BRIEFLY SPEAKING

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Four new members of the South Carolina House and Senate were sworn in Tuesday, the opening day of the 2008 legislative session.

Legislators welcomed Reps. Shannon Erickson and Heyward Hutson, and Sens. Paul Campbell and Shane Massey, all Republicans. One seat in the House remains vacant following the November resignation of Rep. Shirley Hinson, R-Goose Creek.

The General Assembly's GOP majority gained one seat with Massey, an Edgefield attorney who won a special election in November to replace former Democratic Sen. Tommy Moore. Massey, 32, becomes the Senate's youngest member.

Moore, who ran unsuccessfully for governor last year, resigned in July to lobby and do public relations work for the payday lending industry.

Campbell, 61, a retired Goose Creek businessman, won a special election in August for the Senate seat vacated by the death of longtime Sen. Bill Mescher.

Hutson, 71, of Summerville, returns to the Legislature after a 12-year hiatus. The retired Army officer and Vietnam veteran previously served in the House from 1993 to 1996. Hutson was unopposed in last month's special election to replace Converse Chellis, who was elected treasurer after former Treasurer Thomas Ravenel was indicted on a drug charge.

Erickson, 44, a preschool director in Beaufort, was unopposed in October to take the seat of former Rep. Catherine Ceips. This is Ceips' first regular session as a senator.

Ceips, 52, won the Senate election in June to fill a seat vacated when former Sen. Scott Richardson was named Insurance Department director. She was sworn in during a special session later that month.

The Republican primary to fill Hinson's seat will be next month. The general election will be held in March.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Nearly 1,100 additional 4-year-olds attended full-day kindergarten last year under a pilot program meant to help poor children start school ready to learn, according to a report released Tuesday.

The report from the Education Oversight Committee recommends expanding the program statewide. But Republican leaders said that is unlikely in the tight budget year.

The two-year pilot, which now has about 4,200 children, was created in June 2006, six months after a judge found the state fails to help children overcome the effects of poverty, ordering an increase in early childhood education. The joint public-private pilot was launched for children in the 37 districts suing the state.

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