Legislature Passes DOT ‘Reform’ Bill
IT MIGHT BE THE MOST CONVOLUTED REFORM BILL WE’VE SEEN YET. [Update: On Wednesday, June 8, Gov. Haley signed the bill analyzed below, calling it “incomplete reform” and “far less…
Bill Would Punish ‘False’ Testimony
HOUSE LEGISLATION WOULD MAKE IT A FELONY TO GIVE ‘INCOMPLETE’ TESTIMONY On Wednesday, outgoing Rep. Walt McLeod filed a bill allowing any legislative committee to require any committee testimony they hear…
UPDATE: House Considers Self-Policing Bill
HOUSE, SENATE SQUABBLE OVER SEMANTICS, AGREE ON KEEPING LOOPHOLES House leadership has developed a compromise with Senate language in an amendment to H.3184, legislation supposedly intended to abolish lawmakers’ power…
Senate to Debate CWP Reciprocity Bill
A RELATIVELY UNIMPORTANT BILL ON A HIGHLY IMPORTANT TOPIC [Update: This bill was passed by the General assembly and signed by the governor.] Last week, the Senate put H.3799 on the…
The Legislature’s $2.2 Billion Debt Bomb
● Bill would raise revenue by creating debt ● Senators seemingly unaware of state’s debt problem ● Plan would expand highways, do little about repair/maintenance of roads So far in…
Ethics Reform Bills Aim for Status Quo
ON INCOME DISCLOSURE AND LEGISLATIVE SELF-POLICING, LAWMAKERS WANT CREDIT FOR REFORM WITHOUT CHANGING THE SYSTEM At the moment, the two hottest issues in the State House going under the banner…
House Kills Property Theft Bill
THE PRINCIPLE ANIMATING THE DILAPIDATED BUILDINGS ACT WAS A SOFT GOVERNMENT-KNOWS-BEST AUTHORITARIANISM On Tuesday, the House killed legislation commonly known as the Dilapidated Buildings Act by a vote of 35 to…
Senate Passes ‘Independent [sic] Investigation’ Bill
LEGISLATIVE SELF-POLICING REARRANGED, NOT ELIMINATED Yesterday the Senate amended H.3184, which deals with the legislature’s system of self-policing – i.e. lawmakers adjudicating each other’s ethics violations in the form of…
Additional Funding for the Infrastructure Bank
Update: these two bills have been combined to form S.1258, which is an official committee bill. Under this bill, the two revenue streams (car taxes and DMV fees) would be directed into the…
UPDATE: Senate Moves on Income Disclosure
INCOME DISCLOSURE, WITH LOOPHOLES Senators seemed determined this week to not let another session go by without addressing “ethics reform” – although nothing that’s likely to pass the legislature will…
What the House Did on the Senate Roads Plan
STILL NO TAX INCREASE, BUT STILL NO ACTUAL REFORM The House took up the Senate roads plan (H.3579) on Wednesday, April 13, and amended the bill once again. Debate was…
UPDATE: Senate Addresses Ethics Legislation
THE SENATE BILL IS GONE. THE HOUSE BILL IS BACK. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? The ethics debate in the Senate got very interesting this week as the Senate took…
UPDATE: Second Amendment Bills
● Concealed carry bills pass House, await Senate approval ● Plenty of assertion, no evidence from gun rights opponents ● Gun restriction bills going nowhere We’re about halfway through the…
Does the Constitution Require Self-Policing?
THE SHORT ANSWER: OF COURSE NOT Many, if not most, South Carolina state lawmakers have a peculiar understanding of the separation of powers. For them, the principle seems to mean that…
Giant Ethics Bill to Hit Senate Floor
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS YEARS ETHICS DEBATE On April 5, 2016, the South Carolina Senate will begin debating the omnibus ethics-related bill that is currently on special…
ANALYSIS: Here Come the TIFs
WITH DISASTERS COME NEW REASONS TO TAX Last October’s floods, in addition to creating havoc for some individuals and businesses, have unleashed a torrent of ill-advised governmental proposals and…
What Happened to Business Tax Reform?
● Major reforms no longer under discussion ● One bill would put nonprofits in charge of business taxes ● Legislation would allow lobbyist principals to set taxes ● Municipal, county…
What Lawmakers Want to Spend in 2017
● Ways & Means budget $1.28 billion larger than 2016 budget ● Committee does not treat roads as priority ● Lots of increases in education, but no real change…
Lawmakers Propose Education Measures
HOUSE MEMBERS INTRODUCE ASSORTMENT OF K-12 EDUCATION BILLS. FRESH THINKING SEEMS TO BE IN SHORT SUPPLY. Education reform hasn’t gotten much attention this year, except for the routine dire prophecies…
Insurance Plans Must Cover Hearing Aids
H.5000 would mandate that all health insurance plans provide benefits relating to the cost of hearing aids for insureds who have been diagnosed with impaired hearing by an audiologist. The…
ANALYSIS: The Senate Roads Plan
REAL REFORM, NON-REFORM, OR SOMETHING ELSE? On Wednesday night, senators emerged from a behind-the-scenes meeting to adopt an amendment to the roads bill. As it exists now, the bill does not…
Bill Would Send More Subsidies to Farms
FARMERS WERE HIT HARD DURING LAST OCTOBER’S FLOODS. SO WERE MANY OTHERS. BUT ARE MORE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES ALWAYS THE ANSWER? [Note: Gov. Haley signed this bill in June, 2016.] Thousands…
Why DOT’s Priority Lists Are Mostly Meaningless
GAS TAX HIKE SUPPORTERS CLAIM THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATON ALREADY USES OBJECTIVE CRITERIA IN CHOOSING ROAD PROJECTS. THEY’RE WRONG. One of the most frequently repeated arguments against reforming the Department…
The Gas Tax Debate: How We Got Here
Lawmakers have bypassed the public, the law, their own rules, and the constitution to get a gas tax through the Senate. Citizens deserve better. Legislation to raise the gas tax and…
Fuzzy Math: The Gas Tax Debate’s Bad Numbers
WHY ARE PROPONENTS OF A GAS TAX HIKE RELYING ON SUCH BAD NUMBERS? The debate over roads and road funding, especially as it’s taken place inside the State House over…
Bill Removes Accountability from Road Funding
LEGISLATION WOULD REMOVE WHAT LITTLE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY STILL REMAIN IN SOUTH CAROLINA’S ROAD FUNDING SYSTEM ● Bill empowers murky government entities called “COGs” ● Removes governor’s power to appoint DOT…
Licensing For Feral Swine Holding and Dealers
H.4847 would permit the Department of Natural Resources to issue feral swine holding licenses. The bill would also allow feral swine to be held on private property by a feral…
Putting a Pay Raise for Legislators Question on the Ballot
H.4844 would place on the 2016 General Election ballot an advisory question asking if the legislative pay should be raised to $35,000 or $50,000 (current pay is $10,400). In the…
Drivers May Use Hands-Free Wireless Devices in Voice Mode Only
H.4822 would prohibit citizens from using a hands-free electronic communication device unless it is in voice-activated mode only, in other words does not require the driver to use a hand…
Creating the Office of Homeowners Ombudsman
H.4819 creates the Office of Homeowners Ombudsman within the Department of Consumer Affairs. The ombudsman is appointed by the Director of the Department. The ombudsman’s responsibilities include providing homeowners associations…