Municipal Association of South Carolina

 

The first regular session of the 119th General Assembly was gaveled to a close at 5 p.m. on Thursday. The House of Representatives did not meet in session on Tuesday because of the funeral of Representative David Umphlett, while the Senate met in regular session to work on issues on the calendar. Very few subcommittee and committee meetings were held this week. Both the House of Representatives and Senate adopted a resolution to return to Columbia on June 14 to continue working on the budget and redistricting. The resolution allows the General Assembly to be in session until July 1 to handle specific issues related to the state budget and redistricting. In a dramatic move right after the General Assembly adjourned on Thursday, Governor Nikki Haley ordered lawmakers to return to Columbia on Tuesday for a special session to work on several bills on her legislative agenda leading to push back from some legislators. 

After a compromise was reached on Wednesday by local governments and the real estate industry, H3713, the House version of the point of sale bill, was recalled to the Senate calendar from the Senate Finance committee by Senator Hugh Leatherman (R – Florence). Senators gave the bill second reading by unanimous consent saving all debate and the compromise amendment for third reading in order to move the bill out of the Senate before the end of the session.

On Thursday, the Senate passed the strike and insert compromise amendment to H3713 with no roll call vote. Next, H3713 as amended was given third reading by a vote of 42 to 0 and returned to the House for concurrence. 

The House of Representatives concurred with the Senate amendment by a vote of 105 to 4. The bill now goes to Governor Haley for her signature. For a copy of the amended bill, click here.

Specific points of the compromise amendment can be found here.

Background on point of sale compromise amendment
The Municipal Association believes this compromise represents a fair conclusion to this contentious issue. As the clocked ticked toward the end of the legislative session, Senator Leatherman brought cities, towns, counties, schools as well as associations representing real estate interests together on Memorial Day. Finally on Wednesday, the real estate industry agreed to the points proposed by local governments. Throughout the process of the debate, the Association’s priority has been to mitigate the financial impact of any legislative change on the ability of cities and towns to provide the programs, services and amenities residents and businesses need and expect.

The Association ensured property tax breaks brought on by the 15 percent reassessment cap were not passed on to new property owners resulting in additional tax shifts to those owning properties with slowly appreciating values. The Association also ensured more flexibility for local elected officials in the administration of the millage cap provision and millage rollback calculation.

Special thanks go to Senators Leatherman, Alexander, Hutto, McGill, Land, O’Dell and Nicholson who led the effort to broker a compromise.

Contact Miriam Hair (mhair@masc.sc) at 803.933.1204 or Melissa Carter (mcarter@masc.sc) at 803.933.1251 if you have questions about the point of sale amendment.

 

On Thursday, the House nonconcurred with the Senate amendments to the budget bill. A conference committee was appointed with Representatives Cooper, White and Battle from the House. The Senate has not appointed conferees yet. The conference committee will iron out the differences between the two bills.  Included in both the Senate and House version of the budget is a 10 percent cut to the current year distribution of the Local Government Fund. This equals an $8.9 million loss to cities and towns for FY 2011-2012. The budget negotiators will work on a compromise version of the budget over the next couple of weeks.

Contact Melissa Carter (mcarter@masc.sc) at 803.933.1251 with questions about the budget or Local Government Fund.

Last week, the House of Representatives amended and approved S20, the illegal immigration reform bill that originated in the Senate. This week, the Senate voted to carry over debate and House amendments on S20 until members return for session on June 14. The bill will increase costs to local governments for enforcement and will increase the potential for lawsuits against local governments. Contact Warren Harley (wharley@masc.sc) at 803.933.1270 if you have questions about the immigration bill.

The House Judiciary committee will begin meeting on Monday, June 6, at 10 a.m. to consider H3991 and H3992, the House redistricting plans for House districts and Congressional seats. These bills include the maps for House districts and SC Congressional seats. Contact Ed Schafer (eschafer@masc.sc) at 803.933.1203 with questions about redistricting.

The redistricting subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary committee plans to meet on Tuesday to begin work on S814 and S815, the Senate redistricting plans for Senate districts and Congressional seats. These bills include the maps for Senate districts and SC Congressional seats. The full Senate Judiciary committee plans to meet on Wednesday to begin debate over the plans. Contact Ed Schafer (eschafer@masc.sc) at 803.933.1203 with questions about redistricting.

S336, the bill that requires a copy of the traffic citation be handed directly to the offender by the law enforcement officer issuing the ticket, was given third reading by the House by a vote of 92-0 on Wednesday. The bill is now back in the Senate for concurrence or nonconcurrence. Contact Warren Harley (wharley@masc.sc) at 803.933.1270 if you have questions about this bill.

The Municipal Association’s legislative tracking system has all of the bills that have passed the House and Senate this year.

Access bills that were introduced this week and received action from a subcommittee or committee through our legislative tracking system complete with short summaries. Visit the legislative tracking system to see and comment on all bills currently pending in the House and Senate.

 

Committee Action This Week
The Association’s legislative team covered these bills in committee or subcommittee and provided testimony where needed. Click on the bill's link for a full chronology of amendments and committee progress.

 

S263 – Motor vehicle offenses that result in death – favorable report

Summary of the bill as introduced: Charges a driver with the misdemeanor offense of vehicular homicide if the person driving the motor vehicle does any act already forbidden by law while driving a vehicle that results in death.

 

H4256 – Water rates imposed by a municipality – adjourned debate

Summary of the bill as introduced: Prohibits a municipality that purchases a water company subject to regulation by the Public Service Commission in the county where it is located from charging more for water services provided to customers of the water company than was permitted to be charged to those customers at the time of purchase of the company.

 

A wrap-up of the 2011 legislative session will be available online on June 18 following a presentation at the Annual Meeting.