Month: February 2015

S.195 would impose a toll along Interstate 95 where it crosses Lake Marion in either Orangeburg County or Clarendon County. All revenue generated from the toll would be used for…

H.3671 would eliminate the majority of South Carolina’s numerous sales tax exemptions and dedicate half of the resulting new revenue to schools via the South Carolina public education program fund…

S.474 would give “authorized health care providers”, defined as including but not limited to advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants, the legal authority to perform initial examinations in facilities operated…

H.3693 would require the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to obtain the approval of the Public Utilities Review Committee (PURC) before submitting any plan to regulate South Carolina carbon…

H.3686 would establish a system by which South Carolina education funds follow the child, at least in the case of disabled children. The bill would allow the parents of a disabled…

H.3685 proposes that an additional $5 surcharge be tacked on to any ticket stemming from a misdemeanor traffic offense or non-traffic violation if the ticket is issued electronically. Electronic ticketing…

H.3669 would increase regulations on firearms by requiring a license to engage in the “casual” sale of a handgun. “Casual” in this context means the sale of a handgun by a…

S.475 would replace the current board of regents at South Carolina State University (SC State) with a new five member board with one member each appointed by the: Senate President…

Companion bills S.453 and H.3704 would make permanent a $5 fee (currently scheduled to expire June 30, 2016) levied on all monetary penalties imposed in general sessions court, magistrates court, or municipal court…

H.3663 would remove the sitting president and board of trustees from South Carolina State University. In their place each member of the Budget and Control Board (BCB) would appoint a designee to…

H.3654 would mandate that motor fuel retailers charge the same price to customers who pay for fuel with a debit card as those who pay with cash. Retailers who violate this…

 H.3650 would impose a new tax on motor fuel assessed at 21 cents a gallon. Revenue collected from this new tax would be credited to the state highway fund to be…

H.3566 would eliminate the seven member Department of Transportation (DOT) Commission which currently sets policy for the DOT. In place of this commission controlled by the legislature, the bill would vest…

H.3562 would allow counties via referendum to impose a new 1 percent sales tax in order to fund a credit against local school property tax. Essentially localities would be able…

Companion bills H.3534  and S.185 would expand the number of higher education institutions eligible to receive funding from the South Carolina Higher Education Excellence Enhancement Program (itself funded by the lottery). Specifically…

Companion bills H.3539 and S.437 would launch the “James B. Edwards Civics Education Initiative.” As part of the required curriculum for secondary public and charter schools, as well as the GED curriculum, this…

H.3513 proposes a permanent salary increase of 5% for any and all school district employees earning less than $25,000, or its hourly equivalent. This would affect positions such as crossing…

One consistent aspect of law is that it usually reflects the conditions of society as a whole. In the case of H.3510, the condition addressed by this proposed bill is…

H.3511 would create a new tax deduction for nurses and physicians who work in a free clinic. The deduction would accrue at an hourly rate with a maximum size of…

H.3508 is somewhat similar to H.3078 in that it would authorize nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and certified nurse midwives (referred to in the bill as APRNs) to perform certain…

H.3488 would allow pharmacists to refill topical ophthalmic products without obtaining a new prescription from a medical practitioner. The bill would also allow practitioners other than pharmacists to “authorize refills earlier…

H.3580 is Governor Haley’s plan to fix South Carolina’s roads, first described during the 2015 state of the state address. The bill attempts to reform the management of the Department…

Update: the bill was amended in committee to require a medical diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Companion bills S.429 and H.3699 are similar to last session’s H.3147. The bills would add a special exception to…

S.428 would prohibit any individual from working as a manager or server on a premise licensed to sell alcoholic beverages unless that individual obtains a server permit from the Department…

S.413 would permit the Board of Medical Examiners- upon recommendation of the Joint Pharmacist Administered Vaccines Committee- to authorize pharmacists to administer select vaccines. The vaccines which may be administered in…

S.406 may be the worst gas tax/roads bill introduced this session. The bill would allow the quasi legislative quasi executive State Fiscal Accountability Authority (SFAA) (a successor to the Budget…

‘STATE HOUSE ECONOMICS’ AT ITS FINEST The state’s roads are crumbling, according to the popular refrain, and the Department of Transportation (DOT) claims it faces a nearly $43 billion shortfall between…

S.380 reforms South Carolina’s asset forfeiture laws by stipulating that all property subject to forfeiture reform may not be seized by an investigating agency prior to a criminal conviction. Other provision…

S.382 would allow the agency head of South Carolina State University to impose mandatory employee furloughs of up to 20 working days per year in the next two years. This is…

Potential judges and candidates for non-judicial state offices elected by the General Assembly must be screened by the Judicial Merit Selection Committee (JMSC) or a joint legislative screening committee respectively…