From the Dome to Your Home: May 22, 2015
The House of Representatives and Senate were in session this week and held subcommittee and committee meetings. Most of the action took place on the floor of the House and Senate debating bills with only six legislative days left in the first year of this two year session.
Body camera bill back in the House
S47 was amended and passed by the House of Representatives last week and returned to the Senate with changes. S47 was amended by House members to instruct the South Carolina Law Enforcement Training Council to conduct a body camera pilot project and establish guidelines for using body worn-cameras. This week, the Senate amended S47 back to the version that originally passed the Senate, requiring body cameras for officers on the local level subject to full funding and sent it back to the House. The House can concur or nonconcur on those changes. If House members nonconcur, a conference committee will be appointed to debate the differences. For more information on the body camera bill, contact Tiger Wells (twells@masc.sc) at 803.933.1270.
Meeting agenda bill in conference committee
A conference committee met this week to discuss the differences in the House and Senate versions of S11, the bill that requires an agenda for all regularly scheduled meetings of a public body. The House amended S11 with the House version of the bill. H3192, is the House version which requires an emergency finding before an action item could be added to an agenda once the regularly scheduled meeting begins.
Senators Greg Gregory, Chip Campsen and Kevin Johnson and Representatives Weston Newton, Bill Taylor and Mandy Powers-Norrell met on Wednesday afternoon. Committee members plan to ask the House and Senate for free conference powers on compromise language to make further changes to the bill. The potential compromise would require a 2/3 vote to add any action item to the agenda and an additional finding of emergency circumstances to take final action. For more information on the agenda bill, contact Tiger Wells (twells@masc.sc) at 803.933.1270.
Roads bill still on the Senate calendar in special order
H3579, the House version of the transportation infrastructure bill, was set for special order by the Senate. Special order is a place on the Senate calendar that forces debate on a controversial bill once senators have debated the uncontested bills. Members of the Senate Republican Caucus proposed a new plan to fix the state’s roads and infrastructure. Senators adjourned again this week without any work on the roads bill. All of the debate in the Senate this week focused on the capital reserve fund bill. For more information on the roads plans, contact Melissa Carter (mcarter@masc.sc) at 803.933.1251 or Scott Slatton (sslatton@masc.sc) at 803.933.1203.
Budget still in the House
H3701, the state budget bill, is on the House calendar with the amendments from the Senate. House members adjourned debate on the bill until Tuesday. For more information on the state budget bill, contact Melissa Carter (mcarter@masc.sc) at 803.933.1251.
Weekly bill introductions
Committee action this week
House Judiciary Committee
H3972 - Clarifies that a land use plan is not required to execute or record a deed – favorable report
Summary of the bill as introduced: Clarifies that the submission of a land use plan is not a prerequisite and may not be required to record a deed.
H3685 - Adds a $5 surcharge on all penalties imposed by municipal courts – adjourned debate
Summary of the bill as introduced: Requires a $5 surcharge on all penalties imposed by a general sessions, magistrates or municipal court for misdemeanor traffic or non-traffic offenses where an electronic ticket or citation was issued
Senate Finance Committee
S408 - Mandates governments to open procurement to all products that meet certain specifications – carried over
Summary of the bill as introduced: Mandates all governmental entities to open procurement processes to all products that meet certain engineering specifications.
S682 - Allows a lien to be placed on the Joint Authority Water and Sewer System's property – carried over
Summary of the bill as introduced: Allows a lien to be placed on a Joint Authority Water and Sewer System's property in accordance with the Revenue Bond Act for utilities.
S683 - Requires the Capital Project Sales Tax to terminate on April 30 of an odd or even numbered year – carried over
Summary of the bill as introduced: Requires the Capital Project Sales Tax to terminate on April 30 of an odd or even numbered year.
H3583 - Prohibits cities and towns from accepting proposals from businesses that boycott based on race or religion – favorable report
Summary of the bill as introduced: Prohibits the state or a political subdivision of the state from accepting a proposal from or procuring goods or services from a business which engages in the boycott of a person or entity based on race, color, religion or national origin.
S626 - Exempts 80 percent of the fair market value of property taxes on a renewable energy resource – carried over
Summary of the bill as introduced: Exempts 80 percent of the fair market value of a renewable energy resource for 10 years.
H3725 - Makes changes to the SC Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act – favorable report
Summary of the bill as introduced: Adds the definition of state-owned abandoned buildings and certain tax credits for rehabilitating state-owned buildings.
House Education and Public Works Transportation subcommittee
H3440 - Makes several changes to the current law on mopeds - favorable report with an amendment. The amendment makes the bill more comprehensive to require moped registration.
Summary of the bill as introduced: Requires a moped to be registered, carry insurance and may not be operated on a public road with a speed limit greater than 35 miles per hour.
Senate Judiciary subcommittee
H3191 - Creates the Office of Freedom of Information Act Review within Administrative Law Court – adjourned debate
Summary of the bill as introduced: Creates the Office of Freedom of Information Act Review within Administrative Law Court and reduces the time in which a public body has to respond to requests from 15 days to ten days.
House Ways and Means Committee
H3010 - SC Marketplace and Infrastructure Improvement Act – adjourned debate
Summary of the bill as introduced: Requires the SC Department of Revenue to take certain actions in the event Congress passed the Marketplace Fairness Act and directs all new state and local sales tax revenue from this action to the State Highway Fund.
H3146 - Requires reimbursement of the cost of mailing property tax notices if a taxing entity causes the notice to be incomplete – adjourned debate
Summary of the bill as introduced: Requires a taxing jurisdiction to reimburse the cost of mailing property tax notices again if that taxing entity causes the notice sent by the county to be incomplete when the initial notice is mailed on October 15.
S379 - Makes technical changes to the state's current tax code – adjourned debate
Summary of the bill as introduced: Makes technical changes to the state's tax code related to county auditors.
S350 - Terminates the provisions of the SC Community Economic Development Act – favorable report
Summary of the bill as introduced: Extends the termination of the SC Community Economic Development Act from June 30, 2015 to June 30, 2020.
Senate Judiciary subcommittee
S220 - Amends the Omnibus Crime Reduction and Sentencing Reform Act of 2010 – favorable report
Summary of the bill as introduced: Makes numerous changes to the current law including restructuring the degrees of arson, prohibits offenders from purchasing a firearm while on parole or probation, removes expungement for youthful offenders on the sexual offender registry and changes prison sentences.
S221 - Continues the Sentencing Reform Oversight Committee until December 31, 2020 – favorable report
Summary of the bill as introduced: Continues the Sentencing Reform Oversight Committee until December 31, 2020.
H3545 - Restructures the elements of the degrees of arson – favorable report
Summary of the bill as introduced: Restructures the elements of the degrees of arson.
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