Bills filed during 1/14/20 – 1/16/20

Spending 

• H.4823 – Orders that 5% of DOT contracts or consulting expenditure are contracted or subcontracted to businesses owned by minorities and 5% is to women owned businesses 
• H.4824 – Each July, Office of Human Resources of the Dept. of Admin. shall increase each pay band by a percentage equal to the increase in the average of the twelve monthly consumer price indices
• H.4953 – PEBA has to let spouses covered by their spouse’s insurance retain the spouse’s plan even if they begin working for the state and qualify for the state plan 
• H.4955 – Allows a retired teacher, ed. admin, firefighter, or county employee to return to work and not be subject to the retirement earning limitation 
• S.988 – Increasing C fund payments for CTC of Kershaw to $90 a meeting for members and $175 for the chairman
• S.997 – Mandating 12 weeks of leave for state employees upon birth, adoption, or fostering of a child 
• S.994 – Lee County CTC will get $100 in C funds for up to 15 meetings a year and the chairman of the Lee County legislative delegation shall serve as an Ex officio member of the CTC
• S.974 – To extend the SC Abandoned Buildings Act Ch.67 Title 12 until 12/31/2024 (tax incentive to revitalize abandoned structures)

Regulation 

• H.4828 – Allows sale of non-traditional flood insurance and changes regulation on  traditional flood insurance, they are subject to the National Flood Insurance Program rules and are governed by the state and are required to report activity to the department of insurance
• H.4829 – Setting when a reinsurance credit is issued to an insurance company, requirements to be part of the department of insurance, the director being allowed to set where you can practice within the state, qualifications for reinsurance and practice 
• H.4833 – PSC can allow petroleum pipeline companies to use eminent domain, notification required for condemnation or entrance, and a “buy back” program that if the company does not use the property in five years after they condemn it, you have a year to buy it back  
• H.4937 – Adding 501(c)5 (unions & agriculture associations) to the state’s DOR non-profit list, allows them to hold “raffles,” adds a clause that they can pay people to  help with the raffle even if they are not actual staff, increases amounts that can be doled out through raffles, and removes reporting requirements for itemized costs and proceeds in favor of internally kept records for three years
• H.4963 – Wholesalers may provide samples (limited to 3 liters annually) to retailers of wine, cordials, or spirits as long as they are not resold
• H.4959 – HOAs may not stop people from flying the American flag on their property 
• H.4945 – Allowing large seawalls to be damage assessed on a continuous project instead of lot by lot
• S.1016 – No more than 3 unrelated people may live in a single family home unless granted an exception by the local zoning board
• S.984 – DHEC will provide public notice of significant wastewater spills by utilities 
• S.982 – Eliminating auto titles of ‘wreckage or salvage’ and creating a “vehicle tile brand” that includes specifics on what happened to the vehicle to grant it this designation (ie salvage non-removable, salvage non-rebuild-able, salvage flood, etc.)
• S.993 – Creating a permit to allow wineries, breweries, and distilleries to sell and provide samples at festivals 
• S.1007 – Businesses that serve alcohol in airports are not subject to hour restrictions or merchandise restrictions of state law for alcohol sales, can be set internally by the airport 
• H.4958 – No naming a publicly owned property after a state official until five years after their death
• S.979 – Liability insurer may file a claim for contribution from another liability insurer that is contractually bound to defend the same liability 
• H.4939 – Limiting liability of car insurance for a death to $150,000/person
• H.4952 – If the owner of a dam that has a public road on it that was breached on or after Oct. 1st 2015 they have a year to report it and let the DOT & DHEC know if they intend to repair it within the next two years, if not the DOT will fix the road without the dam  

Energy

• H.4830 – Allows local governments to contract with properly licensed groups to bury transmission lines, and coops and utilities must fully cooperate with a local government that wants to bury a transmission line 
• H.4940 – Resolution to create Electricity Market Reform Measures Study committee

Judicial

• H.4831 – Putting the illegal trade, capture or killing of non-game wildlife, reptiles, and amphibians under magistrate jurisdiction, increase fines, and expands the definition of “Alligator propagation facility” slightly  
• S.1018 – Juvenile justice overhaul; circuit solicitor must establish juvenile civil citation instead of criminal prosecution for qualified children, threats of mass violence are prosecutable instead of threats of bodily harm, weakening the punishment for delinquency, and more aimed at reducing child incarceration does add new funds and spending  
• S.1002 – Voir dire on equity cases may be committed by direct and oral questioning, the number of jurors to be drawn from will be determined by the judge of the trial  instead of being 20
• S.1008 – Increasing the statute of limitations for civil liability of sexual assault, sexual abuse, or incest to be commenced by a person before the age 55 or five years (formerly 21 and 3) from discovery of the causal relationship between the damage and the act
• S.983 – Writ of executions may have active energy beyond the ten year limitation against real property or other property 

Criminal law

• H.4955 – Adding a mandatory minimum of 180 days imprisonment for driving with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of others and not pulling over when signaled by a cop 
• H.4832 – Drivers must maintain “safe operating distance” between a bike and car which is 3 feet 
• H.4835 – DOT must place signs telling slower traffic to move into the right lane every 35 miles. person violating this can incur a fine of $200, 30 days imprisonment, and/or 2 points against your license  
• H.4936 – Deleting a prohibition on possessing “nongame devices” while also in possession of “game fish devices”
• S.995 – Prohibits the sale of flavored vapor or tobacco products with a penalty of up to 1 year imprisonment 
• S.976 – Creates a new classification of Law enforcement “Advanced State Constables” who can be requested by a local police chief giving them more advanced training, SLED involvement, and statewide jurisdiction
• S.981 – Creating a new crime “Drug induced homicide” a person who gives drugs unlawfully that is the proximate cause of death is to be imprisoned for 2 to 30 years 
• S.987 – Makes it illegal to shoot fireworks on public beaches 
• H.4942 – Notification of surrender of a driver’s license due to a crime must be sent electronically to the DMV within 5 days of verdict
• S.992 – Making flying a drone over a farm without permission punishable by fines and jail time, the offense and nature of it shall be reported to SLED and shall be kept on record for 10 years

Education

• H.4836 – SC early reading development and education program will be statewide starting 2021-22 school year, kids who score in the lowest 25% nationally can qualify for the program even if they don’t meet income requirements
• H.4960 – Public universities must allow free speech including protests that are not violent or take over areas that were reserved for a purpose at that time
• S.985 – Schools operating on a modified year-round schedule may not have longer then a 4 week break 

Medical

• H.4938 – Allowing more patients to get electronic prescriptions and allowing 5 day supply of schedule 2 through 5 to be electronically prescribed 
• H.4834 – CRNA (nurse anesthetists) needs a “minimum” of a masters in their field (minimum was the only addition)
• S.980 – Naming MUSC, Prisma, and USC medical group as Regional Tertiary Level Developmental Evaluation Centers in charge of helping children with development conditions and training of regional facilities 
• S.990 – Elimination of “certificate of need” and fees, adds some of the regulatory oversight from the certificate to the existing licensing procedure 
• S.991 – Health insurance companies must offer a cost sharing incentive program for people who buy shop-able health care saving the insurance company money and the company must report annually to the department of insurance about success and participation in the incentive program 
• S.1014 – Every licensed hospital has top create and report a strategic contingency plan in case of a merger or change in management ensuring that service is not lost nor price increased to under-served communities
• S.1006 – Health care sharing ministry is not considered to be engaging in the business of insurance, had a few regulations on nature of the organization 

Government structure

• H.4826 – Putting 8 more licensing committees under the control of DLLR, letters of caution are not subject to FOIA, voluntary permanent relinquishment of a DLLR license is permanent and stops disciplinary actions by the board
• H.4954 – Veterans affairs has to fund and transport veterans to the VA on a county by county basis if approved by the local legislative delegation 
• S.975 – Consolidate Clarendon school districts 2 & 3 as well as giving the delegation powers over it, including appointing original board
• H.4941 – Removes protection against awarding attorney fees in a civil action against DSS for child abuse or negligence 
• S.989 – Giving the Georgetown legislative delegation sole “recommendation” power to appoint Horry-Georgetown Technical College Commission 
• S.1017 – Local detention facilities are not subject to the South Carolina Commission for the Blind regulations on assisting blind people to operate and own vending facilities on public property 
• S.1010 – Adds 2 non-voting members to the Aiken County Commission for Technical Education
• S.998 – Creating Electricity Market Reform Measures Study Committee.  Six are voting members (legislators) and twelve are non-voting members.
• H.4943 – Resolution to create rural communications infrastructure study committee
• H.4957  – If a municipality charges non-residents comparatively higher rates for water and sewer services the non-residents are entitled to elect extra members to the municipal council to represent them, but they will only have limited powers
• S.1009 – If an agent for service of process is not hired or retained by a limited liability partnership in this state the Secretary of state becomes the agent of the partnership

Elections

• H.4944 – Adding a voting precinct to Spartanburg
• S.973 – Candidates may use campaign money to pay for childcare incurred by campaign events
• S.986 – Campaign accounts must be IOCAs which contribute the interest on funds to the SC State Ethics Commission and allow the Commission to have “view only” access to the campaign accounts 
• S.1003 – Combining voting precincts Breweton and Princeton into one precinct within Laurens county

Other

• H.4825 – September of every year is designated ‘Snakebite Awareness Month’
• H.4827 – PURC shall extend its screening time for the selection of PSC
• S.996 – PURC shall extend its screening period for seats on the PSC
• H.4837 – Making general election day a state holiday