Senate panel moves Catherine Oker’s reappointment to Commission for the Blind to full Senate

The Family and Veterans' Services Committee voted unanimously to forward Catherine Oker’s reappointment as the Third Congressional District representative on the South Carolina Commission for the Blind to the full Senate after a screening hearing.

Oker told the committee she began working with visually impaired and blind students in 1978 and has served on the commission since approximately 2020. She said she teaches a limited number of homebound students since retiring from full-time work and wants to continue supporting statewide services, especially for an aging population that experiences vision loss. “Braille is essential,” she told the committee, describing the commission’s role in teaching braille, providing technology and offering orientation and mobility training.

Committee staff confirmed receipt of Oker’s personal data questionnaire, statement of economic interest, a SLED background check, credit report and driving record and reported them complete. Oker answered “no” to questions about current family business contracts with government entities, arrests, tax liens, student-loan default, bankruptcy, and employment as a lobbyist. She said she will change her primary residence to Pendleton at the end of the month and that the address remains within the Third Congressional District.

Senators asked about service gaps and program priorities. Oker said availability of qualified instructors in orientation and mobility (white-cane and independent-travel training) has been a recruitment challenge but that the commission had made progress in filling those positions. She also described the commission’s work on technology, braille testing for students, a prevention unit that can assist with expensive eye surgeries, and the state Business Enterprise program that gives people with visual impairments priority for certain concession and vending opportunities.

Members of the committee highlighted letters of recommendation praising Oker’s interpersonal skills, work ethic and leadership. A senator noted Oker is a high-school classmate of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham; Oker confirmed they were classmates, class of 1973.

A motion to advance the reappointment was made, seconded and approved by voice vote with no opposition recorded; proxies from Senators Kimbrell, Clymer and Fernandez were recorded in the affirmative. The committee chair also recorded proxies for Senators Teder and Isaac Devine. The committee will forward Oker’s name to the full Senate for consideration.

Oker told senators she wants to support Commissioner Darlene Graham’s leadership and the commission’s work serving clients across the state and said she would continue to focus on outreach to school-age children and on technology and training that help people live independently.