Weekly Legislative Update. March 26 – 28, 2019
What they did This week, the House passed legislation to give taxpayer-backed incentives to the Carolina Panthers. The bill would add special definitions of key terms (like “new job” and…
Bills filed during 4/2/19 – 4/4/19
Criminal Law H.4383 – Additional fine if driver is holding cell phone during traffic violation, revenue goes to Dept. of Public Safety to fund distracted driving campaign H.4386 – Impersonating…
Bill would create another legislative guarantee for utility debt
A bill currently in a Senate subcommittee would guarantee a refinancing of SCANA’s debt by authorizing a new ratepayer charge. Under S.110, the Public Service Commission (PSC – the utility…
State budget 2019: Highlights from the House spending plan
House lawmakers have adopted the largest spending plan in state history. Here’s what you need to know about it. What they’re spending The House budget is a grand total…
Bills filed during 3/26/19 – 3/28/19
Criminal Law S.723 – Illegal to use a phone while driving 1st offense $100 2nd is $300 and 2 points H.4297 – Additional punishment for committing crimes while on bail,…
Higher education “reform”: more spending, less accountability
S.298 would allow unaccountable university spending, borrowing and construction, would greatly increase state spending on higher education, and would limit future tuition increases. Despite the unaffordability of higher education in…
Selling Santee Cooper: First Things First
Click to print PDF version Two committees comprised almost entirely of lawmakers are currently exploring the possibility of selling state-owned utility Santee Cooper. Not only is this beyond the proper…
A bond bill for “freight transportation”
A newly filed bill (S.679) would allow economic development bonds to be issued for freight projects, which could be exempted from job creation requirements. Economic development bonds are a category…
What lawmakers want to give the Carolina Panthers
Last week, lawmakers introduced legislation in both the House (H.4243) and the Senate (S.655) to extend tax favors to the Carolina Panthers NFL team in an attempt to lure them…
Bills filed during 3/12/19 – 3/14/19
Government structure and reform S.636 – Workers’ compensation can be based on medical records, instead of medical advice. Both are admissible in appeals process. S.637 – Public employees’ drug test…
Bills filed during 3/5/19 – 3/7/19
Government structure and reform H.4213– Creates interim appointment process for county board of voter registration H.4191 – Amends ethics laws, disclosure must include consultant jobs, changes definition of “committee” to…
S.323 – Streamlining Department of Revenue’s process finding tax debtor’s bank accounts
S.323 would allow the Department of Revenue (DOR) to get bank account information of tax debtors from the banks, rather than requiring DOR to get it from the debtor. Current…
Eminent domain for environmental projects?
A SENATE BILL WOULD FUND THE TAKING OF PRIVATE PROPERTY TO CREATE FLOODPLAINS AND OPEN SPACES Update: the bill was amended in committee in four significant ways; Language was added…
S.203 – Provides criteria for school district consolidation
S.203 would create a new series of criteria for school district consolidation. Specifically, if any school district met two of the following conditions, it would be consolidated: The district has…
Bill would give subpoena power to legislative delegations
A concerning new bill filed this week – H.3934 – would allow committees created by county legislative delegations to subpoena any state or local government agency, board, commission, etc. and/or…
S.61 – Allows the governor to fire workers’ comp commissioners
S.61 would allow the governor to remove members from the Workers’ Compensation Commission at will, and would reinstate term limits for the chairman position, at a maximum of two. Currently,…
Lawmakers Reintroduce Data Warehouse
Download as a pdf » UPDATE: This bill passed the House 92-8, with an amendment slightly tweaking some of the language, amending the membership of the WEDOC, and combining the…
S.290 – Allowing curbside pickup of beer and wine
S.290 would allow retailers to offer curbside pickup of beer and wine. Customers under this bill may pre-purchase beer and wine online from a retailer, but must follow rules on…
S.379 – Regulatory Loophole for Electric Cars
S.379 – would create a regulatory loophole for the manufacturers of electric. The bill would allow electric vehicle producers to sell directly to the individual customers, while the manufacturers of…
S.251, H.3433 & H.3447 – Prohibits campaign contributions from regulated utilities
Three bills (S.251, H.3433 & H.3447) would prohibit lawmakers or legislative candidates from accepting campaign contributions from regulated utilities – including SCANA and every electric cooperative. However, under H.3447, the…
S.270, S.337 – Lawmakers’ spouses can’t be elected to judicial office
Two bills (S.270 & S.337) would prohibit the spouse of a sitting lawmaker from being elected to judicial office, and this extends up to a year after that lawmaker leaves…
H.3250 – Creating a new state entitlement program to supplement SNAP
H.3250 – would create a state entitlement program to supplement federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) dollars in an attempt to incentivize SNAP recipients to buy fruit…
The New State Property Tax South Carolinians Won’t See Coming
In 1976, voters passed a constitutional amendment amending legislators’ ability to provide for state borrowing. The ballot question was general, vaguely worded and failed to spell out what was arguably…
H.3137 – Altering the Local Government Fund
UPDATE: The Senate Finance Committee amended this bill to require LGF appropriations to increase or decrease by the same percentage as the general fund, capped at a 5% change. The…
S.295 – Steep penalties for using public office for personal gain
S.295 would make it a felony for public officials and employees to use their office for personal gain. This would include the enrichment of themselves, friends or family members, and…
S.289 – Local government transparency requirements
S.289 would impose thorough transparency requirements on local governments. Under this bill, counties, municipalities and school districts would have to post the following information on their websites: elected officials’ contact…
S.285, H.3070 – Constitutional amendment to allow governor to appoint judges
S.285 would place a constitutional amendment on the ballot allowing the governor to appoint judges with the advice and consent of the Senate (currently they’re elected by the General Assembly).…
S. 228 – Creates mini-government within Tri-County Technical College
This bill would create a powerful mini-government within the Tri-County Technical College for the purpose of driving economic development. This new entity – called an “enterprise authority” – would have…
S.207 – Seniors will keep homestead exemption during a stay at a nursing home
S.207 – would allow seniors who move to a nursing home or residential care facility to retain the homestead property tax exemption for their homes, as long as they intend…
S.214 – Collecting sales tax from online retailers
S.214 – is an attempt to capture sales tax from online retailers like Amazon or Ebay, based on a Supreme Court case that was decided last year. The case (South…