Copper Dome Chronicle: 2024 Session Week 13
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.
This week’s edition, covering April 2-4, 2024, is 995 words or a 4 minute read. Thanks for reading and sharing; we welcome your feedback and commentary!
Resources
SC Election Commission Candidate Filing Tracker (filing closed April 1 at 12:00pm)
Week 13 Preview
The House is taking its second furlough week and won’t hold floor sessions or committee meetings. The next calendar has been published for April 9.
The Senate has 59 bills, seven joint resolutions, and one Senate resolution on its calendar to begin the week. There is one bill in the status of Interrupted Debate, S.994 (electronic nicotine delivery devices), and one bill in the status of Special Order, S.533 (abolish joint and several liability).
S.994 is in a higher status than S.533, so the Senate will likely complete its work on S.994. The debate on S.533 is likely to be considerably longer as the Senate Republican Caucus is divided on the bill.
S.533 has 24 sponsors, which if all sponsors are present is sufficient to pass the bill. However, a motion to invoke Senate Rule 15 (cloture motion) requires at least 26 votes. Additionally, the House companion bill will not pass before the April 10 crossover deadline, so this is the vehicle for tort reform.
This is a classic legislative battle between the business community and the plaintiffs’ bar, but time is on the side of the plaintiffs’ bar. The reasons the plaintiffs’ bar has an edge is the late date in the session this bill is being considered, as well as the impending Senate Finance Committee budget week during April 8 when Senate floor sessions are sometimes shortened. Time will tell if a grand bargain is struck or if tort reform withers on the vine for another year.
There are 32 bills and joint resolutions without a printed objection on the Senate calendar:
H.5267 (Saluda County Council districts)
H.5231 (Bamberg County School District)
S.533 (abolish joint and several liability)
S.208 (county motor vehicle fees imposed on new residents)
H.4957 (name, image, likeness)
S.1095 (telecommunications devices in correctional facilities)
S.87 (tort claim limits against agencies or political subdivisions)
S.154 (SC Street Gang And Criminal Enterprise Prevention and Anti-Racketeering Act)
S.266 (juvenile justice code amendments)
S.543 (insurance reserve fund coverage of state employees)
S.723 (eviction from temporary living spaces and campgrounds)
S.841 (Prosecutors Personal Privacy Protection Act)
S.844 (civil justice study committee)
S.849 (xylazine ban)
S.866 (sexually violent predators)
S.890 (creates a new crime for knowingly discharging a firearm)
S.971 (Barnwell County precinct bill)
S.1048 (alcohol liability)
S.1088 (extend eminent domain powers prohibition of pipeline companies)
S.1112 (fingerprint-based background checks)
S.1126 (constitutional amendment regarding eligible voters)
S.1150 (cultivated protein labeling)
S.1175 (South Carolina Dram Shop Act)
S.1215 (DNR antlerless deer regulations)
S.1216 (DNR wild turkey regulations)
S.1217 (DNR deer depredation regulations)
S.1218 (DSS family child care homes)
H.4029 (housing authorities and magistrates)
H.4552 (affordable housing on redeveloped military installations)
H.4909 (Lancaster County precinct bill)
H.4928 (Veterans’ Trust Fund)
H.4937 (Pickens County precinct locations bill)
Week 12 Review
House floor sessions consumed 15 hours, 12 minutes and passed 44 bills and resolutions. Some bills that were passed and garnered the most debate were:
H.5066 (liquor liability insurance)
H.4289 (higher education DEI bill)
H.5118 (comprehensive energy bill)
H.5120 (resolution urging federal permitting reform)
Senate floor sessions consumed 3 hours, 44 minutes and passed 9 bills and resolutions. Some bills that were passed and garnered the most debate were:
S.95 (comptroller general constitutional amendment)
S.995 (crime of sexual exploitation using a morphed image of a minor)
S.1074 (certified medical assistants)
Committee Schedule Week 13
Some committee meetings that will generate some debate and news. If a live stream link is not provided with a committee meeting that means no live stream is available.
Senate Finance Constitutional Subcommittee; April 2 at 9am; Agenda; Live Stream
Summary: The day has finally arrived when the Office of the State Treasurer and the Office of the Comptroller General will square off regarding how and why $1.8B in state funds sat in an unknown state account. And no one knows to whom the taxpayer funds belong. However, don’t expect any of these funds to be included in any future state budget until the ownership questions have been answered.
Senate Finance Committee; April 2 at 3pm; Agenda; Live Stream
Summary: There are three bills on the agenda: H.4087 (tax credits omnibus bill); H.4594 (annual tax conformity bill); S.1114 (delete titling of outboard motors). UPDATE: This meeting was cancelled.
Senate Finance Budget Subcommittees (5 budget proviso hearings)
K-12 Education; April 3 at 9am; Agenda
Transportation and Regulatory; April 3 at 12pm; Agenda
Health & Human Services; April 3 at 10am; Agenda
Natural Resources and Economic Development; April 4 at 9:30am; Agenda
Higher Education; April 4 at 10am; Agenda
Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee; April 3 at 10am; Agenda
Summary: There is one bill on the agenda: S.853 (Laser Hair Removal Act)
Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Committee; April 3 at 10am; Agenda
Summary: There are six bills on the agenda: H.3963 (coyote and wild hog management); H.4386 (robust redhorse fish protection); H.4387 (hybrid striped bass limits); H.4875 (sale of deer parts); H.4612 (feral hog hunting); H.5007 (Lower Saluda River hook size limit).
Senate Transportation Committee; April 3 at 11am; Agenda
Summary: There are eight bills on the agenda: S.1076 (work zones and driver’s licenses); H.5023 (work zones and driver’s licenses); S.1220 (county delegation approval of state park access); H.4674 (display license plates); S.9 (license plates for the hearing impaired); S.1016 (equine industry license plate); S.1022 (Catawba Nation license plates); S.1094 (beekeepers association license plate).
Senate Medical Affairs Committee; April 4 at 9:30am; Agenda
Summary: There are three bills on the agenda: S.854 (safe syringe program); S.858 (acute hospital care at home); H.4486 (septic tank testing pilot program).
Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Subcommittee; April 4 at 10am; Agenda
Summary: There is one bill on the agenda: H.4820 (wild turkey limits).
Key Dates
January 9: Session Convenes
January 16: Judicial Merit Selection Commission final report published
January 24: State of the State
February 7: Judicial elections (subject to change)
February 15: Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) February revenue estimate
February 20-22: House Ways & Means Committee budget deliberations
March 6: Election of the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court
March 11-14: House floor budget deliberations
March 16: Candidate filing opens for all House and Senate seats at 12pm
April 1: Candidate filing closes for all House and Senate seats at 12pm
April 1-5: House furlough week
April 9-11: Senate Finance Committee budget deliberations
April 10: Crossover Day
April 17: Judicial Elections
April 23-25: Senate floor budget deliberations
May 9: Session Adjourns
June 5: Election of an Associate Justice of the State Supreme Court (tentative)
June 11: Nominating Primary Elections
June 12: Senate budget conference report vote (tentative)
June 18-20: House budget conference report vote (tentative)
June 25: Nominating Primary Runoff Elections
June 26-28: Budget vetoes session (tentative)
July 1: Fiscal Year 2024-2025 begins
October 6: Last day to register to vote
October 21: Early voting opens
November 2: Early voting closes
November 5: General Election Day
