SC legislative action for the week

May 11, 2009 by senatormcconnell

The 16th week of the legislative session:

STATE BUDGET: South Carolina legislators said Thursday they hope to send a budget to Gov. Mark Sanford’s desk without days of negotiating between the two chambers. The Legislature has six more meeting days before planning to take an early adjournment May 21 to save money, and there’s too little money to argue over. The biggest budget differences between the chambers involve spending $350 million in federal stimulus cash and plans to force Sanford to apply for the money. The House spread the money throughout its budget, but the Senate created a separate section for the federal cash. That makes it clear what happens if Sanford doesn’t request the stimulus money. House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the House will go along with that approach, although leaders say they’re still working out compromises on details of the spending.

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CIGARETTE TAX: South Carolina’s cigarette tax would increase by 50 cents per pack under a plan legislators approved Thursday that would face a certain veto from Gov. Mark Sanford. With a 16-5 vote, the Senate Finance Committee agreed to raise the nation’s lowest cigarette tax from 7 cents to 57 cents a pack. That came after legislators stopped arguing about how to spend the $145 million the tax would raise. They decided instead to impose the tax in July, create a trust fund for the money and put off spending decisions until next year. The bill may never get to Sanford’s desk. House Speaker Bobby Harrell raised concerns about not spending money on the health insurance tax credits that he wanted, and putting it instead in a trust fund. If that’s what the Senate sends to the House “it makes it very difficult to get it passed this year,” Harrell said.

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PAYDAY LENDING: The strongest opponents of the payday lending industry lost a key vote Wednesday in their bid to impose tougher regulations. The Senate voted 27-14 to refuse to adopt an amendment to impose a one-week waiting period between loans. It also would have limited consumers to borrowing no more than $500 or 25 percent of their income during the two-week loan period. The proposal was essentially the same regulation the Senate approved last year, which the House refused to debate. Industry opponents long ago dropped any notion of outlawing the industry as North Carolina and Georgia have done. The bill before the Senate calls for a two-day waiting period and a loan limit of $500 with no link to income. That’s far tougher than the House-passed legislation calls for: requiring a break in borrowing only after 10 consecutive loans and limit of $600.

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KITCHEN TABLE POKER: Legislators have advanced proposals to allow kitchen-table poker, gambling-themed fundraisers and raffles in South Carolina. A Senate panel approved the bills Thursday, moving them to the full Judiciary Committee. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell of Charleston says the state’s antigambling laws need a common sense overhaul. Those 207-year-old laws ban “any game with cards or dice.” McConnell wants to make gambling in private homes, where the house doesn’t profit, legal social gambling. He also wants to allow nonprofits to hold limited “casino night” fundraisers. A proposed constitutional amendment would allow raffles. Currently, the state lottery is the only legal raffle.

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VOTING-PHOTO ID: A bill that allows for two weeks of excuse-free early voting before elections in South Carolina, but eliminates in-person absentee voting and requires voters to show identification at the polls was advanced Thursday by a Senate panel. A Judiciary subcommittee added early voting – which Democrats advocate as making voting easier and faster – to a voting ID bill condemned by Democrats and civil rights groups as making it harder for elderly, disabled, poor and minority residents to vote. The bill now heads to the full Senate Judiciary Committee. Republicans say requiring a photo ID is an issue of voter integrity. Voters would have to show a valid driver’s license, state-issued ID, passport, military ID or work ID for state, federal or local government jobs. The bill waives the $5 fee for a state ID for residents over 17. Some Democrats complained the way the measure sets up early voting would actually limit voters’ access and lengthen lines. Voting absentee within a month of elections – which requires an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day – would be limited to mail only.

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BANNING MEGA DUMPS: A proposal designed to curb the creation of giant landfills in South Carolina that import out-of-state waste received approval Thursday from a Senate committee. The rule, which takes effect in late June, would change the permitting process for landfills. Conservationists, residents, lawmakers and Gov. Mark Sanford have railed this year against the so-called “mega dumps.” South Carolinians sent about 4.8 million tons of household trash to the state’s 18 municipal solid waste landfills in fiscal year 2007, while an additional 1.8 million tons of trash came in from other states – the largest chunk, or 36 percent, from neighboring North Carolina, according to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. But existing rules allow the total to climb to 42 million tons of trash yearly at 19 landfills. The new rule would scale back the maximum to 10.8 million tons yearly, or about 1 million tons above what current permits allow.

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MIXED MARTIAL ARTS: Legislators have moved South Carolina a step closer to hosting mixed martial arts contests. The Senate Labor Commerce and Industry Committee on Thursday unanimously approved lifting the state’s ban on the fighting events and put the sport under the regulation of the state Athletic Commission. The bill heads to the full Senate. The House approved it in February. The sport combines elements of karate, judo, jujitsu and kickboxing. South Carolina would join 37 other states that have approved mixed martial arts contests since formal rules were created in 2001. Beyond boosting the local economy through hotel stays, meals and other spending, officials say it would give 5 percent of ticket receipts for the state Revenue Department and another 5 percent for the Athletic Commission.

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STATE HOLIDAY: Christmas Eve would become a holiday for state government employees automatically under a bill advanced by South Carolina legislators. Current law allows the governor to decide each year whether to declare Dec. 24 a legal holiday. The measure approved by the Senate on Thursday would remove that ritual. It faces another, perfunctory vote before going to the House. Gov. Mark Sanford’s spokesman, Joel Sawyer, said Dec. 24 is a de facto holiday anyway, and the governor supports putting it into law.

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BORN ALIVE: South Carolina legislators have advanced a bill that ensures a fetus who survives an abortion attempt is not treated as medical waste. A Senate panel approved the bill Wednesday, sending it to the full Judiciary Committee. The House approved it in February. The proposal defines a person as anyone who is breathing and has a beating heart after birth, whether by labor, cesarean section, or abortion. A fetus who survives an abortion attempt would be entitled to treatment or comfort as any other person. The bill copies the U.S. Born Alive Infant Protection Act signed in 2002 that applies to federal property and facilities.

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SC STIMULUS: South Carolina legislators may have found another way to get under Gov. Mark Sanford’s skin: sticking around indefinitely. The Senate could take up a House resolution next week that allows them to return to Columbia anytime between June and January. It calls for the GOP-dominated Legislature to adjourn a couple of weeks early on May 21, but also lets them return later to deal with vetoes, budget problems or an ongoing federal stimulus cash fight with the Republican governor. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said Friday it also keeps the Republican governor from naming people to boards and commissions before the Senate reviews their qualifications. Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said the governor has no plans to circumvent screenings and the Senate’s review role.

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