Category: Government Spending

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…

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…

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.326 is a resolution ordering the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to pay $250,000 out of their current budget to the SC Firefighters Association. This money would go to reimburse…

S.309 would essentially double the budget of the SC Research Authority, a state-owned venture capital firm by doubling the cap on available tax credits for the “Industry Partnership Trust Fund”.…

H.3473 calls for an Article V convention of states to amend the U.S. Constitution to mandate a federal balanced budget. Article V of the Constitution establishes two ways to amend…

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…

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…

H.4801 would amend the rules of the House of Representatives to allow each House member to appoint one full time staffer to perform such duties related to the member’s service…

H.4732 would prohibit the state or any political subdivision from purchasing portable solar power generator systems unless the system to be purchased: has security-sensitive component parts that are manufactured in…

H.4717 establishes the South Carolina Farm Aid Fund in response to the October flooding. The fund is administered by the Department of Agriculture, with the advice of a Farm Aid…

S.1005 would mandate the reporting of information related to other funds, defined in the bill as “all non-general fund revenue appropriated or authorized by the General Assembly in acts and…

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.921 would expand the definition of state employees, as it relates to those eligible for worker’s compensation, to include volunteer chaplains “performing their duties as a chaplain for any municipal,…

H.4569, would require $326.5 million of the projected $1.2 billion surplus (which as The State’s Cindi Scoppe explains is actually closer to $560 million) be sent to the governor’s office, which would in turn…

H.4527 mandates that the General Assembly appropriate $25 million to DHEC for a revolving fund that provides financial assistance loans to owners of damaged private dams that have public access…

H.4524, would require that before any nonprofit receive funds from a state agency, it must disclose: how it plans to use those state funds, a copy of its adopted annual…

H.4506 creates the South Carolina Disaster Relief Fund, which will be used by the Emergency Management Division for a grant program to provide financial assistance to natural disaster victims. Taxpayers…

H.4497 creates the Student Interscholastic Activities Fund, which would provide financial assistance to high school students by covering expenses related to extracurricular activities, including fees, dues, equipment, uniforms, etc. The…

H.4478 mandates that all fines South Carolina receives from the federal government for plutonium storage at the Savannah River site must be given to the State Highway Fund and used…

H.4477, H.4408, H.4488, and S.928 prohibit any state resources being used to assist in the resettlement of refugees. Another bill, H.4396, would allow the state office for refugees to suspend settlement of refugees…

H.4445 lays out a raise distribution plan for state employees, in case the General Assembly appropriates money to the Department of Administration for employee raises. Under this plan, state employees…

H.4412 would require drug tests as a prerequisite to receiving SNAP or TANF benefits. There are potential constitutional conflicts with this bill. The federal Court of Appeals for the Sixth…

H.4410 and H.4411 would impose further restrictions on food stuffs that can be purchased with SNAP. H.4410 seeks to prohibit the use of SNAP for purchasing sugary foods, and asks for federal waivers…

H.4385 would prohibit counties from adopting budgets which include project revenue from traffic tickets. It would also prohibit counties from revenue from traffic tickets/violations from being expended in the same…

H.4065 makes an exception for the mandatory retirement age of solicitors. Under current law, solicitors are required to retire at the end of the calendar year in which they turn…

S.201 requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to develop a process that prioritizes the maintenance, preservation, and rehabilitation of the state highway system and bridges. The bill further requires that…

S.668 gives local governing bodies the ability to create a clean energy financing program (C-PACE program – commercial-property assessed clean energy program). The program would work like this: The governing…