2017-2018 Bill 3502: Heather Mcteer Toney - South Carolina Legislature Online

1 South Carolina General Assembly 2 122nd Session, 2017-2018 3 4 H. 3502 5 6 STATUS INFORMATION 7 8 House Resolution 9 Sponsors: Reps. Mitchell, Alexander, Allison, Anderson, Anthony, Arrington, Atkinson, Atwater, Bales, 10 Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bedingfield, Bennett, Bernstein, Blackwell, Bowers, Bradley, Brown, 11 Burns, Caskey, Chumley, Clary, Clemmons, Clyburn, CobbHunter, Cogswell, Cole, Collins, Crawford, 12 Crosby, Daning, Davis, Delleney, Dillard, Douglas, Duckworth, Elliott, Erickson, Felder, Finlay, Forrest, 13 Forrester, Fry, Funderburk, Gagnon, Gilliard, Govan, Hamilton, Hardee, Hart, Hayes, Henderson, 14 Henegan, Herbkersman, Hewitt, Hill, Hiott, Hixon, Hosey, Howard, Huggins, Jefferson, Johnson, Jordan, 15 King, Kirby, Knight, Loftis, Long, Lowe, Lucas, Mack, Magnuson, Martin, McCoy, McCravy, 16 McEachern, McKnight, D.C. Moss, V.S. Moss, Murphy, Neal, B. Newton, W. Newton, Norman, Norrell, 17 Ott, Parks, Pitts, Pope, Putnam, Quinn, Ridgeway, M. Rivers, S. Rivers, RobinsonSimpson, Rutherford, 18 Ryhal, Sandifer, Simrill, G.M. Smith, G.R. Smith, J.E. Smith, Sottile, Spires, Stavrinakis, Stringer, 19 Tallon, Taylor, Thayer, Thigpen, Toole, Weeks, West, Wheeler, Whipper, White, Whitmire, Williams, 20 Willis and Yow 21 Document Path: l:\council\bills\gm\24870dg17.docx 22 23 Introduced in the House on January 18, 2017 24 Adopted by the House on January 18, 2017 25 26 Summary: Heather McTeer Toney 27 28 29 HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS 30 31 Date Body Action Description with journal page number 32 1/18/2017 House Introduced and adopted ( House Journalpage 6) 33 34 View the latest legislative information at the website 35 36 37 VERSIONS OF THIS BILL 38 39 1/18/2017 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A HOUSE RESOLUTION 10 11 TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR HEATHER MCTEER TONEY 12 FOR HER SERVICE AS THE REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR 13 FOR THE EPA’S SOUTHEAST REGION AND TO WISH HER 14 CONTINUED SUCCESS AS SHE LEAVES HER POST. 15 16 Whereas, born and reared in Greenville, Mississippi, Heather 17 McTeer Toney is the daughter of Victor and Mercidees McTeer, a 18 civil rights attorney and a public school teacher, to whom she 19 credits her commitment to advocacy and community service; and 20 21 Whereas, after earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from 22 Spelman College in Atlanta and a law degree from the Tulane 23 University School of Law, Mrs. Toney returned home to work as a 24 member of McTeer & Associates Law Firm, where she realized the 25 depth of community needs, many of which lay unattended; and 26 27 Whereas, in 2003, she was elected as the first AfricanAmerican, as 28 well as the first female, to serve as mayor of Greenville, 29 Mississippi, and served with distinction for two terms from 30 20042012, and served as past president of the National Conference 31 of Black Mayors. During her tenure, the city emerged from 32 significant debt and received millions of dollars in grants and 33 federal assistance, while Greenville completed major infrastructure 34 projects; and 35 36 Whereas, Mrs. Toney later served as the executive director of the 37 Center for Excellence in Student Learning and TRIO programs at 38 Mississippi Valley State University; and 39 40 Whereas, in January 2014, she was appointed by President Barack 41 Obama the regional administrator for the EPA’s Southeast Region, 42 and as such she has supported the ReGenesis Collaborative Project

[3502] 2 1 and other environmental justice efforts in South Carolina. She 2 promoted strong partnership with the South Carolina Department 3 of Health and Environmental Control and other key stakeholders; 4 and 5 6 Whereas, responsible for protecting human health and the 7 environment in the eight southeastern states, the most populated 8 and diverse of ten regions, Mrs. Toney has supported the White 9 House Clean Energy for All Initiative and the ReGenesis Solar 10 Facility, has focused on community engagement and building trust 11 among disenfranchised communities, and has served as past chair 12 of the EPA Local Government Advisory Committee; and 13 14 Whereas, while directing the Southeast Region’s nearly one 15 thousand employees and effectively managing a budget of more 16 than five hundred million dollars, she advanced the 17 administration’s priorities of protecting human health and the 18 environment and addressed many critical and complex regional 19 challenges, internally and externally; and 20 21 Whereas, deeply committed to her community, Mrs. Toney also 22 advocates nationally and internationally for women’s issues, 23 environmental health, and education, and has received numerous 24 awards and honors; and 25 26 Whereas, she has appeared on news outlets such as CNN, Fox 27 News, MSNBC, and CSpan, and she has been featured in The 28 Washington Post, Jackson Clarion Ledger, Jet, Marie Claire, 29 Essence, and The Mississippi Business Journal. Mrs. Toney was 30 featured in the May 2005 issue of Essence as one of the “50 Most 31 Remarkable Women in the World”; and 32 33 Whereas, married to Dexter Toney, she enjoys spending time with 34 their two children and is an avid runner, having completed a 35 marathon, triathlon, and numerous other races. She is a member of 36 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and an active member of New 37 Living Way Christian Fellowship Church in Greenville, 38 Mississippi; and 39 40 The South Carolina House of Representatives values the 41 dedication and service that Heather Toney has provided to the 42 citizens of our great State and to our nation. Now, therefore, 43

[3502] 3 1 Be it resolved by the House of Representatives: 2 3 That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, 4 by this resolution, recognize and honor Heather McTeer Toney for 5 her service as the Regional Administrator for the EPA’s Southeast 6 Region and wish her continued success as she leaves her post. 7 8 Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to 9 Heather McTeer Toney. 10 XX 11

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