Copper Dome Chronicle: 2023 Session Week 12
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Copper Dome Chronicle, sponsored by Advocatus. We strive for substantive writing with brevity, inspired by the book Smart Brevity; one of the best books about communications and writing we’ve read in years.
This week’s edition, covering March 27-31, 2023, is 915 words or less than a 4 minute read. Thanks for reading and sharing; we welcome your feedback and commentary!
1. Senate Reaches Its Crossover Deadline
The Senate spent the week working through its calendar and it was announced the chamber would meet in perfunctory sessions April 3-5 in order to all the Senate Finance Committee to vet, debate, and vote on its version of the FY 2023-2024 General Appropriations Act. A perfunctory session means the Senate does not debate or vote on legislation; permitted actions include new Senate legislation introductions, receipt of House legislation, receipt of Senate committee reports, and consider local legislation that has the support of the local delegation. This meant for legislation originating in the Senate, the crossover deadline was March 31 to receive 3rd reading or else be subject to a 2/3 vote requirement in the House this session under House Rule 5.12. Bills sent to the House last week will be read across the desk on April 4 and referred to committee, making the crossover deadline.
The two bills drawing the most debate last week were S.298 (DOR authority regarding combined corporate income tax returns) and S.284 (workforce housing and local option sales tax uses). The Senate consumed slightly more than 10 hours of floor time last week and the current calendar stands at 18 pages, excluding the pages for upcoming receptions, as compared to 23 pages the prior Tuesday. On March 30 the Senate set H.3532 (bail bond reform) for special order, which means when the Senate returns to statewide sessions the week of April 10 this bill may dominate that week. The Senate has a bail bond reform bill on its calendar, S.367, that was reported favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 22.
2. House Returns From Furlough Racing Towards Its Crossover Deadline
The House returned from furlough and worked its calendar, spending 7 hrs, 22 mins on the floor. The most debated bill last week was H.4066, an elections law bill supported by the South Carolina Republican Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party. The bill updates decades-old laws regarding how political parties are organized, the number of delegates allocated to state and county conventions, and the process of managing protests of the results of nominating contests, which are often called primary elections. Members of the House Freedom Caucus offered several amendments that were debated and defeated. Other bills that saw some debate, but were ultimately read a second and third time, included H.3843 (interdistrict and intradistrict open enrollment in public schools); H.3682 (care of animals if the owner is arrested); and H.3951 (Working Agricultural Lands Preservation Act). The current House calendar, excluding pages for upcoming receptions, stands at 23 pages compared to 7 pages the prior Tuesday. This represents the work of several committees last week producing committee reports on dozens of pieces of legislation.
With the Senate announcing perfunctory sessions April 3-5, the crossover deadline for legislation originating in the House is April 6. This means House legislation needs a third reading on or before April 6 and the Senate must receive the legislation on or before April 6. The House will convene at 10am on April 6 and the Senate at 11am. Because the crossover deadline in the rules of both chambers is April 10, and neither chamber will be in session on April 10 as of the date of this post, April 6 is the House crossover deadline. The Senate may consider House legislation received after April 10 by a 2/3 vote in accordance with Senate Rule 47.
3. Bill Introductions
H.4185 - Introduced by House Education & Public Works Chair Shannon Erickson and House Education & Public Works Motor Vehicles Subcommittee Chair Doug Gilliam, this bill makes revisions to some code sections regarding driver’s education, such as allowing online learning for the classroom training portion of driver’s education, extends the exemption for a vision screening if a driver has proof of a vision examination from a licenses ophthalmologist or optometrist from 12 months to 36 months, and increases the licensing fee from a driver training school from $50 to $200.
H.4218 - Introduced by House Speaker Pro Tempore Tommy Pope, the bill would prohibit life insurance carriers from canceling, limiting, or denying coverage, or establishing differentials in premium rates based upon genetic information. In 2008 President George W. Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits health insurance carriers from using genetic information to make coverage or premium rate decisions. However, GINA protections do not extend to life insurance, disability insurance, or long-term care insurance. Under the bill, life insurance carriers would still have access to and could use medical records when an individual is applying for a life insurance policy.
S.684 - Introduced by Senate Transportation Chair Larry Grooms, this bill begins setting the stage for electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure in the state by creating definitions and establishing criteria for persons and companies to resell electricity to the public for the sole purpose of operating an EV charging station. While South Carolina will manufacture thousands of EVs in the future, the state needs to establish the laws and regulations that support EVs in operation.
S.694 - Introduced by Sen. Scott Talley, this bill expands existing law regarding recycling facility tax credits to include “batteries, solar panels, turbines, and related structures” in the definition of postconsumer waste materials. There are likely several recyclers who may benefit from this legislation, such as Redwood Materials that announced in December 2022 a $3.5B facility located in Berkeley County.
