State House Report: Top Three Things You Need to Know

By Ashley Hunter 

Governor Signs SC State Bill; Senate GOP Proposes New Roads Plan and Senate Adopts Budget

1. A Conference Committee of 3 House Members and 3 Senators met this week on 3663, the SC State University Board of Trustees bill. At first, Senators wanted five members to make up the new Board of Trustees at SC State and the members of the House of Representatives wanted seven. Ultimately, both the House and Senate agreed to fire all current Board Members and add two non-voting members to the Board of Trustees: the President of the Alumni Association and the President of the Student Body as well as one additional voting member: the Superintendent of Education. The bill was ratified and sent to Governor Haley for signature. Within a few hours of ratification, the Governor announced that she had signed the bill.

2. The members of the Senate Republican Caucus held a press conference last Thursday morning announcing a comprehensive infrastructure improvement, tax reduction, and Department of Transportation (DOT) reform plan for South Carolina. As the 4^th reform measure introduced this year, the Caucus stated that the new plan would provide road funding, permanent income tax cuts and comprehensive restructuring of the DOT. The plan includes a 12% gas tax increase to be phased in over 3 years and would double the current $25 driver’s license fee. Simultaneously, the plan would reduce personal income tax rates in each tax bracket by one percentage point over five years. Finally, DOT commissioners would go through a qualification process by the Joint Transportation Review Committee and confirmed by the Senate. The Secretary of Transportation would be hired by the Commission and confirmed by the Senate. The measure is expected to have debate in the coming weeks now that the budget has passed the House and Senate.

3. After a lengthy four-day debate, South Carolina Senators have given their approval to the State Appropriations Bill. The bill will now go back to the House of Representatives where House Members can either concur or non-concur with the Senate changes. Below are a few highlights of the Senate’s changes:

• Senators adopted a State Bonds Study Committee to determine the necessity of adopting a State Bond Bill
• Judges will receive an 11% pay increase
• South Carolina high school graduates or GED students will get to attend a state technical college without tuition or fees for a specified time if they meet certain criteria
• In addition to the $3.4 million allocated in other sections of the Budget, Senators also specified that all left over crime victim funds will be used to help pay for 2,000 body cameras
• $23.5 million was set aside for a $800 per person bonus for any state employees making less than $100,000
• $27 million for for counties to use for road resurfacing
• Both the Senate and House budgets include $212.6 million for the Local Government Fund

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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