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« January 2008 | Main | March 2008 »
A computer glitch has disrupted Department of Motor Vehicle service today, according to agency spokeswoman Beth Parks.
The problems were identified this morning by agency tech staff, Parks said.
The agency will not assess any penalties to renew a registration.
Continue reading "Computer glitch makes life miserable for DMV " »
Gov. Mark Sanford today issued the following statement on the House's passage of H.3496, a bill aimed at toughening the state's DUI laws:
"The House on Thursday amended key penalties in the bill back to their original House version, penalties the Senate had sought to weaken.
Continue reading "Sanford praises House amendments on DUI " »
A bill to make secret the list of South Carolinians who have concealed weapons permits was amended by the Senate today.
Continue reading "Concealed weapons list to be sealed, Senate votes" »
The House approved Wednesday a new standardized test for public school students in grades three through eight.
The new diagnostic test, called the Elementary and Middle School Assessment Program (EMSAP) will replace the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test in 2010.
The House is debating a bill that would change the way the state elects the governor and lieutenant governor and would give the governor the power to appoint the state's adjutant general and the state education superintendent.
The bill would require the governor and lieutenant governor to run on the same ticket.
A House subcommittee has approved a bill to dedicate more money to highway funding.
The bill, H.4549, would dedicate a portion of the sales tax on car purchases and ship it to a new account for roads.
The bill has the support of House leadership, as well as business groups.
The House needs to come up with a different state budget that protects Medicaid, the program that provides medical care for the poorest South Carolinians.
Sanford visited hospitals in Greenville and Charleston today, calling on the House to rework the Ways and Means Committee's proposed spending plan that takes $100 million in reserve funds from Medicaid.
"The bottom line is that this budget needs a lot of work if the House is serious about protecting both the people served by government and protecting taxpayers from the effects of poor budgeting," Sanford said. "After the last recession, the lesson should have been learned about taking money from trust funds and digging annualization holes. It's very disappointing that history is about to repeat itself."
Rep. Heyward Hutson, R-Dorhester, created an uncomfortable moment at this morning's House Republican Caucus meeting. Hutson, responding to a post on Web site FITSnews.com, told the caucus that Republicans should be on the same team.
According to FITSnews.com, House Majority Leader Jim Merrill was running the campaign of Hutson's opponent, Jenny Horne. Merrill has denied that he is running Horne's campaign - he ran her campaign to fill the seat last year - and grew red-faced as Hutson spoke.
After the meeting Merrill and Hutson had a heated exchange, and Merrill said they had already talked about the issue in private and assured Hutson that he wasn't working against him.
Speaker Bobby Harrell said the House will have a busy week as both houses have acted on key legislation.
The House will deal with changing PACT testing this week, but Harrell said of a restructuring bill "we're not quite ready to take that up." House leaders were still trying to line up votes, he said.
Two bills will likely begin conference committees this week: tightening immigration and DUI laws.
Lawmakers return to Columbia Tuesday, and the General Assembly will take up bills that would shield the public from the list of South Carolinians who have concealed weapons permits and change the way the state elects its governor and lieutenant governor.
The House Judiciary committee will consider a bill that would shield the identity of who has a concealed weapons permit in S.C. Right now, that list is public information, available upon request.
The House will also take up a bill that would require the governor and lieutenant governor to run on the same tickets, similar to how the nation's president and vice president are elected.
The bill would also make the state's adjutant general appointed.
Gov. Mark Sanford says the House Ways and Means Committee's draft budget could limit the state's ability to pay for health care for its poorest citizens.
Sanford will visit two hospitals Tuesday -- one in Greenville and one in Charleston -- to underscore his concern.
The House Ways and Means Committee passed a budget last week that cut most state agencies by 2.5 percent, but also drew more than $100 million from a Medicaid reserve account.
The money is held in reserve to keep the program solvent during lean budget years and during economic downturns, when more people are typically made eligible for Medicaid coverage.
A Senate labor panel Thursay approved legislation offering an 80 percent tax credit for commercial and residential installation of fire sprinkler systems.
The measure makes the safety feature a voluntary option rather than a statewide mandate, which the panel had previously considered.
The tax credit is available to taxpayers who choose to retroactively install the systems, but is not available for construction that already requires sprinkler installation under existing state law.
The bill, which now goes on to full committee, also prohibits utilities from charging tap fees for sprinkler installation except those associated with actual cost.
Bill would require Web reporting of local government budgets
A group of senators has introduced a bill to require local governments to report their spending online.
The bill would require credit card statements, check registries and all expenses of more than $100 be posted with an explanation of the expense.
The bill would allow the state Budget and Control Board to post the spending of towns and school districts with no Web site. State Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, said other states already require the information be posted online.
"It's just one more small step they could take," Grooms said. "We found out the cost there has been very minimal."
The House Ways and Means committee this morning approved a $7 billion spending plan for the state for its fiscal year that starts July 1.
In addition, the committee laid out how it would spend the $124.5 capital reserve fund left over from last year.
Among the biggest expenses:
The spending plan still has a long way to go before it becomes final. It must be approved by the full state House of Representatives and the state Senate; many changes could be made during that process. The plan then would go to Gov. Mark Sanford for his signature or veto.
The House rejected changes the Senate made to its illegal immigration bill, saying the changes create gigantic loopholes in a bill that would punish employers for hiring illegal workers.
Concerns that representatives expressed today included a provision that exempts nonprofit groups from charges of harboring illegal immigrants. The bill will now head to conference committee where lawmakers will try to hash out a compromise.
“The Senate is hiding behind a smokescreen of press releases after last week’s faux debate,” said Majority Leader Jim Merrill in a news release from the House Republican Caucus. “What is most surprising is that a number of Senators who are most deft at passing legislation shockingly could not convince their colleagues on the importance of a tough law.”
“Facts are facts and the loopholes are wider than our unprotected border,” said Merrill. “We will work with the Senators to fix that.”
The Senate bill, according to the House Republican Caucus, removes language that would let the state seek permission from the federal government to deport illegal immigrants and removes penalties placed on contractors who fail to comply with employment verification on public contracts, "giving the state no recourse against anyone profiting from public projects while hiring illegal immigrants."
A group of senators have introduced a bill to require local governments report their spending online.
The bill would require credit card statements, check registries and all expenses over $100 be posted with an explanation of the expense.
The bill would allow the Budget and Control Board to post the reports for towns and school districts with no Web site. Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, said many banks offer these services. Other states have required this information be posted.
"It's just one more small step they could take," Grooms said. "We found out the cost there has been very minimal."
The House Ways and Means committee has approved a $7 billion state spending plan this morning.
In addition, the committee laid out how it would spend the $124.5 capital reserve fund left over from last year. Among the biggest purchases are $48.7 million to purchase, maintain and operate state school buses. Tourism advertising will receive $10 million while Commerce will receive $7 million to help close deals with companies expanding in S.C.
The budget also includes a 2.5 percent cut for many state agencies that will mean colleges and prisons will get less money and state workers would get a 1 percent pay raise, a third of what state workers have gotten the past two years.
Gov. Mark Sanford will meet with members of the media this afternoon to discuss the first draft of the state budget lawmakers unveiled Wednesday that would take more than $100 million from a Medicaid reserve fund.
Sanford, according a release from the governor's office, will discuss how the nearly $7 billion spending plan will "take money from the Medicaid program -- as well as a number of other reserve funds." Sanford wants to discuss how the budget would impact Medicaid and the state's financial health in general.
The budget, which also includes a 2.5 percent budget cut for most state agencies, might make it difficult for the state to provide healthcare for its neediest citizens, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Sanford will meet with the media at 1 p.m.
A House panel took no action Thursday on a bill to allow lawmakers with concealed weapon permits to carry firearms into public places including the State House. Members of the panel say they need more time to tweak the bill. Robert Butler of the Grassroots Gun Rights organization told the panel all people with the permits should be allowed to carry firearms into public places. The panel will take the issue up again next week.
The House Ways and Means Committee's draft budget will cut agency funding and use agency reserves to cover the state's projected revenue shortfall this year.
The House has balanced its draft budget, in part, by using $105 million in Department of Health and Human Services savings.
The agency has said spending that money leaves the agency with very little money to add new Medicaid patients, as could happen if South Carolinians lose their jobs during a recession.
The agency has said its $120 million in savings amount to less than a month of reserves. By contrast, the state health insurance plan is required to maintain enough money to cover 45 days of expenses.
The state budget is a mixed bag for education in the state.
The state Department of Education escaped the 2.5 percent across-the-board cuts in the House draft budget, but will see little new money this year. In addition, lawmakers expect to collect less from a special sales tax and had to trim bonuses for teacher certification.
For colleges, those cuts will mean millions less. The University of South Carolina, for example, was cut by $4.3 million.
Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, said Clemson University would likely raise tuition.
"I would expect it to increase a good bit," Limehouse said.
State employees will feel the pinch of the state's sluggish economy. According to the House's draft budget, state workers will see just a 1 percent raise for next year. The last two years, state workers have received a 3 percent raise.
The House Ways and Means committee has released a draft budget that includes a 2.5 percent cut for most state agencies.
The cuts were needed, budget writers said, because state revenue growth has flattened over the past year.
In addition to the cuts, the House plan also introduces a number of savings by reducing costs for travel and information technology.
The Senate Education subcommittee said it wants to hear from school districts before it makes a 20-minute recess period mandatory for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Libby Berger, an Upstate high school student who proposed the idea for the bill, told lawmakers recess is vital to students' academic development and helps fight obesity.
Lawmakers said they thought they had addressed school recess and student exercise under the 2005 Student Health and Fitness. Act approved by the General Assembly.
The Senate panel said it may possibly modify that Act if recess is not included.
School officials would get greater authority to report to law enforcement suspected gang-related activity among students, under a bill approved Wednesday by a Senate subcommittee.
Lawmakers said privacy laws covering student records may dissuade school personnel such as teachers from reporting certain student behavior to school resource officers.
"There's concern that there are circumstances where gang activity might not rise to the level of criminal activity," said Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, who sponsored the bill.
School resource officers are prohibited under federal law, in certain instances, from sharing student information with outside law enforcement agencies, state education officials said.
The Senate panel plans to modify the proposed bill, S.965, before it reaches a full Education Committee vote next week.
The House Election Laws Subcommittee will take up a pair of bills aimed at election security.
The first bill would add photographs to voter registration cards.
Another bill the subcommittee will discuss would require proof of citizenship -- in the form of a passport, birth certificate or naturalization papers -- for anyone registering to vote.
House Ways and Means Committee is set to take up state spending again today with an eye on state agencies' reserve funds.
Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Anderson, said the state will fall at least $200 million short of funding basic needs, such as state employee raises, new law enforcement officers and more.
Besides considering across-the-board cuts for state agencies,
possibly three to five percent, the committee will also look at the
reserve funds held by agencies like the Department of Health and Human
Services.
Those agencies have said the money on hand is needed in case of emergency, or has already been committed to programs.
Lawmakers are expected to take an accounting of how much money each
agency has in reserves and determine if any can be used to cover the
expected revenue shortfall.
Gov. Mark Sanford will hold another series of his 'Open Door After 4' meetings Wednesday, where members of the public will be able to meet with the governor in private for five minutes.
Call the Governor's Office at (803) 734-1999 beginning at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday to set up an appointment.
Senators rejected a bill that would ban payday lending and are now working on a compromise to regulate the industry.
Lawmakers opposing a ban won by five votes.
The Senate is now compromising on proposed caps on the amount payday lenders and a limit to the number of payday loans a consumer can take.
Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw, argued for a seven-day cooling off period whereby a consumer would not be able to take on additional payday loans.
Sheheen said if the industry is there for financial emergencies, then it potentially provides a valuable service. But he thinks many consumers continue to take out loans and get mired in a cycle of debt.
"People don't need to keep getting loans week after week," Sheheen said.
The state Senate is taking up payday lending reform, which would put caps on how much the industry can charge for loans and how many loans a consumer can assume at once.
Spartanburg Republican Sen. John Hawkins, an attorney who is suing the industry on behalf of consumers, has taken the floor, arguing the loans enslave borrowers in a cycle of debt.
Hawkins said previous attempts at regulating the industry have been watered down. Hawkins said Tuesday he would vote to ban the industry if given the opportunity, not regulate it. While at the podium, Hawkins issued this challenge to his fellow lawmakers and the lobbyists who are representing the payday lending industry.
"Come up and explain how 400 percent interest is ever right," said Hawkins said.
Gov. Mark Sanford today signed S.588 which should make it easier for small businesses to offer health insurance to their employees.
Sanford had this to say about the bill, which he made a high priority this legislative session:
"First off, I want to thank leaders in the House and Senate - particularly Chairman Cato, Representative Lowe and Senators McConnell and Lourie -- as well as the National Federation of Independent Businesses for pushing for this bill and getting it to my desk so quickly.
"We continue to believe that this is an example of the kind of reform we should be looking at as a first avenue for increasing healthcare availability in our state -- rather than first looking to raise taxes. We know that while there's no silver bullet when it comes to healthcare, this is another tool in helping make insurance more affordable for a whole host of workers and small businesses in our state.
"Given the fact that 97 percent of all businesses in this state are small businesses - and that half of our workforce is employed by those companies - reforms aimed at helping small businesses become especially important in bettering quality of life for those who live in South Carolina. This is also another example, along with things like tort reform and cutting income taxes, of the importance of creating the general soil conditions for businesses to grow and thrive in our state - rather than picking one business over another."
The bill would allow groups of 10 small businesses to band together in order to purchase health insurance for their employees.
The House Ways and Means committee has begun a week's worth of debate in drafting the state's $7 billion spending plan.
Lawmakers will have little money to work with, and chairman Dan Cooper, R-Anderson, said the state will fall at least $200 million short of funding basic needs, such as state employee raises, new law enforcement officers and more.
The committee is considering across-the-board cuts for state agencies, possibly three to five percent. But some agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services will be asked to spend reserve funds.
Those agencies have said the money on hand is needed in case of emergency, or has already been committed to programs.
A group of advocates for the blind greeted the committee, urging lawmakers not to cut funding.
Lawmakers will meet in both the House and Senate at noon today.
Afterward, in committee, lawmakers will take up bills that stiffen the punishment for those who provide minors with alcohol and a bill that will make it illegal for sex offenders to live within 1,000 feet of a school or park.
Also, budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee will take up parts of the state's budget.
Gov. Mark Sanford will sign S.588 in Columbia today, a bill that should help small businesses provide health insurance for their employees by banding together into health-care cooperatives.
The bill signing will take place at 10 a.m. at Nuttall's Tire at 2405 Millwood Ave.
The Senate approved U.S. Attorney Reginald Lloyd to be SLED chief Thursday.
His appointment was announced along with a long list of other statewide appointments, after the Senate went into a lengthy executive session.
Lloyd succeeds longtime Chief Robert Stewart, who retired from the agency to go into private business.
The House has approved a bill expanding a program to attract high-tech researchers to S.C.
Known as the endowed chairs program, the program awards state grants to be matched with federal or private money.
The program has awarded roughly $180 million since its inception.
Gov. Mark Sanford wrote a letter to lawmakers yesterday claiming the bill has failed to meet its goals and asking them to reconsider the bill.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said continuing the program was vital to transforming the state's economy.
The bill passed 107-0.
South Carolina needs two new prisons, just to keep up with its existing 24,000-inmate population, according to prisons director Jon Ozmint. Right now, the state has no plans to build new prisons.
"We've got thousands of inmates right now triple-bunked in 8-foot cells," Ozmint said Thursday on Senate President Pro-Tem Glenn McConnell's weekly public television show.
Several factors, including criminal justice reform, alternative sentencing and overcrowding constitute "a gathering discussion" in the General Assembly over the state's prison system, McConnell said.
South Carolina adopted so-called "truth-in-sentencing" in 1996, which all but eliminates parole for most violent offenders, requiring them to serve 85 percent of their prison terms.
State Attorney General Henry McMaster has called for abolishing parole for all inmates, which would increase the number of prisoners.
Ozmint, who noted no new prisons have been built in South Carolina since 1992, also said building prisons should be "a measure of last resort."
New prisons would cost about $100 million each, according to Ozmint, and take up to three years each to build.
South Carolina's inmate population growth rate, at 1 percent annually, is slower than in other states, Ozmint said. Its $14,000 annual housing cost per inmate is the nation's lowest.
Low-cost maintenance comes with a higher cost in other areas, though, Ozmint said. For example, less money devoted to prison guards means prisons are less orderly. That could drive up medical and legal costs.
McConnell said the state will need new prisons before it takes on new truth-in-sentencing legislation.
A Senate committee said Thursday that they need more time to study a proposal to raise the state's lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax.
The committee is considering a, roughly, 45-cent per pack increase that could give businesses a tax credit to purchase employee health insurance. The committee said there are still questions about how they would implement the tax and the health care credits.
House members today are debated on the floor the future of the state's endowed chairs program, which on Wednesday was criticized by Gov. Mark Sanford as being wasteful.
The endowed chairs program uses lottery money to establish a fund that research universities can claim by proposing research projects. Those seeking lottery money can get a dollar for dollar match for joint projects with the private sector of the federal government.
The most visible example of the use of endowed chairs money is the establishment of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Excellence. It's a research campus that has a graduate school of automotive engineering and corporate research facilities from companies that include BMW.
Since its start in 2002, the endowed chairs program has received $180 million from lottery profits — $30 million a year. However, the legislation that created the program set limits, saying it should get no more than $200 million by 2010.
Williamsburg Rep. Ken Kennedy, a Democrat, asked Thursday to "put some brakes on (the program)."
Kennedy wanted to adopt an amendment to the program to require more reporting on how funds are spent to the General Assembly.
A bill to lower the age that South Carolinians can donate blood to 16 has passed another hurdle. A House subcommittee amended the bill Thursday to include that written parental consent is required for donors who are minors. Also donors cannot be paid for giving blood. The full committee will consider the bill later this month.
A House education committee approved a new standardized test Wednesday for students in grades 3 through 8. The new test, called the Elementary and Middle School Assessment Program, or EMSAP, would replace PACT in 2010.
Committee members and state educators say the new test is superior because it alligns better with the federal No Child Left Behind standards, making it easier to see how S.C. students stack up. Also, EMSAP includes testing over the course of the school year. That way, parents and teachers can see how students are progressing.
A bill that includes the new test is on the House's calendar, awaiting debate.
-- Gina Smith
A press release issued by Gov. Mark Sanford's office Wednesday afternoon:
Governor Sanford Calls for Income Tax Rate Cut of 50
Percent
GOVERNOR
PROPOSES OPTIONAL FLAT TAX,
TO BE OFFSET BY CIGARETTE TAX INCREASE
Columbia, S.C. – February 13, 2008 – Governor Mark Sanford today joined with legislators in
Columbia and visited small businesses in Charleston and Myrtle Beach to call
for an optional 50 percent reduction to the state’s top marginal income tax
rate – from the current 7 percent to 3.4 percent – to be offset by a
30-cents-per-pack increase to the state’s cigarette tax.
“First and foremost,
this debate is about where we want to go as a state with respect to growing our
economy,” Gov. Sanford said. “A lowered and flattened income tax would
represent a significant step towards making our state more attractive, and
improving our competitive position when it comes to growing our economy –
because as the Federal Reserve’s recently said, marginal rates matter in terms
of bringing jobs and investment to our state.”
“Two, let’s be equally clear that while we believe
this proposal would go a long way toward increasing our state’s
competitiveness, it’s also about not increasing the aggregate tax burden on
South Carolinians,” Gov. Sanford said. “Some of the proposals to raise the
cigarette tax for various healthcare programs would at best be another instance
of government picking winners and losers in the private marketplace, and at
worst a $245 million tax increase. Funding Medicaid by increasing the cigarette
tax would only prolong the life of the Medicaid program temporarily – meaning
more tax increases down the road to sustain growth in the program. We continue
to believe that any tax increase needs to be accompanied by a corresponding tax
decrease.”
States’ marginal income tax rates are key to their
ability to grow the economy. According to a recent study from the Atlanta
Federal Reserve Board, “Relative marginal tax rates have a statistically
significant negative relationship with relative state growth.” Put another way,
the lower the tax rate the greater the state’s economic growth.
The current flat tax
proposal, sponsored by House Majority Leader Jim Merrill and others, would
offer South Carolinians two options for paying their taxes, starting in 2009 –
to either pay the current 7 percent rate and be eligible for current deductions,
or to pay a flat tax of 3.4 percent with no deductions. Additionally, the flat
tax would put South Carolina more in line with other Southeastern states’
income tax rates. At 7 percent, our state’s rate is effectively the highest in
the Southeast.
The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee failed to take up debate Wednesday of a bill addressing a permitted water withdrawal system in South Carolina.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Wes Hayes, R-York, takes up withdrawal, permitting, use, reporting and other facets of water rights regarding the state's rivers and lakes.
Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, said the committee will work on the bill, taking up public debate again in two weeks.
A Senate committee agreed Wednesday to strike a provision in the law requiring the state to report a student's HIV status to school authorities.
The Medical Affairs Committee agreed the provision probably violates federal privacy laws, and likely hindered minors from submitting to tests that detect HIV or AIDS.
Students are more likely to refuse the tests than submit, said Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, once they are informed the results will be forwarded to school officials.
DHEC is currently required to report such results to the school's superintendent and nurse, but the agency also worried that the provision in the law requiring the disclosures also violated the student's rights to have their medical history remain private. The measure heads to the full Senate.
The Senate Medical Affairs Committee passed out a bill allowing 16-year-olds to donate blood, with written parental permission.
If approved, the Senate bill would the lower age a minor could give blood by a year, matching the legal threshold observed in 15 other states, including Georgia. "We have to import blood into South Carolina because we don't give enough," stated Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, who sponsored the bill.
Current law requires both an age and weight stipulation in order to
donate blood in South Carolina. The new bill would not allow donors
under 18 to sell their blood without parental consent.
-- Roddie Burris
Orangeburg Rep. Bakari Sellers has been named New Democrat of the Week by the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.
Sellers, in an effort to address childhood obesity in South Carolina, introduced a bill that would ban the sale of snacks and beverages in elementary schools. The bill would also set a new standard for what kinds of snack foods can be sold in middle and high schools.
South Carolina already restricts what snack foods can be sold in elementary schools, banning foods that have "zero nutritional value."
The national Democratic Leadership Council spotlights a state or local lawmaker each week who is doing an exemplary job in helping constituents or in advancing key DLC issues such as childhood obesity.
U.S. Attorney Reggie Lloyd's nomination to become the next SLED chief received unanimous support from the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday, clearing the way for consideration by the full Senate.
Senators, both Republican and Democrats, had glowing compliments for Gov. Mark Sanford's nominee, and voted unanimously to send Lloyd's name forward.
"He has a tremendous mind, exceeded only by his integrity and character," observed Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston. "He will make a great SLED chief."
Lloyd would replace venerable SLED Chief Robert Stewart, who left the agency to pursue a consulting business.
Lloyd told the committee he understands there are serious public safety problems facing the state, and promised to maintain an open door to the General Assembly and the people of the state, if approved by the Senate later.
"It's a real tribute to you, the words that have been spoken here about you today," said Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, who chairs the Judiciary Committee.
A Senate subcommittee continued debate Tuesday on legislation designed to offer tax breaks for installing fire sprinkler systems in commercial and residential buildings not currently required to feature them in South Carolina.
"I believe this subcommittee can deliver a bill back to the full committee," said Sen. Danny Verdin, chair of the committee.
Dozens filled a hearing room where testimony was taken for the second consecutive week on the measure, which has strong support among fire officials, but concerns some business interests, primarily due to costs.
Family members of victims of recent fire fatalities in Charleston and Ocean Isle, N.C. again attended the hearings, though they added no additional testimony to the emotional stories they told the committee last week.
Most of the information the committee heard Tuesday was from fire officials.
"Gentlemen, if there's a fire at your house tonight, there's a one thousand-to-one chance that we will be paying our last respects to you at the State House in the next few days," Ed Roper, superintendent of the S.C. Fire Academy, which trains fire fighters.
Roper, who said three sprinklers could have doused the flames at the Charleston Sofa Store before firefighters even arrived on the scene, urged the Senate panel to include single-family residences in any new requirements it passes.
Verdin said he hopes the Senate committee will be able to debate the proposal next week.
Gov. Mark Sanford will tour the state Wednesday to discuss his proposal for an optional "flat tax."
The plan, according to a news release from the governor's office, "would allow individual South Carolinians the option of paying the current 7 percent income tax rate with deductions and exemptions, or paying at a 3.4 percent rate with no deductions or exemptions."
Sanford and lawmakers who support the bill will talk about it Wednesday in Columbia. Sanford will then travel to small businesses in Charleston and Myrtle Beach to discuss the tax proposal.
House Republicans today were accused of short circuiting an education reform bill that, backers said, was a bipartisan effort to curtail the number of standardized test state students take.
Calhoun Rep. Harry Ott and Georgetown Rep. Vida Miller were among the Democrats who took Republican House Speaker Bobby Harrell to task for filing a similar bill last week.
Republicans, according to Ott and Miller, introduced the new measure after dubbing the effort Ott and Miller worked on this summer as "a Democratic bill."
"That isn't true," Miller said "It was a bipartisan effort."
Democrats agree with much of Harrell's bill, which includes the elimination of PACT testing. Those standardized tests, given to every South Carolina public school student in grades 3-8, are used to grade schools and school districts on the state's annual school report cards.
House lawmakers expect a busy week of debate on the floor this week, as a number of high-profile bills have been approved by committees.
Chief among them, said House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, is a bill requiring businesses install fire sprinklers. The House will also have to vote on Gov. Mark Sanford's veto of a bill expanding Palmetto Fellowship and LIFE scholarships.
In the Senate, lawmakers are trying to finalize a package of bills tightening the state's enforcement of illegal immigration.
Gov. Mark Sanford used his Cabinet meeting this morning to voice concerns about proposed Senate amendments that he says would weaken a DUI bill passed by the House last year.
“A person a day dies as a result of drunk driving in South Carolina,” Sanford said. “We can go on debating this for another two weeks, but what that means is another 14 people would be dead in the process.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee this afternoon is scheduled to continue debating the amendments, one of which would make a proposed tiered system of punishments apply only to repeat offenders.
Sanford, law enforcement officials and victim advocates believe the tiered system — which would tie penalties to a driver’s blood-alcohol content and prior DUI record — should apply to first offenders.
Jeff Moore, executive director of the S.C. Sheriff’s Association, said he was informed that Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, wants the committee to pass out the bill today, with the goal of getting it to a Senate-House conference committee by the end of this month.
— Rick Brundrett
rbrundrett@thestate.com
Monday's announced retirement of Aiken County Rep. Skipper Perry brings to six the number of House Republicans who have announced they will not seek reelection this fall. Perry joins a list that includes Richland County Rep. Bill Cotty, Charleston County Rep. Ben Hagood, Spartanburg County Rep. Doug Smith, Laurens County Rep. Adam Taylor and Horry County Rep. Billy Witherspoon.
Cotty, Smith, Taylor and Witherspoon are all influential members of House leadership.
Two others, Spartanburg County Rep. Scott Talley and Lancaster County Rep. Mick Mulvaney, have announced they will seek Senate seats in June's primaries.
The House passed a bill today to ensure an automated external defibrillator will be placed in every public high school in the state.
Designed to be used by nonmedical personnel, a defibrillator delivers an electric shock to a person in cardiac arrest to restore a normal heartbeat.
Under the bill, school staff members must be trained on when and how to use the device.
In recent years, South Carolina has seen several high school athletes die from heart-related problems or “sudden cardiac death.”
This was the second of three required readings. The bill does not address private schools.
The cost of the program has been estimated at about $357,000 but could be lower, as many schools already have defibrillators.
-- Staff writer Gina Smith
The number of lottery-funded endowed research chairs at the state’s three research universities could continue to grow under legislation approved Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee.
The legislation that created the $30 million-per-year program would have ended funding at $200 million, or in the year 2010, whichever came first. The new legislation would eliminate those limits.
So far, the General Assembly has allocated $180 million to the Centers for Economic Excellence, the official name for the program. Those funds must be matched with other endowment funds, and the interest on the endowments is spent on the research programs.
Centers of Excellence received $2 million to $5 million from the CoEE board of review, and an equal amount is provided from other private, corporate or federal sources.
The CoEE has authorized 34 such centers, and researchers have been hired for 15 of them. University officials estimated the $180 million might eventually support 50 centers with endowments and world-class researchers at their core.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for comparison, has created 208 new endowed research chairs as part of a capital campaign that raised $2.38 billion.
Lawmakers emphasized that the legislature will still have to authorize the spending each year, and some made clear their priorities may lie elsewhere.
Rep. Ken Kennedy, D-Williamsburg, asked Committee Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Anderson, what would happen if the legislature decides it must choose between the research funding, and the lottery-funded scholarships such as LIFE and Palmetto Fellows.
Cooper responded that at this time, the choice is unknowable.
But talking about the individual students’ scholarships, Cooper added: “I don’t see how we can back away from that.”
Representatives of the University of South Carolina, Clemson University and the Medical University of South Carolina made presentations to the two dozen members of the House budget-writing committee, describing research and economic development missions they say could transform South Carolina.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, took the podium to support the bill he co-authored. He said if South Carolina had done what North Carolina did four decades ago in creating the Research Triangle, it might be South Carolina with the higher per-capita income today instead of North Carolina.
“This is one of the most important things we have done since I have been a member of the General Assembly,” Harrell said.
USC Vice President for Research and Health Sciences Harris Pastides said the CoEE is gathering attention nationally and internationally.
“It brings the universities outof their ivory towers and onto Main Street,” Pastides said.
John Raymond, provost and vice president for academic affairs at MUSC, said the state funds have allowed his institution to attract $55.5 million in matching funds so far.
When asked by Kennedy how much of the lottery funds contribute to research professors’ salaries, Raymond said it is standard practice for MUSC to expect such grant-driven research to generate at least
75 percent of the lead researcher’s salary from other sources.
“These are not meant to be ‘fat cat’ awards for people who are at the end of their careers,” Raymond said.
Chris Przirembel, vice president for research and economic development at Clemson, said the $18 million in endowed chair funds that Clemson has received so far was the catalyst for an additional $200 million of investment in Clemson’s International Center for Automotive Research.
ICAR “absolutely” would not have happened without the seed money provided by the CoEE, Przirembel said.
The change in the law to allow future funding for the CoEE will require passage in the full House and Senate.
— James T. Hammond,
jhammond@thestate.com
A House panel has approved legislation that limits where sex offenders convicted of crimes involving children can live.
The proposal approved today would prevent them from living within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare, recreation facility or playground. It now heads to the House Judiciary Committee.
Rep. Joan Brady, R-Richland, said she doesn’t want South Carolina to become a welcome mat for sex offenders in Georgia, which has a similar law. City councils in Cayce and Lexington recently banned all convicted sex offenders from moving within 2,000 feet of places where children congregate regularly.
Brady's bill would exempt sex offenders who bought their home before the law passes.
-- The Associated Press
By SAMMY FRETWELL
sfretwell@thestate.com
The S.C. House defeated a plan today to define nuclear power as a “renewable” form of energy after conservationists complained that it could set back efforts to develop solar, wind and other alternative energy sources.
A compromise presented by Rep. Ben Hagood, R-Charleston, avoided a potentially lengthy floor debate between proponents of nuclear energy and those who oppose it.
Many lawmakers favor nuclear power as a way to limit pollution that adds to global warming. But by a 114-0 vote, the House agreed it wasn’t worth including nuclear in the definition of renewable energy.
Had nuclear been included, conservationists say South Carolina could have had more difficulty getting federal or state support for entrepreneurs in solar, wind, biofuels or other types of businesses. Some people advocate research and development of alternative forms of energy to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil. Among those is Columbia businessman Erik Lensch, who sells solar products.
“Pitting my business against an established industry such as nuclear either makes no sense or bad sense,” Lensch wrote in a Letter to the Editor of The State newspaper this week.
Critics of the bill also speculated that including nuclear in a definition of renewable energy could have helped power companies meet future federal requirements that certain percentages of their energy be renewable.
In taking nuclear out of the renewable definition, the compromise says South Carolina will encourage the development and use of both renewable and nuclear power. Existing state energy policy mentions the development of renewable energy but not nuclear.
“The worst part of this bill, defining nuclear energy as renewable, was averted, so that is quite a positive thing for the state of South Carolina,” said Tom Clements, a representative of the environmental group Friends of the Earth.
But Clements said it is “not a wise thing” for the House to add nuclear as a desirable form of energy. Critics note that nuclear power creates deadly waste that is becoming harder to find disposal sites for.
This week, conservation groups had lobbied lawmakers about their concerns for the bill. They said it is wrong to define nuclear as renewable because atomic power relies on uranium, a natural resource that is mined and will one day run out.
Rep. Skipper Perry, R-Aiken, said there is plenty of uranium to fuel nuclear power for years. A supporter of nuclear power, he suggested the compromise was not necessary. He said South Carolina needs nuclear power, which is more realistic and efficient than solar power.
Even “the crazy French use it,” Perry said of nuclear power. “Don’t knock it. Don’t be afraid of it.”
Hagood said the compromise was not intended to set back any efforts to build a coal-fired power plant near Florence. The plant has been a target of environmentalists because of pollution that will come from its stacks.
A Senate panel has agreed the public shouldn’t be able to see who has a concealed weapons permit.
The legislation the panel approved today would keep the State Law Enforcement Division from providing the information to the public under Freedom of Information Act requests.
Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Greenwood, told the panel the records needed to be kept secret after a Virginia newspaper obtained and published that state’s list of permit holders.
S.C. Press Association Executive Director Bill Rogers said the permit lists should be treated the same as liquor licenses and other state-issued permits, which are available to the public.
The House bill now moves to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
— The Associated Press
A Senate panel gave approval today to a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to donate blood with written parental consent.
The Medical Affairs subcommittee endorsed the plan that lowers the state’s patient donor age restriction from 18.
“This appears to be a sensible way to deal with the blood shortage in South Carolina,” said Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, the bill’s lead sponsor.
American Red Cross officials also touted the legislation, saying that blood from younger donors carries fewer infectious diseases.
Lawmakers say they want to clear the way for patients in residential care and assisted care facilities to remain in those facilities longer, provided the necessary medical care available to them.
A bill sponsored by Sen. Ralph Anderson, D-Greenville, and approved by a Senate subcommittee, would prevent the Department of Health and Environmental Control from ordering the removal of patients to nursing homes and other such facilities, so long as the patient, doctor, legal guardian, and the facility agree to the patient’s continued stay.
The revised bill goes next to the full Medical Affairs subcommittee.
-- Staff writer Roddie Burris
John Kittredge of Greenville is the newest member of the state’s top court.
The General Assembly in a joint session at noon today elected the 51-year-old Court of Appeals judge to fill the seat of Supreme Court Justice James Moore of Greenwood, who is retiring this year.
Two other candidates — Court of Appeals Chief Judge Kaye Hearn of Conway and Circuit Judge John Few of Greenville — withdrew earlier from the race.
Lawmakers also elected Family Court Judge Aphrodite Konduros of Greenville to fill the Court of Appeals seat formerly held by Donald Beatty of Spartanburg, who was elected last year to the Supreme Court. Two other candidates withdrew earlier.
In local elections, lawmakers chose Camden lawyer Dana Morris to fill the 5th Circuit Family Court seat of Rolly Jacobs, who died last year. Alison Renee Lee of Columbia was re-elected to another term as a circuit court judge.
— Rick Brundrett
rbrundrett@thestate.com
A state senator wants to ban advertising on school buses after hearing reports that some districts were considering the idea.
Senator Greg Ryberg says he is appalled by the thought of images of greasy hamburgers or video games surrounding children on their way to and from school.
State public school officials have said they hope ads inside school buses could raise as much as $3 million for the state and lo-cal districts in their first year.
Ryberg introduced legislation Tuesday that would prohibit the ads. More than 20 other senators from both parties support the bill.
-- The Associated Press
Forcing politicians to take drug tests when they file for office may end up on the ballot in November.
Senate Republican Leader Harvey Peeler said opponents had begun challenging the constitutionality of his bill so he has made it into a constitutional amendment instead, which will need two-thirds votes in the House and Senate before voters can consider it in November.
Peeler wants anyone filing for a state or federal office to take a drug test. But both the U.S. Supreme Court and South Carolina Supreme Court have ruled only federal or state constitutions can set requirements for officeholders.
“The citizens think it’s a great idea, but once you get to Columbia, people start picking it apart,” Peeler said.
Peeler filed his original bill in June, shortly after Treasurer Thomas Ravenel was indicted on a federal cocaine conspiracy charge.
-- The Associated Press
State lawmakers soon could learn how much — or how little — revenue is available for schools, police, health care and other state budget items.
The Board of Economic Advisors as early as today could unveil its official projection of state revenues. That projection is the basis for House budget writers when they begin drafting a state spending plan for next year.
Early forecasts have been for a tight budget year, with roughly $230 million in additional money expected. A long list of needs — schools, health care for the poor, statewide 4-year-old kindergarten — could quickly use that money.
House and Senate budget writers have told state agencies to prepare budgets with less money in them than in their current spending plans.
The board also is scheduled to meet Monday. According to S.C. law, the board must issue budget projections in November, February and May.
-- Staff writer John O'Connor
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to postpone further discussion of DUI amendments to a House bill. Those amendments include:
-- Suspending the licenses of drivers under the age of 21 for nine months instead of six months as is now the law.
-- Eliminating in some cases the current requirement that a person be videotaped for 20 minutes prior to the administration of a breath test.
The intent of the amendments, said Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, is to enhance DUI penalties for repeat offenders and drivers with higher levels of alcohol in their systems.
Gov. Mark Sanford disagreed, sending out a press release Tuesday saying the Senate amendments weaken punishments proposed by the House and create new loopholes in DUI arrests. That includes stripping a tiered system of punishment for first offenders based on the amount of alcohol in their blood.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will resume talks Tuesday.
-- Staff writer Gina Smith
Lawmakers in a joint session today will fill 15 judicial positions, including seats on the state’s two highest courts and a local family court seat.
Court of Appeals Judge John Kittredge of Greenville is the only candidate for a Supreme Court seat held by James Moore of Greenwood, who is retiring this year.
Two other nominated candidates for the seat, Chief Court of Appeals Judge Kaye Hearn of Conway and Circuit Judge John Few of Greenville, withdrew earlier when it became clear Kittredge had more votes.
In the Court of Appeals, Family Court Judge Aphrodite Konduros of Greenville is the only candidate for the seat formerly held by Donald Beatty of Spartanburg, who was elected last year to the Supreme Court. Two other candidates — Administrative Law Court Judge John Geathers of Columbia and Circuit Judge Mark Hayes of Spartanburg — withdrew earlier.
Lawmakers also will fill the 5th Circuit Family Court seat formerly held by Rolly Jacobs of Camden, who died last year. Camden lawyer Dana Morris is the only candidate; Kershaw County Master-in-Equity Jeffrey Tzerman withdrew.
-- Staff writer Rick Brundrett
Private pain from the fire deaths last year of nine Charleston firefighters and seven university students was laid before the public Tuesday as grieving family members asked S.C. lawmakers to encourage — and perhaps mandate — more fire sprinkler systems.
“I can’t go back or even drive by the station,” said Lauren Mulkey, who lost her husband, firefighter Capt. Louis Mulkey, in the Sofa Super Store fire in Charleston in June. “What I can tell you is that not a day goes by that I don’t wonder, what if there were sprinklers,” Mulkey told members of a Senate committee considering legislation.
Mulkey perished along with eight of his comrades in the nation’s worst firefighter tragedy since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City.
The Sofa Super Store had no sprinkler system, nor was one required under state law.
Mulkey’s comments were made to a Senate subcommittee that is wrestling with three bills aimed at enticing more businesses, industry and residences to install or improve sprinkler systems in return for tax credits, insurance discounts and waived tap fees to help cover the cost.
“Give them what they need,” pleaded Heather Baity, who also lost her husband, Rodney Bradford Baity, in the sofa store fire. She called on lawmakers to make “a reality check.”
“Sprinklers — it’s a tool,” she said. “A tool for the firefighters. One more tool they can have to do their jobs. It’s our responsibility to give it to them.”
Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, who pre-filed one of the Senate sprinkler bills, went before the committee Tuesday and asked that preference be given to a later bill, filed by Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, that includes incentives for sprinklers in residences, where most fatalities occur in fires.
Neither bill would mandate sprinkler installation.
The House has not considered a sprinkler bill.
Her voice trembling, Margaret Lee, a Florence attorney, told the committee about the pain of losing her son, William.
William Rhea perished in the late-night Oct. 28 vacation home fire at Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., where six University of South Carolina students died along with one student from Clemson University. Six other USC student
