Copper Dome Chronicle: 2024 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.
This week’s edition, covering April 9-11, 2024, is 1,029 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 14 Preview
The House has 26 bills and concurrent resolutions on its calendar eligible for debate to begin the week, including one bill on the contested calendar: H.4187 (retail theft). Given the impending Crossover Day deadline on April 10, several House bills will need to pass by or on this Wednesday:
H.5144 (school mapping)
H.5230 (Permit Attorney General participation in retirement System for judges and solicitors)
H.5235 (Medicaid conformity)
H.5236 (Medicaid procurement using NASPO)
H.4622 (itemized medical billing)
H.4187 (retail theft)
There are very few House committee meetings this week so it is anticipated House floor sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday will be long. Expect to see a motion to waive House Rule 5.10 by invoking House Rule 5.15 (the printing rule) many times this week. Several committees meet the week of March 25 and may not have filed all committee reports yet, which in order to meet the crossover deadline will need to have this motion made. A two-thirds vote is required to waive the printing.
The Senate will not hold statewide floor sessions this week, but convene briefly on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to receive any bills passed by the House in order to meet Crossover Day. The Senate will not debate any legislation this week on the floor.
Crossover Day
There is an important upcoming legislative deadline: April 10. If a bill has not passed its originating chamber (i.e. a House bill passing the House) and received by the other chamber by April 10, then that bill cannot be considered without a two-thirds procedural vote. Associated with Crossover Day is a change in committee activity. Committees will start debating the other chamber’s bills (i.e. House committees debating Senate bills) because those bills have already met the crossover deadline and don’t have the two-thirds procedural vote requirement to meet.
Because the Senate will not debate legislation on the floor this week, the crossover deadline for Senate bills has passed. Below are some “crossover casualties,” which are Senate bills with at least 8 sponsors (20% of the Senate membership) but did not pass the Senate last week. While the number of sponsors is not a perfect predictor of a bill’s likelihood of passage, it says something about the support for a bill.
Bills on Senate Calendar
S.143 (orders of protection in dating relationships)
S.440 (Second Amendment Protection Act)
S.533 (joint and several liability)
Bills in Senate Committees
S.148 (no cost school meals)
S.234 (Parents Bill of Rights)
S.409 (prohibit Senators from appearing before magistrates in delegation counties)
S.527 (state monuments and memorials)
S.559 (prohibit use of social credit scores)
S.591 (Children's Default To Safety Act)
S.622 (state shared-risk defined benefit plan)
S.673 (Palmetto Legislative Military Appointment scholarship program)
Lastly, this is the second session of the two-year legislature. After the legislature adjourns for the year, any legislation that has not passed both chambers and presented to the governor for his decision is dead. All legislation that did not pass in 2024 must be introduced as new legislation in 2025 to coincide with the new, two-year legislature that begins in January 2025.
Week 13 Review
The House took its second furlough week so no floor sessions or committee meetings were held.
Senate floor sessions consumed 15 hours, 41 minutes and passed 22 bills and resolutions. The debate most were watching last week was S.533 (joint and several liability), which was a classic exercise in Senate voting patterns.
On Tuesday the committee amendment, ostensibly supported by the plaintiffs’ bar, was tabled on a surprising 21-20 vote. A motion was made to reconsider the vote, which failed as well on a 19-22 vote. The body language of some Senate vote counters indicated this was not the expected outcome. On Wednesday, a motion was made to invoke cloture under Senate Rule 15A, which requires 26 votes. The motion failed 20-23, meaning the Senate could be bogged down on the bill for the rest of session unless some compromise was struck. After the cloture motion failed, S.533 was discharged from Special Order status and returned to the statewide contested calendar.
While the debate on joint and several liability will carryover for another session, an adjacent issue regarding alcohol liability insurance is still on the minds of many legislators. H.5066 (alcohol liability insurance) passed the House on March 29 and was referred to the Senate Banking & Insurance Committee. However, the Senate response to this issue, S.1048 (alcohol liability), will not pass the Senate before the crossover deadline so H.5066 is the vehicle to address this issue this session.
Committee Schedule Week 14
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 Budget Subcommittees (1 budget proviso hearings)
K-12 Education; April 8 at 5pm; Agenda; Live Stream
Senate Finance Committee; April 9 at 10:30am; Agenda; Live Stream
Summary: The full committee will debate and consider H.5100 (FY25 budget) and H.5101 (capital reserve bill). It is anticipated the full committee will meet most of Tuesday and Wednesday, but the committee will work until there is a budget agreement.
Senate Judiciary Committee; April 9 at 1pm; Agenda; Live Stream
Summary: There are three bills on the agenda: H.3865 (coroner qualifications); H.4042 (definition of antisemitism) ; H.5118 (comprehensive energy bill).
Senate Education Committee; April 10 at 9am; Agenda; Live Stream
Summary: There are three bills on the agenda: H.4349 (Greenville Tech Area Commission); S.161 (allow private school student participation); S.1173 (high school athletics associations).
House Regulations and Administrative Procedures Committee; April 10 at 9am; Agenda; Live Stream
Summary: There are 20 regulations on the agenda.
House Regulations and Administrative Procedures Education and Public Works Subcommittee; April 10 30 minutes upon adjournment; Agenda
Summary: There are three regulations on the agenda.
House Committee on Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Cyber Crime; April 11 at 9am; Agenda; Live Stream
Summary: An agenda has not been posted as of 8pm ET on April 8.
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
