• E-Mail
• Print
• Larger
• Smaller

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 / Updated: Tuesday, Feb. 02, 2010 11:46 AM

State Capitol Report: Legislation moves forward in S.C

The second and third week of the Legislative session were punctuated by several important events, including the Democratic response to Gov. Mark Sanford’s eighth and final State of the State address. Given by House Minority Caucus Leader Harry Ott, [D] (Dist. No. 93), this inspirational message urged responsible reform and good government based on a contrasting message to the Governor’s stirring 45 minute speech.

After closed session Jan. 21 when the House Democratic Caucus introduced its agenda, the House Democrats outlined their agenda for responsible reform based on South Carolina values. House Minority Caucus Leader Harry Ott, began with introductions, followed by Rep. Anton Gunn [D] (Dist. No. 79), who discussed the Caucus plan for Transparency and Ethics Reform. Immediately following, Rep. Leon Stavrinakis [D] (Dist. No. 119) discussed Rebuilding South Carolina’s struggling economy.

In addition to introducing legislative agenda for the 2010 session, House Democrats made a number of important improvements to the lives of ordinary South Carolinians. Listed according to their current status, these are:

Bill H. 4404, which improves the efficiency of our courts by getting rid of the requirement that summary court judges or their staffs file the completed expungement order with the clerk of court.

Bill H. 4405, which improves the efficiency of healthcare by defining certain terms pertaining to the dispensation of drugs or devices at Federally qualified health centers.

Bill H. 4411, which supports family values, by making it a consideration of the courts whether or not a mother is breastfeeding a child of less than two years old when awarding custody and visitation rights for the child in a custody hearing.

Bill H. 4406, which improves voter access to the polls by re-designating the map number on which lines of precincts are delineated and maintained by the Office of Research and Statistics of the State Budget and Control Board.

Bills H. 4351, and H. 4352 which help small business by establishing a micro-business study committee and by making it the policy of the state to promote the creation and growth of micro-businesses in this state through the establishment of programs designed to make available start-up capital, and to define a micro-business under the law as a business with fewer than five employees that lacks sufficient access to conventional sources of financing.

Bill H. 4409, which makes a responsible improvement to educational funding by providing that a school district may not receive less than 50 percent of the costs of its foundation program under the Annual Educational Program Allocations.

Last week was marked by debate concerning Concurrent Resolution S. 424, which would affirm the rights of South Carolina based on the Ninth and 10th Amendments to the United States Constitution. While debate of this resolution took up most of the time spent on the floor of the House, Democratic Caucus members also introduced a number of bills:

H. 4412, which would reduce second-hand smoke inhalation by expanding existing prohibitions against indoor smoking to include a larger distance outside of the entry and exit doors. In addition, H.4413 was introduced, which would increase protections for those receiving in-home care by requiring businesses providing such care to meet additional licensing requirements.

H. 4439, which would improve budget accountability by extending the scope of the Tax Re-Alignment Commission to include all taxes imposed by the state, and to extend the time allotted for the study. Also introduced was H. 4440, which would prohibit the Budget and Control Board from making across-the-board cuts, but instead require targeted cuts, with a two-thirds super-majority vote of both the House and Senate to make across the board cuts. Finally, H. 4441 was introduced, which would prevent any supplemental appropriation bill from being put into effect until the state had built up a 10 percent reserve fund of its budget.

H.4427, which would increase the local impact of charitable bingo parlors by providing for their application or use within the county where the games are held. Another example of this is H.4428, which would help small business by prohibiting a municipality or county from making its final deadline for payment of a business license fee any earlier than Oct. 15 of the applicable year.

H. 4450, which would improve accountability of the courts to the citizens of South Carolina by making municipal court judges and magistrates responsible for keeping their own dockets, and H. 4453, which would improve doctor accountability to the patient by increasing disclosure requirements for those receiving medical licenses in South Carolina to include things like previous licenses held in other states and previous malpractice suits.

Progress was made:

Despite taking ample time to debate the merits of S.424, the House sent several bills to the Senate, most notably H. 3803, which makes several improvements to the operation of the probate courts, and H. 3778 and H. 3871, both of which improve the public health and safety by improving reporting, tracking, and analysis of data concerning infectious diseases.

If you have a comment or opinion concerning the matters discussed in this report, call 803-734-3071 or 803-222-3701, or write P.O. Box 31, Clover, SC 29710. If you would like any additional information on these bills, or any other legislation under consideration by the General Assembly, visit scstatehouse.gov.

Rep. Herbert Kirsh serves S.C. House District 47 for Clover and some parts of Lake Wylie.