State House Week

Two controversial bills important to the Republican majority made it through the state legislature this week with a week to spare in this year’s session. Bills that could see the resumption of executions, and handguns allowed to be carried in public won final approval, and will soon be on the way to the Governor to be signed into law.

With just two weeks left in this year’s regular session of the state legislature, the fates of a number of high-profile, controversial bills that backers hope to see enacted into law this year remain unclear.

After almost four years of investigations, recriminations, hearings and debate following the V-C Summer nuclear debacle, both the South Carolina House and Senate have now passed bills to bring major reform to state owned utility Santee Cooper.

Since the unexpected closing of schools just over a year ago, students, parents, teachers, administrators, and public officials have grappled with how to keep the state’s 767,000 school children from falling too far behind.

- Pandemic Economy, Projected Tax Revenues, and Calls for Medicaid Expansion -

The budget may not be finalized until June.

The S.C House of Representatives is continuing its focus on controversial gun rights and social issues this legislative session.

The S.C. House of Representatives will soon begin debate on next year’s state spending plan. The proposed $9.8 Billion budget contains just $188 Million in projected new revenue down from an expected over $800 million. But it does include new funding for education, teacher salary bumps, and state prisons.

With Republicans increasing their majorities in the General Assembly this year, conservative members are pushing a number of bills that stand much better chances of being enacted into law than in past legislative sessions.

South Carolina’s ports are one of its’ major economic engines with over a $63 Billion impact on the state’s economy each year. In an effort to maintain the Port of Charleston’s competitiveness with other east coast ports, the State Senate this week approved a resolution authorizing the state to borrow up to $550 Million to allow the S.C. Ports Authority to complete the new Hugh K. Leatherman terminal on the Cooper River. If the resolution is approved by the legislature it will mark the first time in over twenty years that the Republican controlled General Assembly decided to issue government bonds to pay for a major state project. The new Leatherman terminal is expected to double the capacity of the Charleston Port, and at the same time reduce the number of container trucks on congested Charleston area roads by increasing container shipments by rail. The debate in the Senate concerning the Port of Charleston may have actually opened the door for a major new port in the state, the long

When state lawmakers return to Columbia next week the House of Representatives is expected to debate the Fetal Heartbeat Abortion bill. The measure, which has already been approved by the Senate, would forbid doctors from performing abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected usually around the sixth week of pregnancy. The bill is expected to have little trouble passing in the Republican controlled House. Similar bills have passed in previous years. The bill could be signed into law by Governor McMaster as early as next week. Traveling behind the Heartbeat bill in the House is the Open Carry with Training Act. It would allow persons with concealed weapons permits to openly wear a handgun.

The slow pace of COVID vaccinations across the state, and the need to vaccinate teachers in an effort to get more students in classrooms reached a boiling point at the Statehouse this week. In the Senate there was harsh criticism of DHEC, the state’s public health agency for its’ handling of the vaccine distribution. Gov. McMaster announced that beginning next week persons 65 years and older will be authorized to join healthcare workers in receiving vaccinations. A resolution introduced by Republican Majority Leader Shane Massey would direct the 70 thousand teachers and school personnel who indicate they would take a vaccine be vaccinated over a thirty day period ahead of everyone else.

It took 16 attempts over 30 years, but this week the State Senate passed a bill that bans most abortions in the state. Using its new commanding Republican majority the Senate approved the so-called "fetal heartbeat" bill which prohibits doctors from performing an abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. That usually occurs six to eight weeks into a pregnancy. The vote was along party lines. Charleston’s Sandy Senn … one of three Republican women members was the only Republican to join with Democrats in opposing the measure. The bill now goes to the House where easier passage is expected.

Once again this legislative session, conservative members of the SC General Assembly are attempting to restrict abortion in the state. A bill that would ban almost all abortions is being fast tracked in the State Senate. In past years abortion bills have been derailed in the upper chamber. But this session, with a new, stronger Republican majority, supporters hope to finally be able to pass the bill and send it to the House where it has passed before. This week the Senate’s Medical Affairs Committee narrowly approved Senate Bill 1 known as the "Fetal Heartbeat Bill." It would make an abortion illegal if an ultrasound detects a heartbeat which can be heard as early as six to eight weeks into a woman’s pregnancy.

This year’s session of the S.C. General Assembly got underway this week with one member describing it as "a session not like any other." Most lawmakers wore masks as the lingering COVID pandemic altered many time-honored legislative traditions. Adding to the unusual atmosphere at the Statehouse, were extra state police manning posts in and around the building following last week’s insurrection in Washington. Neither the House or Senate will meet next week during the Presidential inauguration. While grappling with the many demands forced upon the state by the pandemic, lawmakers are unsure just how the session will play out. How long will they be able to meet safely, and how will the state’s economy hold up and its impact on tax revenues? The annual State of the State Address was moved-up a week this year with Gov. Henry McMaster (R) again touting his handling of the COVID crisis. He told lawmakers that his decision to keep the state open helped save the economy.

Like the state as a whole, the Sc General Assembly is being impacted by the coronavirus. The House and Senate held separate, one day sessions this week to approve an emergency appropriation for DHEC to help the public health agency deal with the growing pandemic. A larger concern on the horizon for state lawmakers however is next year’s state operating budget, and how it might be impacted.

The state is on its way to having a record state budget. The House of Representatives this week approved next year’s state spending package, and for the first time it totals over $10 Billion . The state’s soaring population coupled with an exceptionally strong economy is leading to larger than expected tax revenues allowing state lawmakers to approve significant spending increases for programs such as education, public safety, and infrastructure. The House budget, now on its way to the Senate would also return some of the tax money to taxpayers, one of Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s budget priorities.

After two years of work and eight weeks of gridlock on the floor of the State Senate … Senators this week were finally able to pass the sweeping School Improvement Bill. Education Committee Chairman Gregg Hembree called it a long, and arduous journey. The bill aims to improve teacher working conditions, streamline required student testing, and give more authority to the state to deal with local school districts that are failing. The bill now goes to the House which passed a similar bill last year. The two versions will have to be reconciled this spring. A possible sale of Santee Cooper, the state owned utility now appears unlikely. Committees in both the House and Senate this week rejected the three recommendations from a panel of consultants regarding the utility’s future.

The S.C. State Senate this week voted to limit debate on the massive public school improvement bill. Senators have been considering the bill for seven weeks. Senate leaders hope to move to a final vote on the bill next week.

Next year’s state spending plan is now advancing through the legislature. This week House budget writers approved a $10 Billion budget package that includes major spending increases in education, roads, public safety, and corrections. The budget that’s now on the way to the full House of Representatives incorporates almost all of Governor McMaster’s proposals including for the second year in a row significant teacher pay raises. What to do about state-owned utility Santee Cooper continues to preoccupy the State Senate. Work on the School Improvement Bill was put on the back burner this week as the Senate’s Finance Committee heard from outside experts and utility executives on proposals concerning Santee Cooper’s future.

For the past several years the issue that’s dominated the state legislature has been the future of Santee Cooper, the state-owned public power utility. Santee Cooper in effect produces electricity for over two million customers in the state. State lawmakers have been pondering what to do with the utility since the failure of the giant VC Summer nuclear project in the summer of 2017. Many have concerns about Santee Cooper’s Management, and the almost $7 Billion debt it's now carrying following VC Summer. The question is so large that last year the legislature passed a special joint resolution that laid-out just how it would go about making its' decision. It charged the state’s Department of Administration with securing bids from potential buyers or operators. After spending $15 Million on banking, legal and utility industry experts, DOA this week passed along the best three offers to be considered.

Four weeks into this year’s session of the state legislature there has been lots of debate, but little movement on several education bills. The Senate is slowly working its way through the massive School Improvement Bill with no end of debate in sight. Senators have turned in several late nights debating the bill and it seems the longer its debated, the more complicated some of the issues become. A controversial bill that would establish so-called education scholarships is in a Senate committee, and there are bills pending in both the Senate and the House that would re-constitute the Board of Trustees of the University of South Carolina.

Teacher Bill of Rights Defeated When the State Senate re-convenes next week it will begin its’ third week of debate on an omnibus School Improvement Bill. For the past two years it’s been the General Assembly’s first priority. It aims to update an array of state policies to produce better educated students, and perhaps most importantly shore-up the teaching profession by keeping good teachers in the classroom and to entice new teachers to the profession. This week the Senate voted to remove the so-called teacher Bill of Rights from the bill, something teachers support and already approved by the House of Representatives.

For the second year in a row, state lawmakers have the luxury of putting together the state’s budget with millions of additional dollars.

This year’s session of the South Carolina General Assembly got underway this week with the Senate beginning debate on the Public School Improvement Bill. Despite some twenty sub-committee meetings where Senators heard from numerous educators and citizens, the massive bill is still drawing the ire of many teachers.

The next session of the S.C. General Assembly doesn’t convene until January, but Republicans in the State Senate are already working to try and pass a bill that essentially would prohibit abortions in the state. It’s known as the Fetal Heartbeat Bill. It won easy passage in the House of Representatives earlier this year, and Republican Governor Henry McMaster has said if the bill passes he’ll sign it into law. Because the bill is expected to have a harder time passing in the Senate its' backers are already at work trying to give it a head start in next year’s session. The fetal heartbeat bill would require an ultra-sound test before an abortion can be performed. If a heartbeat is detected, an abortion would be prohibited. A heartbeat in a fetus usually takes place around the sixth to eighth week of pregnancy, a time when many women don’t realize they are pregnant. The bill allows no exceptions for birth defects, but would allow an abortion if a mother’s life were in danger. Last week a

In the final hours of this year’s session of the state legislature, Senate yesterday passed an economic incentives bill aimed at persuading the NFL’s Carolina Panthers to move it's headquarters and practice facilities from Charlotte to Rock Hill. A $250 Million investment for York County. Rock Hill Senator Wes Climer told the Senate it’s a huge win for the state's economy. Senators opposed to the tax credits, including both the Republican and Democratic Senate leaders were concerned that the proposed benefits to the state were too sketchy for the state to approve some $115 Million worth of tax breaks. The Panthers resolution had already passed in the House of Representatives. Lawmakers left lots of un-finished business when they left town Thursday night. Two major issues, a public education improvement bill and deciding on the future of Santee Cooper remain to be resolved and next year’s $9 Billion state budget package hasn’t been finalized.

Some 10,000 teachers and supporters from across the state descended on the Statehouse this week sending a powerful message to lawmakers that they want more state support in funding and in education reforms, and they are not happy with the school improvement bill pending in the legislature.

School Improvement Bill Pushed To Next Year Leaders in the state legislature had hoped that the magnitude of deciding what to do with state-owned utility Santee-Cooper would not interfere with their efforts to pass a desperately needed school improvement bill this year. But with just two weeks remaining in this year’s legislative session Santee Cooper’s future is being debated on the Senate floor, and the education bill is being pushed to next year.

Budget Also Contains Off-Shore Oil Prohibition The S.C. General Assembly passes hundreds of bills and resolutions each year, but the most important measure enacted by the legislature is the annual State Appropriations Bill. That’s the state’s operating budget for the next fiscal year which begins on July 1. Not only does the budget provide the funding for state government to operate, it also identifies the priority needs of the state. This week the State Senate advanced the $9 Billion budget package which contains spending increases for teachers, colleges, state workers, Medicaid services, and a new statewide voting system. The proposed budget includes $159 Million for teacher pay raises as part of the state’s efforts to keep and hire teachers in order to improve the public school system. All teachers would receive 4 percent pay raises, some more than that, and the starting salary for a new teacher would rise to $35,000 a year.

State lawmakers are in the final month of this year’s legislative session with most of this year's priority bills still being debated. This week, a Senate sub-committee opted to hold until next year's session a controversial portion of the massive school improvement bill in hopes of securing passage of the remainder of the bill this year. The bill which has already passed in the House of Representatives is viewed as the most important matter for the legislature this session. The so-called "accountability" section of the bill is being left behind. It spells out how the state should deal with failing schools and troubled districts. The portion of the bill advancing raises starting teacher pay and eliminates some standardized testing.

This year’s attempt by pro-life members of the state legislature to pass restrictions on abortions is centered in the House of Representatives. A bill that would ban almost all abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected in a woman passed the House Judiciary Committee this week on a mostly party line vote. Experts say a fetal heartbeat can typically be detected around the sixth week of pregnancy. Similar laws have been enacted by other states as abortion foes hope to get a case before the US Supreme Court to challenge the 1973 Roe v Wade ruling. Georgia passed such a law last week. Democrats on the Republican controlled Judiciary Committee questioned supporters about why the state might ultimately have to spend money to defend a law similar to ones that federal courts have ruled un-constitutional.

S.C. lawmakers had hoped to keep the decks at the Statehouse clear this legislative session to be able to focus on improving the state’s public school system. A major education bill has already been approved by the House. But matters regarding the state’s energy future are generating a lot of attention. Aside from the enormous question of whether or not the state should sell Santee Cooper, the debt-plagued state owned utility, the future of solar energy in the state is being debated.

After months of discussion about Santee Cooper, the SC General Assembly this week took the first official actions that could lead to the eventual sale of the state-owned utility. The State House of Representatives and Senate are considering Joint Resolutions that would begin a process to sell Santee Cooper which is burdened by an enormous debt incurred from the collapse of the giant V.C. Summer Nuclear Project in 2017.

This year’s session of the state legislature is at the half-way mark. And right on schedule this week the House of Representatives passed its’ version of next year’s $9 Billion state spending package. It now goes to the Senate. To pay for this year’s push to improve public education the budget contains millions of new education dollars. $160 Million dollars for teacher pay raises. The House version also funds two percent pay raises for state workers, and $32 Million to help shore-up the state’s aging pension system.

The S.C. House of Representatives this week overwhelmingly passed a major bill that overhauls the state’s education system. It pumps more money into the system, gives the state education superintendent more ability to take over low-performing school districts, and creates a nearly $100 Million fund to help bring businesses to places where schools are poor and struggling. The state’s low performing school system is hurting South Carolina’s businesses, and the state's Republican leadership is moving to try and correct deficiencies.