No New Fees without Legislative Approval
S.62 would prohibit state agencies from imposing any new fines or fees or increasing existing fines and fees by regulation or administrative action i.e. without legislative authorization. This provision wouldn’t apply to internal charges between government bodies or to fees imposed on students by institutions of higher education. The bill would also prohibit the General Assembly from authorizing the creation or increase of a fine or fee in any budgetary bill. This would be a welcome reform that would help to return the power to tax where it belongs (the legislative branch), and would further allow citizens to hold someone accountable for the size of the fines and fees in South Carolina,
(related S.230)