this week on Beyond Policy by a very special guest, Palmetto Promise alum Lawson Mansell. He is a health policy analyst with the Niskanen Center in Washington DC, where he specializes in supply-side health care solutions. Dr. Smith and Mansell discuss opportunities for healthcare freedom and deregulation in South Carolina, especially surrounding transparency in healthcare billing and...

Rick Todd – How South Carolina’s Unfair Tort Laws Hurt All Industries, Not Just Bars  In this episode of the Beyond Policy podcast, Rick Todd of the South Carolina Trucking Association discusses the complexities of the trucking industry in South Carolina, including its evolution, the life of truck drivers, and the impact South Carolina’s unfair civil liability laws have on the industry. Trucking c...

On this second episode of Season 2 of Beyond Policy, Palmetto Promise Institute’s Dr. Oran Smith interviews economist Zachary Cady of The Buckeye Institute. Palmetto Promise and Buckeye recently released an economic impact analysis of the 2025 personal income tax reform bill proposed by Republican leaders in South Carolina, which would move the state’s highest-in-the-region personal income tax rat...

Welcome to a new season and another episode of the Beyond Policy podcast with your host, Dr. Oran Smith of Palmetto Promise Institute. In this episode, Oran is joined by Pete Sepp, President of the National Taxpayers Union and the NTU Foundation, to discuss two pressing issues in South Carolina: energy freedom and tax reform. Sepp emphasizes the critical role of energy in the Palmetto State econom...

Welcome to another episode of The Beyond Policy Podcast with your host, Oran Smith. In this episode, we are joined by a special guest, Josh Archambault, as we dive deep into the topic of healthcare reform and explore solutions beyond policy. During the episode, we discuss various aspects of the broken healthcare system, acknowledging that Medicaid is just one piece of the puzzle. We question wheth...

This week, we are thrilled to have Patrick Gleason, a prominent figure from the organization Americans for Tax Reform and a distinguished contributor to Forbes. As one of the nation's leading voices on tax policy, Patrick will be diving deep into the vast and complicated subject of tax reform. We are entering a new era in the United States, where significant policy reform is increasingly shift...

In this week's episode, we have a captivating conversation with a special guest, Dr. Shaunette Parker, from the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, Inc. Dr. Parker is a remarkable advocate for the newly passed Education Savings Account (ESA) bill in South Carolina. Her unwavering dedication and influential voice played a pivotal role in the bill's successful passage. Join us as we...

Welcome to the Beyond Policy Podcast! In this week's episode, we are thrilled to have Diane Hardy, a remarkable guest and symbol of the Palmetto Promise. Diane's journey from a dual degree holder in psychology and nursing to becoming an entrepreneur and advocate for small businesses is truly inspiring. Diane opened the Nothing Bunt Cakes Bakery in Greenville seven years ago, and she has ex...

Join us for an enlightening episode of Beyond Policy as we welcome Wendy Damron, the trailblazing President and CEO of Palmetto Promise Institute, a non-profit organization devoted to crafting policies that foster freedom, opportunity, and prosperity for real people in the Palmetto State. In this compelling conversation, Damron and our host, Dr. Oran Smith, delve into two transformational wins for...

This week, we are excited to have C. Bradley Thompson, the Executive Director of the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism and Professor in the Department of Political Science, as our guest. In this episode, we discuss the Lyceum program at Clemson University and how it’s helping students become more informed citizens. We also explore the effects of socialism and communism, and how capital...

In this episode, we dive into the world of thoughtful conservatism and its intersection with religion and liberty with our guest, Mark David Hall, PhD. Mark David Hall is Herbert Hoover Distinguished Professor of Politics and Faculty Fellow in the William Penn Honors Program at George Fox University. He is a leading scholar on the relationship between religion and American politics, and has author...

In this episode, we sit down with Wendy Damron, President and CEO of the Palmetto Promise Institute. Wendy shares her inspiring journey from growing up in Detroit to starting her career. She also discusses the first time she heard Nikki Haley speak and how that experience led her to fall in love with South Carolina and eventually become a part of the Palmetto Promise Institute. Through her work wi...

Welcome to another episode of Beyond Policy, the podcast that explores ideas and issues shaping the world of public policy and the people that are affected. In this episode, we are joined by Daniel Suhr, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center. This nonprofit, public-interest litigation center fights for individual liberties and free-market principles. Today's discussion will focus on some o...

In this episode of Beyond Policy , Sal Nuzzo and Lindsey Killen of the James Madison Institute (Florida) join Dr. Smith for a deep dive into the effects of Florida's recent innovation in healthcare: repealing its ancient "Certificate of Need" (CON) law. After a brief digression into the advantages of Darlington over Daytona, they discuss how South Carolina's CON statute hurts patients by limiting...

Jonathan Butcher is the Will Skillman Fellow in Education at The Heritage Foundation. He is the author of Splintered: Critical Race Theory and the Progressive War on Truth (Bombardier Books, April 2022). He co-edited and wrote chapters in The Critical Classroom (The Heritage Foundation, 2022), discussing the racial prejudice that comes from the application of critical race theory in K-12 schools....

We had the chance to sit down with our former President & CEO Ellen Weaver after her successful campaign for South Carolina Superintendent of Education. We reminisce on a decade working together at Palmetto Promise Institute and look ahead to the future of the organization and South Carolina.

Beyond Policy is a podcast presented by the Palmetto Promise Institute. Your host is Dr. Oran Smith, Senior Fellow of the Palmetto Promise Institute.  Policy talk can often be cold, dead, and boring. On this podcast, we've banned boring. Our object on this podcast is to look Beyond Policy. We look beyond statehouse rumors and backroom politics to real communities and people in South Carolina....