Copper Dome Chronicle: 2024 Session Week 2

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. Today the nation celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. As Dr. King wrote as a student at Morehouse College in 1947, “We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.” May the ideals and principles embodied by Dr. King continue to guide leaders as the country eternally strives to form a more perfect Union.

This week’s edition, covering January 16-18, 2024, is 1,751 words or a 7 minute read. Thanks for reading and sharing; we welcome your commentary!

Resources

House Meeting Schedule

House Floor Calendars

House Budget Calendar

Senate Meeting Schedule

Senate Floor Calendars

Senate Budget Calendar (TBA)

Week 2 Preview

The House is expected to debate and likely pass H.4624 this week. The bill would prohibit gender transition procedures, surgical or chemical, on persons under age 18; prohibit the use of public funds for gender transition procedures; and prohibit public school employees from withholding information from a student’s parent or legal guardian about a student’s perception of his or her gender that is inconsistent with his or her biological sex. There is likely to be significant debate and a large number of amendments on the bill. The House committee meeting schedule is quite full.

The Senate calendar has 32 bills and one resolution pending consideration though 22 bills (not including  H.3690 (anti-ESG bill set for special order) and the one resolution are contested. This means only ten bills plus H.3690 are eligible for debate unless a senator removes their objection. It is likely the Senate spends most of its floor time debating H.3690 and working through statewide bills on second reading. The Senate committee meeting schedule is more active than last week.

Week 1 Review

The second regular session of the 125th South Carolina General Assembly convened on Tuesday, January 9.

House floor sessions consumed 5 hours, 26 minutes of time and the House calendar remained at 2 pages, excluding the page for published legislative receptions. The House passed two bills last week:

  • H.4720, a continuing resolution to keep state government open in the event no budget is enacted by July 1, 2024. It was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

  • H.4617, a bill to ban xylazine that has become abused from its medical uses.

The House Rules Committee was the subject of much discussion under the dome because of two resolutions:

Both resolutions are in response to the debate over Act 70 of 2023 (S.474), a bill to regulate abortion that consumed 25 hours, 26 minutes of floor time over a two-day period. Over 900 amendments were filed during the House floor debate, some of which were ruled out of order as dilatory under House Rule 8.3. Neither resolution was reported to the floor and placed on the calendar yet, so time will tell if there will be a change in the House rules to limit amendments.

Senate floor sessions consumed 3 hours, 35 minutes of time and the Senate calendar decreased to 27 pages (-1 after excluding published legislative receptions). The Senate passed five bills last week:

  • H.3977 permits insurance companies to post policies and endorsements online instead of mailing them; it was enrolled for ratification.

  • H.3872 exempted certain information from lottery prize winners from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); it was enrolled for ratification.

  • H.3960 designates the South Carolina Poultry Festival in Lexington County as the official state poultry festival; it was enrolled for ratification.

  • H.4352 designates the month of March as “Middle Level Education Month,” which we once called middle school.

  • S.801 is a precinct bill for Oconee County.

In floor action, H.3690 was set for special order. The bill, commonly called the anti-ESG bill, would regulate the use of environmental, social, and governance (E-S-G) factors by the Retirement System Investment Commission when making investment decisions. ESG factors are deemed to be “nonpecurinary factors” and therefore could not be considered by the Commission. The bill passed the House 103-5 on April 5, 2023 and received a favorable report without amendment by the Senate Finance Committee on May 3, 2023.

As a reminder about Senate special orders, refer to Senate Rule 32A. There is one special order slot for a bill authorized by a motion of the Senate Rules Chair, and one other special order slot for a total of two special order slots in any reading on any one calendar. Additionally, there is one slot for the status of Interrupted Debate and two slots for the status of Adjourned Debate, both of which have higher priority than special order.

Two new senators, Sen. Deon Tedder (District 42) and Sen. Tameika Issac Devine (District 19) were sworn-in as members after winning special elections. The passing of Senator John Scott created a vacancy on the Senate Finance Committee, which was filled by Sen. Margie Bright Matthews.

Committee Schedule Week 2

Some committee meetings that will generate some debate and news.

Senate Finance Property Tax Subcommittee; January 16 at 3pm; Agenda; No Live Stream

Summary: Two bills are on the agenda: H.3116 (disabled veterans property tax exemption) and S.620 (electronic tax sales).

Senate Finance Sales and Income Tax Subcommittee; January 16 at 3:30pm; Agenda: Live Stream

Summary: Five bills are on the agenda: S.577 (technical correction), S.578 (release of tax records), S.806 (sine die adjournment and the annual appropriations act), H.3951 (Working Agricultural Lands Preservation Act), and H.4087 (income tax act and enterprise zone act amendments). H.4087 is a bill to watch for amendments because it is amending the income tax act and it could become a “Christmas tree,” meaning other income tax policies will use it as a legislative vehicle to make it across the finish line and everyone wants a present under the tree.

Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Ad Hoc Subcommittee; January 17 at 9am; Agenda; Live Stream

Summary: One bill on the agenda: S.910 to regulate consumer lending (sometimes called payday lending) advertising by banning some practices that advocates of the bill claim target consumers who are least likely to be able to repay a loan. This is the second subcommittee hearing on the bill; a third is scheduled for January 24 at 9am.

Senate Medical Affairs Committee; January 17 at 10; Agenda; Live Stream

Summary: The committee will receive an update on Section 13 of Act 60 of 2023 (DHEC Restructuring bill), which required the Department of Administration to conduct a study of several state agencies that provide public health services. This coincides with the introduction of S.915, which would merge several health-related state agencies into one entity, the Executive Office of Health and Policy. The state agencies affected by this bill include the Departments of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Public Health (DPH), Aging (Aging), Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN), Mental Health (DMH), and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS).

House Ways & Means Budget Subcommittees (14 budget hearings)

Higher Education; January 16 at 10:30am; Agenda; Live Stream

Public Education and Special Schools; January 16 1.5 hours upon adjournment; Agenda; Live Stream

Health; January 16 immediately upon adjournment; Agenda; Live Stream

Transportation and Regulatory; January 16 1.5 hours upon adjournment; Agenda; Live Stream

Economic Development; 30 minutes upon adjournment; Agenda; Live Stream

Constitutional; January 16 at 3pm; Agenda; Live Stream

Criminal Justice; January 17 at 9:30am; Agenda; No Live Stream

Economic Development; January 17 at 9:30am; Agenda; No Live Stream

Constitutional; January 17 at 10am; Agenda; Live Stream

Public Education and Special Schools; January 17 at 10am; Agenda; Live Stream

Transportation; January 17 at 10am; Agenda; No Live Stream

Higher Education; January 17 at 10:30am; Agenda; Live Stream

Health; January 17 at 11am; Agenda; No Live Stream

Transportation; January 18 immediately upon adjournment; Agenda; Live Stream

House Education & Public Works Committee; January 16 1.5 hours upon adjournment; Agenda; Live Stream

Summary: The committee will receive a presentation from the Education Commission of the States.

House Education & Public Works K-12 Subcommittee; January 17 at 10:30am; Agenda; Live Stream

Summary: Two bills on the agenda: H.3309 (Seizure Safe Schools Act) and S.245 (criminal background checks for school booster club financial officers. The first bill would establish a process for parents to petition their child’s public school to include a seizure action plan that could be incorporated into a new or existing individualized health plan (IHP) for their child.  The second bill would regulate school booster clubs. Booster clubs would include school-level booster clubs. First, a person convicted of a felony for crimes such as but not limited to embezzlement, forgery, larceny, and credit card theft would be prohibited from serving as a financial officer of a booster club (i.e., the treasurer). Each booster club must register annually with its affiliated school district by August 1. The financial officer of a booster club must have a criminal records check completed by SLED to serve in that role.

House Liquor Liability Ad Hoc; January 17 at 12:30pm; Agenda; Live Stream

Summary: This is the first meeting of an ad hoc committee to address liquor liability issues, as the restaurant and hospitality industries have claimed the cost of liability insurance has become prohibitively expensive. Some restaurants have returned their liquor licenses and some bars have closed in response to rising liability insurance costs, according to news reports.

House Committee on Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Cyber Crimes; January 18 at 8:45am; Agenda (TBA); Live Stream

Summary: This is the second meeting of this AI Ad Hoc committee; an agenda has not yet been posted.

House Judiciary Constitutional Laws Subcommittee; January 18 at 9am; Agenda; Live Stream

Summary: Two bills are on the agenda that would regulate content on the Internet by requiring age-verification. H.4700 would require age-verification for social media applications and H.3424 would prohibit websites with pornographic content from being accessible to persons under age 18 in South Carolina and would require age-verification policies. On January 11 a hearing was held on these two bills and there were comments made that amendments would be drafted to address the constitutionality of both bills; expect those amendments to be adopted and both bills to pass and be sent to full committee.

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 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 10: Crossover Day

April TBD: Senate Finance Committee and Senate floor budget deliberations; BEA April revenue estimate

May 9: Session Adjourns

June 11: Nominating Primary Elections

June 25: Nominating Primary Runoff Elections

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

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Copper Dome Chronicle: 2024 Session Week 3

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Copper Dome Chronicle: 2024 Session Week 1