Back in 2012, as I was working on tax reform legislation, I also explored ways to encourage business to directly commit their resources to solving societal problems that normally do not fall directly within their business model.
Normally, politicians use tax incentives to entice business to become involved in these areas. This model has several problems including the inherent inefficiency and inaccuracy that comes when government decides both the problem and the solution. A better way is to let businesses and consumers determine which societal problems that they would like to help solve.
I discovered that several states had passed benefit corporation legislation and I thought it was a great fit for South Carolina. So, I introduced it into the House in 2012. It passed through the General Assembly and Gov. Haley signed it into law without reservation. We are now seeing the results from it.
The Greenville New recently ran the following article about these results –