Provided by Copper Dome Strategies, LLC
As the clock is ticking on the 125th General Assembly, the Senate was busy debating House bills this week while the House was working on Senate bills. Just three legislative days remain in the legislative session, as adjournment is next Thursday. However, they will return in June to complete unfinished business, including the state budget and the election of a new justice to the Supreme Court.
Animal Welfare
On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee adopted H. 4617 (Rep. Hixon), which adds Xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance. The bill provides an exemption for pharmaceutical compounding by a licensed pharmacist or veterinarian for use in a nonhuman species. The bill is now on the Senate calendar awaiting debate.
Artificial Intelligence
The House Artificial Intelligence (AI) Ad Hoc Committee met again on Wednesday. The committee heard a presentation from Command Sergeant Major Tim Larkin, who gave a presentation of South Carolina’s 125th Cyber Protection Battalion in the Army National Guard. The battalion, one of only five in the nation, was created in 2013 and works closely with the state on cyber incident response. It is partnered with Fort Eisenhower in Augusta. The South Carolina state partner is the country of Colombia. The battalion has traveled around the world in training exercises.
Matthew Dietz, Senior Global Government National Security Strategist for Cisco, also presented. He discussed leveraging AI to have a positive impact on the capabilities and creativity of workers and noted that AI is poised to become a powerful tool for cybersecurity. Government benefits from AI through enhanced service delivery, data-driven policy creation and decision-making, modernization and streamlining of operations and optimizing infrastructure management. He offered to work with the committee to assist in creating standards for the development and utilization of AI.
The committee, led by Representative Jeff Bradley (R-Beaufort), will continue to study Artificial Intelligence (AI), cybercrime and cybersecurity in recognition of the increasing significance of AI technology and the need to ensure the protection and welfare of South Carolina citizens in an evolving technological landscape. Video archives of the meeting can be found here.
Budget
After the Senate adopted its version of the FY2024-25 General Appropriations bill H. 5100 and the Capital Reserve Fund bill H. 5101 last week, the bills have been returned to the House. It is expected that the House will non-concur in the Senate amendment and further amend the budget. That should occur next week, thereby setting the stage for a Conference Committee of three House members and three Senators to resolve the differences and adopt a budget Conference Report.
House and Senate leaders have informed their bodies that the budget will not be completed by the May 9 adjournment date, and they are tentatively planning to return June 18-20 to adopt a Conference Report on the state budget. They would return again June 26-28 to address gubernatorial vetoes.
Video archives of the meetings can be found here.
Individual state agency budget requests can be found here.
Class Photo
Once every two years, members of the House clean off their desks, sit up straight and smile for their session class photo. Yesterday’s debate was briefly paused to get the picture. At least fifteen House members will not be returning next year. June primaries and the November General Election may increase that number.
Farewell Speeches
As is customary in the General Assembly, members who are retiring, not seeking re-election to their seat or are running for another office typically give a farewell speech in the final days of the session. Fifteen members of the House and five senators will not be seeking re-election in November. Those giving farewell speeches this week included Representatives Max Hyde, Ashley Trantham, Patricia-Moore Henegan and Bart Blackwell. More speeches will occur next week.
Healthcare
This week, the Senate debated the ‘Help Not Harm’ bill H.4624 (Hiott, G.M. Smith. McCravy and others). This legislation, initially passed by the House in January, seeks to regulate gender transition procedures for minors. The bill prohibits healthcare professionals from administering gender transition procedures to individuals under eighteen. It also directs the South Carolina Medicaid Program to cease coverage for these procedures for individuals under twenty-six and bans using public funds for gender-affirming care. The bill remains on the Senate calendar.
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee adopted S. 1 (Senators Alexander, Turner, Senn and others), which adds fentanyl-related substances to the list of Schedule I drugs and creates the felony offense of drug-induced homicide for anyone who knowingly and unlawfully delivers, dispenses or otherwise provides fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance to another person that causes death. The bill is now on the House calendar awaiting debate.
The House Medical Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee met again on Tuesday. It took testimony for three hours but did not take action on S. 423 (Senators Davis, Hutto, Grooms and others), which enacts the “South Carolina Compassionate Care Act” relating to medical cannabis products. Senator Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) has been working on this legislation for nearly a decade, and a previous version of the bill died on a procedural anomaly in 2022. The legislation aims to limit patient access to 12 “debilitating medical conditions,” including cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma, post-traumatic stress disorder, Crohn’s disease, sickle cell anemia, ulcerative colitis, cachexia or wasting syndrome, autism, severe nausea, chronic medical conditions causing severe muscle spasms or pain and terminal illness. Medical cannabis would be authorized by a physician and dispensed through “therapeutic cannabis pharmacies” rather than traditional dispensaries, and the legislation would require those retail facilities to always have a state-approved pharmacist on-site. Numerous members of the law enforcement community oppose the legislation. It is unlikely the bill will pass this year.
Higher Education
On Tuesday, the House Education Committee adopted S. 125 (Senators Hembree, Turner and Young), which would extend LIFE scholarships to education majors. The bill was amended to include accounting majors. The committee also adopted S. 974 (Senator Bennett), which would add institutions accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges to the definition of “Public or Independent Institutions” for the Palmetto Fellows, SC HOPE and LIFE scholarships. Both bills are now on the House calendar awaiting debate.
Yesterday, the House unanimously adopted S. 314 (Senator Talley), which provides regulatory relief and streamlines the process for certain capital improvement projects for public colleges and universities. The bill raises threshold amounts to $10 million for the research institutions and $5 million for all others, including the technical colleges. The bill also removes the Commission on Higher Education (CHE) from capital improvement oversight. It was also noted that these changes, if enacted, could provide millions of dollars in cost savings to the colleges while still providing the necessary oversight, compliance and transparency. The bill will receive a routine third reading on Tuesday and go back to the Senate for concurrence in the amendment.
Legal/Judicial
On Tuesday, the House Judiciary Committee adopted S. 1046 (Senators Hembree, Climer, M. Johnson, Peeler and others), which reforms the Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC) and would allow the governor to make appointments to the JMSC and provide term limits to the members. The bill was amended back to the House version H. 5170 (Reps. Pope, W. Newton, Caskey, Jordan and others), the “South Carolina Judicial Merit Selection Commission, Screening and Election of Justices and Judges.” Judiciary Committee Chairman Weston Newton (R-Beaufort) explained that there are differences between the House version and the Senate bill that will need to be worked out, including increasing magistrate’s jurisdiction to $25,000 per civil case. The bill is now on the House calendar awaiting debate.
The House adopted S. 1275 (Senators Rankin, Sabb, Talley and Alexander) on Tuesday, a Concurrent Resolution to fix noon on Wednesday, June 5, 2024, as the time to elect a successor to fill the unexpired term to the Supreme Court, Seat 3. The seat was vacated by the election of Chief Justice John W. Kittredge, who replaces outgoing Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty.
Tax
On Tuesday, by a vote of 46-0, the Senate adopted H. 4594 (Reps. Ballentine, Pope, Clyburn and West), known as “Tax Conformity.” The bill updates the reference to the Internal Revenue Code to the year 2023 for South Carolina income tax purposes. The bill remains on the Senate calendar awaiting third and final reading.
The Senate also adopted H. 3563 (Reps. Cobb-Hunter, Pace, Collins, Bauer and others) this week, which exempts feminine hygiene products from state and local sales taxes. So far, 22 other states and Washington, D.C., have passed similar laws. The bill is now enrolled for ratification.
Utilities
As it becomes clearer that the Senate is not likely to pass legislation this year to address the state’s growing energy needs, the House amended a number of Senate bills this week to include its energy plan H. 5118 (Reps. G.M. Smith, West, Davis and others,) the “South Carolina Ten-Year Energy Transformation Act.” Those bills that were amended include:
S. 408 (Senator Shealy) requiring suicide prevention training for licensed counselors;
S. 962 (Senator Cromer) relating to pharmacy service administrative organizations;
S. 1031 (Senator Cromer) relating to anti-money laundering activities;
S. 610 (Senator Cromer) enacting the “Professional Counseling Compact Act.”
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (R-Edgefield) has suggested creating a study committee to work on the issue of energy generation over the summer. House leaders want the legislation enacted this year. Proponents of the energy legislation point to our state’s growing population and increased economic development activity as the need for additional energy generation. Opponents say the bill is being rushed and needs further study. The bills now go back to the Senate for consideration.
