Bills filed during 2/9/21 – 2/11/21

Government Structure

• H.3856 – Adding two members to the Executive Committee of the (SCRA) SC Research Authority, allowing them to purchase private companies’ debt, and increasing the amount of a tax deduction a single person can get for donating to the SCRA
• H.3869 & S.538 – Groups of lawmakers (5 or more) or leadership can review presidential executive orders not affirmed by congress and request the Attorney General examine its validity, it also stops the state from enforcing executive orders that the AG finds unconstitutional or infringes on a number of individual rights
• H.3836 – Legislative rule change to limit the number of bills and resolutions that can be filed to five per lawmaker in a two-year session, however there would be no cap on congratulatory or sympathy resolutions 
• H.3853 – State constitutional amendment allowing 60% of the membership of either legislative chamber to hold a vote requiring the leadership of such chamber to convene a special session not more than 15 days after the vote is taken 
• H.3863 – Local government planners have 15 days to approve or deny an application to build a house or structure, if they don’t decide in this time frame the plan is approved; limits the taxes and fees on a home construction to ten percent, allows a builder to hire a private inspector to perform duties of the local inspector
• H.3866 – Police ethics omnibus bill: creating citizen review boards to review complaints about police and provide recommendations, law enforcement would record and keep complaints, creates criminal penalties for harassing someone who files a complaint
• H.3871 – DOT shall maintain a toll free line to receive complaints from motorists that suffer property damage from road hazards like potholes 
• H.3835 – Legislative rule change that state representatives may not serve more than 3 consecutive terms as chairmen of a committee
• H.3839 – County Veteran Service Officers would no longer appointed and controlled by legislative delegations, instead by the Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs
• S.530 – County Veterans Affairs Officers will now be appointed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs instead of local legislative delegations and the General Assembly will appropriate money to support their offices 
• S.537 – Expanding the power of the Commission on Human Affairs to request documentation from all employers deemed necessary to investigate claims of discrimination, and eliminating the requirement that the complaint and answer of a case about discriminatory practices in housing must both be verified
• H.3882 – Creating a reserve fund for unclaimed lottery winnings, (up to five percent lottery revenue) the funds would be used to support scholarships in the event of a revenue shortfall
• H.3888 – Creating a study committee which shall report on mental health trends in the state, is entitled to per diem, and expires in 2022

Regulations

• S.536 – Bars must derive 51% of their income from food and non-alcoholic drinks to retain their license to do business
• H.3850 – Requiring all new and expanding shooting ranges have written safety plans that are publically available 
• H.3833 – Entering into a multi-state psychology compact in which the organization’s jurisdiction allows cross state tele-psychological visits and temporary face to face meeting in states within the compact
• H.3840 – Entering into a multi-state Audiology and Speech Language Pathology compact in which the organization allows the specialists to provide telehealth services to all states in the compact and make a data system that tracks licensing, education, and disciplinary action of members 
• H.3849 – Regulating when something is considered abandoned property, including the amount of time it is unclaimed, good faith efforts to restore the item, where and how it was found; would also regulate how the item may be claimed or sold including by the state
• H.3857– Regulating maintenance of private roads, stating that even though the roads have to meet certain safety standards the standards will not limit the use of the road
• H.3859 – Commercial recording or audiovisual work disseminating websites must have the owner’s name and contact information available plainly on the website or be open to lawsuit for unfair trade practices
• H.3860 – Allowing mobile optometry units to go to title 1 schools provided the service is part of a not-for-profit program
• S.532 – Regulating “earned income access services”, which are companies that offer your paycheck early for a fee; would not consider them as lenders or involved in offering loans for regulatory purposes, also states that consumers who wish to file a complaint do so through the Department of Consumer Affairs which can bring the case to court and provide limited remedies
• S.533 – A resolution saying that employers shall not pay disabled workers subminimum wages despite a federal law allowing it
• S.535 – Regulating that vehicle tow lots can start charging storage fees only after attempting to notify the owner
• S.539 – Eliminating the commission cap on title insurance sales
• S.545 – Allowing the use of set hooks for fishing in a portion of the Santee River
• H.3878 – Stating that the government cannot discriminate against a person or organization involved in adoption or foster care that declined to provide services on grounds of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction 
• H.3884 – Allowing the SCDNR to transmit owner documents for the title or lien on water craft electronically 

Education

• S.544 – Allowing students to enroll in public or charter schools outside of the district they live in
• H.3868 – School board members have to go through mediation and provide a report of it to the local legislative delegation before they sue the school board or other members on it
• H.3852 – Allowing “extended learning opportunities” for students grades 7th – 12th in which students participate in programs through businesses or nonprofits that are learning experiences agreed on by the local school board and the Department of Education which will count as school credits and in some cases licensing requirement credits
• S.531 – Public and private schools that are middle or high school must designate sports teams by biological sex and only women can play on women’s teams
• S.534 – Micromanaging in detail which US historical events that K-12 schools must teach and requiring universities to teach about foundational US documents every year
• H.3883 – Allowing schools that wish to implement competency based education to do so if they submit a waiver to the State Department of Education and meet the department’s required standards

Taxation/ Spending

• H.3834 – For determining gross income for state income tax purposes, overtime and the first $2,500 of bonuses are not counted
• H.3865 & S.541 – Allowing local governments to require a permit at the cost of $15 to leave a watercraft or floating structure anchored in public waters for more than 14 days
• S.540 – If a married couple lives in a house and either person were to die, the remaining spouse would be exempt from property taxes on the house until they move or get remarried
• H.3887 – Expanding which counties may use the Education Capital Improvement Sales and Use Tax, so as to allow counties with a single school district and 30,000 students. Once they reach these qualifications the county can impose the tax regardless of changes in the school district

Civil Court

• S.529 – A picture or video of an uninsured vehicle damaging a person or property gives the victim the right to sue the driver
• H.3881 – Stalling the progression of statute of limitations for civil cases beginning March 13, 2020 until the state of emergency is over

Elections

• S.546 – Resolution setting the time for the General Assembly to elect a number of universities trustees
• H.3876 – Directors of nursing homes must assist competent residents in voting
• H.3877 – The State Election Commission and county boards of voters’ registration and elections are no longer allowed to accept gifts and donations not provided through ordinary state and county appropriations

Criminal Justice

• H.3870 – A person subject to police body camera recording can get a copy without needing a court order
• H.3851 – Creating a designated fund within SLED to purchase in-car video cameras to record sobriety tests, removing a requirement that DPS monitor the condition and use of police cameras in cars by making it SLED’s responsibility  
• H.3861 – Police cannot use chemical agents such as tear gas or pepper spray on children less than 12 years old
• H.3885 – It is illegal for the owner of a pornographic website or application to allow people under 18 to access it, the Attorney General is given authority to promulgate regulations for the website owners to meet the standard of the law, first offense is a $50,000 fine

Medicine/COVID

• H.3872 – Banning abortions carried out because of race, gender or genetic abnormality
• H.3867 – Allowing telemedicine practitioners from other states to practice remotely to patients in this state as long as they register with the state licensing department 
• H.3838 – Teachers, first responders, and school support staff must be included in phase 1a of the Covid vaccination and anyone who has received the first shot must be offered the 2nd in the appropriate window
• H.3858 – Directing DHEC to identify and vaccinate teachers and other public school employees as part of in phase 1a; school districts must offer 5 days of in-person instruction 28 days after the bill passes
• H.3886 – Directing DHEC to identify and vaccinate teachers and other public school employees as part of in phase 1a; school districts must offer 5 days of in-person instruction 28 days after such persons have had access to the vaccine

Resolutions (Highlights) (22 Total)

• H.3855 – Quoting Thomas Jefferson on the dangers of lawless federal government 
• H.3862 – Resolution making Feb. 6th – 13th “Court Reporting & Captioning Week”
• H.3875 – Resolution declaring the House recognizes pornography as a public health hazard

Road Naming Resolutions 

• H.3873 – DOT shall name a road “Colonel Christopher N. Williamson Road”
• H.3880 – DOT shall name a road “Robert N. King, SR. Intersection”

Previous bills:

• Filed during 2/2/21 – 2/4/21
• Filed during 1/25/21 – 1/28/21
• Filed during 1/12/21 – 1/21/21