State House Report: Top Three Things You Need to Know

By Ashley Hunter

SENATE FINANCE DEBATES THE STATE BUDGET

The Senate Finance Committee met this past week and addressed some of the funding for the K-12 Education, Higher Education and Criminal Justice state agencies. The Committee adjourned Thursday afternoon as they were unable to address funding for the remaining agencies. On Tuesday, Senators will continue to debate education funding, $415M in roads funding, $212.6 million in recurring dollars for the Local Government Fund, $72 million in flood relief and $40 million in beach re-nourishment funding among other items. Once the Committee finishes their work on the Budget, the Budget will be sent for further debate in the full Senate. Annually, all 170 members of the General Assembly get an opportunity to review or amend the state Budget prior to sending it to the Governor. The next fiscal year will begin on July 1. To review the state budget in its entirety, click HERE.

ROADS BILL PASSES HOUSE; HEADS BACK TO SENATE

The House amended H. 3579 by a vote of 113-6 last week and sent it back to the Senate. As amended by the House, there is no allocation of roads to the counties, and the appointment of DOT Commissioners is done with the advice and consent of the General Assembly, not just the Senate. It is likely that the Senate will not concur with the House amendments and the bill will go to a conference committee of 3 House member and 3 Senators to work out the differences in the bill. Earlier this year, State Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, blocked the gas tax plan with a filibuster.

ETHICS BILL WOES

Last week, the SC Senate set several of the Ethics bills to the Special Order calendar, meaning they will get priority for debate. They also adopted a measure requiring elected and appointed public officials to disclose the sources of their income, but not the amount. State Sen. Vincent Sheheen, (D-Camden) stated this measure didn’t go far enough. The Senate has spend hours talking about “dark money” and how to address it. Dark Money is the term they use for third party groups that get involved in political campaigns and PAC’s without having to disclose the source or amount of the money being funnelled to the candidate. They then voted down an amendment that would have required disclosure of so-called “dark money” spent on campaigns without disclosure by political action committees. They will continue debate on Ethics Reform this week.

For more information about these legislative issues, you can contact Ashley Hunter, Vice President of McKay Public Affairs (MPA) at [email protected]. MPA also publishes a one-of-a-kind monthly publication, The SC Purchasing & Procurement Digest, geared towards locating project funding from federal, state, and corporate resources. MPA’s latest endeavor, Peplum & Politics, is a blog focused on SC fashion and political happenings.

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