Month: January 2016

H.4664 would allow a concealed weapons permit (CWP) holder who is injured by a criminal on the premises of a property whose owner prohibits the carrying of firearms, to hold…

H.4644 would require the Board of Pharmacy to issue a written protocol which pharmacists would follow in order to prescribe and dispense birth control medication without a physician’s prescription. The…

H.4621 transfers ten institutions of higher education to not-for-profit organizations, for the purpose of operating them as private institutions. The institutions specified and the transfer timetable are as follows: July…

H.4625 would permit county and municipal governments to impose an impact fee on developers, not to exceed $250, for each new residential dwelling unit constructed by a developer within the…

H.4628  and H.4729  would prohibit the state government or any political subdivision of the state from using public funds to “implement, regulate, or enforce a federal law, executive order, regulation, or…

H.4637 is an attempt to restrict the powers granted by South Carolina’s eminent domain law. It would require an entity exercising eminent domain to prove by convincing evidence that: the…

H.3430 would create a definition for “unsafe” tires that includes “damage exposing the reinforcing plies of the tire, including cuts, cracks, bulges, punctures, or scrapes.” The law code is not the…

Companion bills H.4484 and H.4635 are somewhat similar to the reform package presented in 2015’s S.561 in that they would make some small reforms to transportation management, but ultimately fall…

H.4452 would alter the makeup of the seven member State Transportation Infrastructure Bank (STIB) Board by requiring all seven of its members be appointed by the Governor. Under current law…

H.4417 would direct the state Department of Transportation to build a pedestrian overpass in Charleston. This is wasteful meddling in DOT affairs. Legislators already effectively control DOT leadership through the nomination…

H.4577 would require that all revenue from aircraft property taxes paid by airline companies be credited to the State Aviation Fund. Under current law annual revenues from these taxes under…

H.4525 and S.973 are companion bills that extend the time period during which 2.25% of insurance premium tax revenue must be given to the South Carolina Forestry Commission from 2017 to 2022.

S.959 would repeal existing law that allows individuals who are behind in child support payments to have their driver’s license revoked or restricted. This is a sensible reform. Revoking or…

S.953 would require that all estate liquidators, defined as individuals who offer to conduct or conduct estate sales, be licensed by the South Carolina Auctioneers’ Commission. Contra the common wisdom,…

S.952 would prohibit individuals from emitting a noise beyond the bounds of their property that “unreasonably interferes with the enjoyment of life or with any lawful business or activity”. Just…

S.938 would create a state minimum wage higher than its federal counterpart. The state minimum wage would be set at $8.75 an hour starting January 1 2017 and would be…

S.922 would prohibit the subcontracting of work done at concession stands operated by the Commission for the Blind to anyone who is not blind or who does not have a…

H.4555 would repeal South Carolina’s right-to-work law, allowing union membership to become a prerequisite for employment. That would, in other words, allow unions to force workers to join whether or not…

H.4466 would make it illegal, with limited exceptions, for a business to consider an applicant’s credit history or credit report when hiring. An applicant’s’ credit history could convey important information…

H.4430 would require that all movie theaters, sporting arenas, and concert venues install metal detectors. The principal effect of this policy will be to increase costs for the businesses that…

S.957 would prohibit employers from inquiring as to, considering, or requiring the disclosure of the criminal history of an applicant prior to the applicant being selected for an interview or…

H.4494 would require that magistrates and municipal judges who were disciplined by the Commission on Judicial Conduct during their term due to a complaint, or who are facing an active complaint…

H.4494 would require any magistrate or municipal judge who is seeking reappointment to be rescreened by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC) if during their term they were disciplined by…

H.4442 would make all misdemeanor offenses eligible for expungement. This is particularly relevant for legislators who are subject to the Ethics Act, which only contains one felony. In other words, almost all…

H.4404 would prohibit General Assembly members from being elected to a judicial office for five years after leaving office. The bill would also prohibit family members of a General Assembly…

H.4402 and H.4406 would respectively make Family Court Judges and state Supreme Court Justices popularly elected. South Carolina’s judicial selection process is already politicized by the process of elections via the legislature. These…

H.4400 and H.4401 would remove the roll-call requirement for certain legislative votes. Under the bills legislators would be able to vote on up to ten budget sections, or ten sections worth of budget…

S.949 would make it illegal to engage in deer hunting within 300 yards of a residence without permission of the owner and occupant. Current law prohibits deer hunting within 300…

S.946 would allow the owner of a vehicle that unlawfully overtakes a school bus to be ticketed even if the driver of the vehicle can’t be identified. This directly contradicts the…

S.944 and S.935 each seek to impose limits on the use of statehouse grounds by requiring groups to receive some form of permission before use. S.944 requires the Director of…