January 19, 2024

The House continued meeting in budget subcommittees to hear from various state agencies and groups on requests for FY 2024-25. The Senate spent time on the floor debating and passing H. 3690, a bill to enact the “ESG Pension Protection Act” to require, among other things, that the Retirement System Investment Commission only consider financial factors in making certain investment decisions. Several bills of interest to counties are discussed below.

Pictured below: SCAC Assistant Director of Governmental Affairs Owen McBride testified before a Senate Finance subcommittee.

Online Tax Sales – S. 620. This bill would give counties the option to conduct delinquent tax sales online. A Senate Finance subcommittee adopted an amendment to clarify counties that choose to conduct these sales online are not required to contract with a vendor to do so. The amendment also creates a one-day grace period for remittance of funds from the sale of property to the county treasurer or tax collector after the in-person sale of a particular parcel. A Senate Finance subcommittee gave S. 620 a favorable report, as amended, and the full committee plans to take the bill up next Tuesday.

Please contact your members of the Senate Finance Committee and ask that they support S. 620! Download the roster of the Senate Finance Committee members.

Veterans’ Property Tax Exemption – H. 3116. This bill would allow a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces who is permanently and totally disabled because of a service-connected disability to immediately claim a property tax exemption for his owner-occupied property in the year in which the disability occurs. A Senate Finance subcommittee gave H. 3116 a favorable report this week, and the bill will be on the next full committee’s agenda.

Sine Die Budget – S. 806. This bill would provide that sine die adjournment is automatically extended if the House does not give a third reading to the Annual Appropriations Act on or before March 10. It allows the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House to call their bodies into session after sine die adjournment and until the first Thursday in June to finish any business relating to the General Appropriations bill or Capital Reserve Fund resolution. A Senate Finance subcommittee gave S. 806 a favorable report, and the bill will be on the next full committee’s agenda.

Streaming Service Franchise Fees – H. 3782. This bill would amend the definition of “Video Service” in Section 58-12-300 of the Code by adding “any video programming provided by direct-to-home satellite services” and “streaming content.” The purpose of the bill is to codify that streaming content revenue is not subject to franchise agreements between a governmental entity and a video service provider. The Senate adopted a technical amendment before giving the bill second and third readings. The bill will be sent back to the House for consideration of the amendment.

Illegal Immigration Enforcement Unit – H. 4120. This bill would transfer the Illegal Immigration Enforcement Unit from the Department of Public Safety to the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). This unit would be tasked with enforcing immigration laws as authorized pursuant to federal and state laws. The bill would also require SLED to develop an illegal immigration enforcement training program and to make the program available to all local law enforcement agencies. The Senate gave H. 4120 second and third readings, and the bill was enrolled for ratification.

Working Agricultural Lands Preservation Act – H. 3951. This bill would establish the “South Carolina Working Farmland Protection Program” to create a committee to identify and provide permanent protection to eligible farmland and to create a fund for qualifying projects. The bill outlines the composition and duties of the commission, including determining which project qualifies for the program and how much funding the project should receive.

Last year, the bill passed the House and was referred to the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee. The Senate Agriculture Committee adopted an amendment that requires that 25 cents from each deed recording fee must be deposited into the South Carolina Conservation Bank Trust Fund, and 75 cents must be deposited into the state general fund. The bill was then referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

This week, a Senate Finance subcommittee adopted an amendment to strike the Senate Agricultural and Natural Resource Committee’s changes and to revert the recording fee distribution schedule to its original form. As a result, Conservation Bank Funds would be funded through the General Appropriations Act, and not a portion of the deed-recording fees. A Senate Finance subcommittee gave H. 3951 a favorable report, as amended, and the bill will be on the next full committee’s agenda.

All county officials are invited to join us for Counties Connect: A Legislative Action Day on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, at the Pastides Alumni Center at USC in downtown Columbia. This event provides an excellent opportunity to connect with your local delegation members to advocate for counties.

You will also have a chance to engage with legislators during the Counties Connect Legislative Reception the prior evening, Tuesday, Feb. 20, at The Palmetto Club. The Institute of Government and Council Chairpersons' Workshop also will be Feb. 20 at the Alumni Center. Learn more and register.

View/Download Full Text for Newly-Introduced Legislation

You can also go to www.scstatehouse.gov and click on "Legislation," then "Introduced Legislation."

Note: If you would like to offer comments to the SCAC staff, please call us toll-free at 1-800-922-6081, fax to (803) 252-0379, or send an email.

House Bills

H. 4843 (Reps. Bailey, Brittain, Guest and J. E. Johnson) — Adds Section 48-39-148 to authorize businesses with a deck, dock, or other structure located in a critical area to use the structure for purposes directly related to operation of the business with local zoning approval.

H. 4867 (Reps. Beach and Trantham) — Adds Section 23-23-45 to require all 911 telecommunicators that provide dispatch for emergency medical conditions to be trained in high-quality Telecommunicator Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (T-CPR).

H. 4868 (Reps. Kirby, Lowe, Jordan and Williams) — Amends Act 84 of 2011, as amended, relating to the time and method by which the nine members of the Florence County School District 3 Board of Trustees are elected, to reapportion the five single-member districts and the two multimember districts from which these nine members must be elected, to designate a map number on which these election districts are delineated, and to provide demographic information pertaining to the reapportioned election districts.

H. 4870 (Rep. May) — Amends Section 44-53-190, relating to Schedule 1 controlled substances, to add tianeptine to Schedule 1.

H. 4871 (Reps. Haddon, Ligon and Forrest) — Adds Section 47-9-420 to prohibit the interference or interaction with farm animals being transported by a motor vehicle without permission.

H. 4874 (Rep. Hixon) — Amends Section 50-16-40, relating to exceptions to the permit requirement for wildlife imported for exhibition purposes, to limit the exceptions.

H. 4876 (Reps. Jefferson, Cobb-Hunter, Robbins, Gatch, Murphy, and Brewer) — Changes the candidate filing method for the board of trustees of Dorchester County School District 4 from the petition method to the filing of a statement of intention of candidacy with the Dorchester County Board of Elections & Voter Registration.

H. 4890 (Reps. Bernstein, Rose, Bauer, Rutherford and Garvin) — Adds Section 44-61-125 to require that every ambulance operating in the state be equipped with epinephrine auto-injectors.

H. 4893 (Reps. Forrest and Burns) — Amends Section 8-13-1110, relating to persons required to file statement of economic interests, to provide an exception for certain volunteers.

Senate Bills

S. 965 (Sens. Massey and Corbin) — Adds Chapter 83 to Title 44 to provide that the state or any political subdivision may not enact a Covid-19 vaccination mandate.

S. 966 (Sen. Grooms) — Amends Section 12-6-1171, relating to the military retirement income deduction, to include a qualified retirement plan from the uniformed services in the definition of "retirement income."

S. 969 (Sens. Alexander and Peeler) — Amends Section 12-6-1140, relating to deductions from individual taxable income, to increase the subsistence deduction amount for certain paid public servants, such as law enforcement and firefighters, and to increase the volunteer exemption amount for certain unpaid public servants, such as law enforcement and firefighters.

S. 970 (Sen. Harpootlian) — Amends the SC False Claims Act by adding several sections including Section 15-85-20 to provide that any person who commits any of the acts listed in the bill shall be liable to the state or a local government, as applicable, for a civil penalty of not less than $6,000 and not more than $12,000.

S. 971 (Sen. Hutto) — Amends Section 7-7-100, relating to designation of voting precincts in Barnwell County, to identify the voting place for certain precincts.

S. 975 (Sens. Martin, Corbin and Rice) — Adds Section 16-17-780 to prohibit businesses, non-profit organizations, colleges, schools, and employers from mandating that employees, contractors, students, patrons, customers, clients, or guests must receive a novel vaccine or gene therapy.

S. 976 (Sens. Gambrell and Goldfinch) — Adds Section 23-23-45 to require all 911 telecommunicators that provide dispatch for emergency medical conditions to be trained in high-quality Telecommunicator Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (T-CPR).