Pertinent Prefiles in the Palmetto State: Part 5

Jan 9

The 125th South Carolina General Assembly is officially underway and legislation prefiling is finished. In South Carolina there are four days, two for the House and two for the Senate, when legislators can prefile legislation. This year those dates were November 30 and December 7 for the Senate, while the House dates were December 8 and December 15.

Today we took a look at some trends in Senate prefiled legislation. In Part 4 of this series we reviewed some statistics with Senate prefiled legislation.

A couple disclaimers. First, this is a snapshot of some hot button policy issues; is it not an exhaustive list. Second, the commentary is not intended to indicate support or opposition for any legislation referenced. With those disclaimers, here are some trends within the Senate prefiled legislation.

Not a ton of legislation filed by Senate leadership or the two most powerful committee chairs. Senate President Thomas Alexander prefiled one bill; Senate Judiciary Chair Luke Rankin prefiled three bills, one joint resolution, and one concurrent resolution; Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey and Senate Finance Chair Harvey Peeler prefiled no legislation. The most active Senate leader with fourteen (14) prefiled bills was Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto.
Legislation to recruit and retain teachers was extremely popular. Loan forgiveness, scholarships for undergraduate and graduate degree programs, increasing teacher salaries, and procedures for supporting teachers with classroom management were all prefiled. The Teacher Recruitment and Retention Task Force mandated in the current state budget will produce a report by May 2023 with recommendations.
A large number of bills addressing firearms and gun control were prefiled. Some lessened restrictions, some increased restrictions, and a “red flag” bill was prefiled.
Only three bills concerning abortion were prefiled in the Senate, but the South Carolina State Supreme Court struck down the state’s “fetal heartbeat bill” on January 5, 2023 on a 3-2 vote. While it was likely a bill would be debated this session, this decision will rekindle efforts in the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Also: the State Supreme Court justices are elected by the General Assembly. On February 1, 2023 the General Assembly will elect a new State Supreme Court justice to replace Justice Kay Hearn, who must retire due to the mandatory age retirement requirement. Justice Hearn authored the primary opinion in the case striking down the fetal heartbeat bill.
Tax legislation was popular in the Senate, stretching from broad tax policy regarding how much state government spending can grow in a year to industry-specific tax incentives.
The Senate Republican Caucus has stated three legislative priorities in 2023: education savings account legislation (ESAs, a form of school choice), certificate of need reform (the process by which hospitals and other health facilities gain state government approval to renovate or expand), and addressing the fentanyl crisis. On January 12, 2023 two of those three priorities - ESAs and certificate of need - will have full committee hearings. Both hearings will take place before the traditional 11am ET Senate floor session on Thursday. Depending on the outcome of the committee hearings, it is possible both bills could receive a favorable report and the committee report “read across the desk” on Thursday setting up floor action as early as the week of January 17, 2023.

How many of these prefiled bills will be enacted this year? Time will tell, but the months of January and February will be very busy with more legislation filed by Senate members. We’ll keep you posted on new bills as they are introduced.

This concludes our series on 2023 prefiled legislation; we hope you found it informative. On Tuesday, January 10, 2023 at 12:00pm ET both will hold their first days. We look forward to an exciting year of debate!

Pertinent Prefiles in the Palmetto State: Part 5

Pertinent Prefiles in the Palmetto State: The Series

Pertinent Prefiles in the Palmetto State: Part 4

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