State House Report: Top Three Things You Need to Know

Road Funding and Dept. of Transportation Restructuring; State Bond Bill; and Body Cameras

1.    Last week, the members of the House of Representatives spent extensive time debating 3579, the Transportation Infrastructure Bank bill. The bill decreases the motor fuel tax but increases the excise tax to generate an estimated $500 million. Representative Gary Simrill (R-Rock Hill) offered a strike and insert amendment that addressed Department of Transportation construction projects, the State Infrastructure Bank restructuring as well as a reduction in personal income taxes. Under the newly adopted language, State Infrastructure Bank members can serve out their current terms. Members of the House spent a great deal of time discussing Governor Haley’s request that any gas tax increase be directly tied to a reduction in income taxes. Under this proposal, the general fund expenditures would be reduced by the transfer of sales tax on motor vehicles to the Department of Transportation. It reduces the state’s 16.75-cents per gallon gasoline tax by six cents and reinstates the 6 percent state sales tax on wholesale gasoline. The plan also increases the sales tax cap on vehicles from $300 to $500. The bill was given the third and final reading in the House and sent to the Senate for further debate. Click here to find out more about the fiscal implications of this legislation.

2.    The Senate Finance Committee began debating the State Appropriations bill last week and will continue this week. Simultaneously, Senator Leatherman (R-Florence) introduced 657, the State Capital Improvement Bond bill. Senator Leatherman explained to his fellow Senators that there had been no Bond Bill in 15 years and that the House attempted to include a Bond bill in their version of the Appropriations Bill. When the House made that attempt, Governor Haley stated that she would veto the bill. Therefore the House pulled out $84.5 million worth of spending from the Bond Bill and inserted it into the Appropriations Bill. Finally, Senator Leatherman assured Senators that if they voted on S. 657 instead of having the Bond Bill as a part of the Appropriations Bill and the Bond Bill was vetoed, the budget would not be harmed. S. 657 has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee and will be discussed next week.

3.    Last Wednesday, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee adopted 47. This bill requires state and local law enforcement officers to wear body cameras. It was amended in the subcommittee to include state funding to pay for body cameras and their ancillary costs. The estimated cost to equip all officers with body camera is $21 Million for the first year. The full Senate Judiciary Committee will debate the bill this week where they are expected to discuss privacy concerns as well as issues on how long camera footage should be stored.

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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