Copper Dome Chronicle: 2023 Session Week 14
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 April 10-15, 2023, is 744 words or a 3 minute read. Thanks for reading and sharing; we welcome your feedback and commentary!
1. Senate Passes Bail Bond Reform
The Senate had all the attention under the copper dome last week as the House took its second furlough week. The Senate spent 7 hours, 25 minutes on the floor giving seven bills third reading and returning one Senate bill to the House with further amendments. The main legislation for the week was H.3532, commonly known as the bail bond reform bill. This is a policy priority for both the House and Senate Republican Caucuses. The Senate worked collegially to find a path to passage, with Sen. Brian Adams, Sen. Gerald Malloy, Sen. Greg Hembree, and Sen. Brad Hutto involved in almost every moment of the floor debate and substantive amendments. The bill received third reading by a vote of 43-0.
In addition H.3532 other bills receiving third reading last week were S.593 (Orangeburg County precinct bill), H.4215 (Spartanburg County School District 7 board member districts), H.4216 (Spartanburg County School District 5 board member districts), H.3605 (LLR investigations against licensees; apprenticeship expansion), S.698 (Clemson University parking regulations), and H.4099 (Lancaster County precinct bill). S.604 (authorize ARPA funds) was amended by the Senate and returned to the House, where the chamber will either concur or nonconcur in the Senate amendments. Concurrence sends the joint resolution to the Governor for his signature or veto, while nonconcurrence sets the stage for a conference committee.
2. Crossover Completers
With both chambers reaching their crossover deadlines, below are some bills that are alive and may be enacted this year without the special two-thirds vote required by both chambers’ rules for bills received after April 10. A Top 25 list of policy areas where bills made crossover (in no preferential order):
Bail bond reform (H.3532)
Certificate of need (CON) repeal/reform (S.164)
Parental/school choice (S.39, H.3843, H.3591, S.285)
Anti-fentanyl trafficking (H.3503, S.1, S.153)
Abortion rights (S.474, H.3774)
DHEC restructuring (S.399, H.4124)
DDSN restructuring (S.602)
Workforce development restructuring (H.3726, H.4060)
Child welfare bills (H.3553, H.3554, H.3555, H.3556, H.3558, S.341, S.342, S.380, S.612)
Parental leave for school employees (H.3908)
Teacher retention and recruitment (S.124, S.125)
Alien land ownership (S.576)
DUI/ignition interlock requirements (S.36)
Lethal injection shield law (S.120)
Pharmacy benefits managers (S.520)
Anti-ESG (H.3690)
Workforce housing (S.284)
Auto dealers and the DMV (S.549, H.3518)
Structured settlements (S.259)
Pari-mutuel wagering (H.3514)
Intentional damage of utility equipment (S.330)
Curriculum transparency (H.3728)
Gun rights (H.3594)
“Carolina Squat” bills (S.363, H.3414)
State carnivorous plant designation (S.581)
3. Bill Introductions
Because the House was on furlough new Senate introductions are highlighted.
S.723 - Introduced by Sen. Scott Talley, this bill allows an innkeeper under the Lodging Establishment Act to eject someone from a campground permitted under the act while allowing the person ejected to make a claim for property left behind within ten days of the date of ejection. With the recent increase in people living that #vanlife, it’s not surprising that some campground owners are having to deal with unruly campers/glampers.
S.729 - Introduced by Sen. Mike Gambrell, the bill would allow 8th grade students who participate and train in a military or naval JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) program to satisfy the 1 credit hour required for a South Carolina high school diploma. In August 2021 the State Department of Education, under State Superintendent Molly Spearman, provided guidance to school districts that JROTC would not count towards the physical education requirement but rather an elective credit.
S.731 - Introduced by Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, this bill would direct 15% of premium taxes levied on insurance carriers to the Office of Resilience (SCOR). The agency is associated with natural disaster recovery efforts, such as hurricanes, and its mission is to reduce the impact of natural disasters by planning and coordinating statewide resilience, long term recovery and hazard mitigation. In FY 2021-2022, premium taxes generated $283.5M, which if this bill had been law last year SCOR would have received $42.5M. SCOR estimates a $20M recurring appropriation is necessary to complete mitigation projects reducing risk to people and property. States began creating chief resilience officers (CROs) around 2018; as of February 2023 sixteen states had CROs according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
