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For U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, breaking up with Beaufort will be hard to do.
"There's never been anybody happier to serve this community than me," the West Columbia Republican said at a Thursday public forum. "With my background -- being a native of the Lowcountry -- anytime I come here, I feel right at home."
Wilson, who was born in Charleston, has represented Beaufort and Jasper counties in Washington, DC, since 2001, when he was elected to South Carolina's 2nd Congressional District.
But new political lines drawn using data from the 2010 census will shift his district inland.
The southern two-thirds of Beaufort County will join the coastal district represented by Rep. Tim Scott, R-Charleston.
Jasper County and northern Beaufort County will join the district held by Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-Columbia.
During Wilson's annual legislative kickoff, held at Earl's Body Shop, he thanked voters and said his staff will be available to help them until January 2013.
He also discussed his agenda for the upcoming session.
Wilson's wish list breaks down broadly under three categories:
"Well, the first thing I want to do is truly create jobs," he said in an interview, adding that some areas in his district have had unemployment rates near 20 percent. As solutions, Wilson suggested initiatives to cut regulation and red tape or to drill for energy in areas more than 25 miles offshore.
Other items -- such as repeal of President Barack Obama's signature health care reform law -- are holdovers from last year's agenda. Wilson called the law a "catastrophe" and said he will continue to push for its replacement with market-driven reforms.
That was music to the ears of Tom Lewis, owner of Alvin Ord's Sandwich Shop, who told Wilson he will have to fire a third of his 10-person staff in order to pay for "Obamacare" mandates.
Lewis estimated after the event that the new requirements will cost him $600 per employee.
"Where's the money going to come from? Is it just going to magically appear?" he said. "I can't increase my costs because of all the franchises that are coming in around me, so I'm stuck. And the only way that I can do it is cut my workforce."
Follow reporter Kyle Peterson at twitter.com/EyeOnBeaufortCo.
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