S.C. legislative action for the week of May 19-23
The 19th week of the session:
STATE BUDGET: The South Carolina Legislature has sent the governor a $7 billion state budget that would give state employees a 1 percent pay raise, buy 130 new school buses and promote tourism. Legislators who adopted the compromise spending plan Thursday acknowledged the budget likely satisfies no one but said it's the best they could do during an economic slowdown without raising taxes. The plan covers rising medical costs for state employees, so they don't lose benefits or see premium increases. Most agencies were cut between 2.5 percent and 5 percent, but the Education Department received an additional $145 million.
CIGARETTE TAX: A bill that would increase the state cigarette tax for the first time in 31 years is on its way to Gov. Mark Sanford. The Senate agreed with a House change and gave final approval to the measure Thursday. If signed into law, South Carolina's tax would increase from 7 cents a pack to 57 cents. Most of the estimated $160 million raised would be used to provide health care for low-income residents. But Sanford is expected to veto the bill, and it's unclear whether supporters can override it.
RELIGIOUS DISPLAYS: Public buildings could post the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer as part of a display of historic documents under a bill approved by the South Carolina Senate. The measure passed Thursday requires 11 documents in the display, including the Mayflower Compact, Declaration of Independence and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. It also requires an image of Lady Liberty and the motto "In God We Trust." The bill returns to the House, which passed it last year without the Lord's Prayer component. Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell said he fears adding the prayer would invite a legal challenge.
PUBLIC PRAYER: The South Carolina House approved a bill that advises local governments on how to legally pray before meetings, sending it to the governor's desk. The legislation gives local governments three possibilities for prayer considered constitutional, based on rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and U.S. Court of Appeals. The bill also directs the state attorney general to defend any local government sued for praying according to the legislation.
RELIGIOUS LICENSE TAG: A civil rights group said Wednesday a religious license tag is unconstitutional and threatened to sue if the governor signs a bill allowing the plate in South Carolina. The state House on Wednesday unanimously approved the bill allowing tags that show a cross on a stained glass window and the phrase "I Believe." An attorney for the American Jewish Congress, Mark Stern, called it a "gratuitous endorsement of Christianity by the Legislature." House Speaker Bobby Harrell said he thinks a House change to the bill addresses the constitutional question. It requires the "I Believe" tags to follow state law passed in 2006 for special license plates. Before producing the tags, the DMV must first collect 400 prepaid orders or collect $4,000 from a private group. The Senate on Thursday agreed to the change.
PAYDAY LENDING: House members might get a chance to vote on payday lending regulations after all. The chairman of the House committee handling a Senate version of those regulations last week said he wouldn't let the legislation come up for a vote this year. But on Thursday, the Senate amended a House bill to include the regulations, and it will be before the House as early as Tuesday. Sen. Robert Ford of Charleston forced the issue after blocking further action on any other House bill in the Senate until his payday lending bill was dealt with.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The House approved legislation creating sales-tax-free days in South Carolina for guns and energy-efficient appliances. The measure, approved unanimously Tuesday, would eliminate sales taxes on energy-efficient appliances, light bulbs, doors, windows, ceiling fans and air conditioners each October from 2009 to 2019. Under a change made in the House, the measure also creates 48 tax-free hours dubbed Second Amendment Weekend. On the Friday and Saturday after each Thanksgiving, handguns, rifles and shotguns would be sold tax-free. The bill returns to the Senate, which approved the energy-saving piece last month.
BOOZE INHALER: A device that turns liquor into a breathable mist would be banned in South Carolina under legislation given key approval by the House. The House voted Thursday to approve a bill that would ban the Alcohol Without Liquid device, known as AWOL. The bill would make it a misdemeanor crime to buy, sell, use or own the device. More than 20 states have banned it. The Senate approved the bill last year.
SUNDAY WINE: The House approved a bill allowing wine to be sold on Sundays at South Carolina wineries, sending it to the governor's desk. The measure exempts from the state's Sunday closing laws wine that is harvested, processed, fermented, bottled, and sold at the same location. The bill allows Sunday sales only if the local county or city government approves a permit.
GOVERNMENT STREAMLINING: A state Senate committee passed legislation that transfers some bureaucracy to a new agency that gives the governor more control of day-to-day operations. The bill now heads to the Senate floor. The House passed the measure last month. It transfers more than a dozen functions now handled by the Budget and Control Board and other agencies into a new Cabinet-level Office of Administration. Those include personnel, computer systems, and property and fleet management.
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