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South Carolina legislature: Good work in bad times
Bill Davis
Editor, StateHouse Report (SC)
April 11, 2010 — Compared to the past two completed legislative sessions, the amount of work done in the first half of this year’s session has been considerable, several Statehouse sources agreed this week. But will the work-party end when legislators return from their Easter furlough on Tuesday? There's a concern that with so much completed, that legislators will down-shift and cruise out of town weeks earlier than originally planned with little else accomplished. Why? Because they've been hampered by one of the tightest budgets in years and have a looming June primary and election in November for the House. So far this year, legislators have tangled with issues they merely poked and prodded the last few sessions: a cigarette tax hike, sentencing reform, spending limits, increasing the general reserve fund, several environmentally-friendly bills and reforming the state’s embattled unemployment agency. Reforming the Employment Security Commission has already been completed and signed into law by Gov. Mark Sanford, so what’s left for the “second half” of the session other than finishing work on the budget? Here's a list of issues: Cigarette tax. The Senate recently passed a House bill held over from last year that would increase the tax on each pack of cigarettes by 50 cents. The bill has been sent back to the House, which had also included a 30-cent increase in a separate item in its General Fund budget package this year. Stumbling block: The 50-cent version the Senate sent back expands Medicaid programs, while the original House bill directed the collected funds into small business tax credits, intended to use private business to run health care offerings. But with Sanford threatening a veto if there’s not a corresponding, revenue-neutral, tax cut, the bill may die anyway. General Reserve Fund. The House and Senate have passed versions of a bill to increase the amount of General Fund money held in reserve from 3 percent to 5 percent, and limit when and how the money could be spent. Stumbling block: Procedural changes. The measure is expected to pass through conference committee, even though some House brass have complained the problem with the state budget has not been the fund’s percentage, but the overall drop in revenues. Economic development. House Speaker Bobby Harrell’s (R-Charleston) omnibus re-tilling of the state’s economic soil has been passed quickly and easily over to the Senate, where it could see more opposition from senators who are not up for reelection. Stumbling block: While no politician likely relishes the idea of standing against a bill with this title in a down economy, embedded corporate tax cuts could inspire senate Democrats to take a firmer stand, forcing the bill into a conference committee. Spending limits. Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell (R-Charleston) fought for this bill to be sent to the House. The bill would tie the annual expansion of the state General Fund budget to historical increase over the previous 10 years. Stumbling block: House Ways and Means chair Dan Cooper (R-Piedmont) has not been a fan of tying budget-writers’ hands in trying economic times. Sentencing reform. This may emerge as this session’s best bill. Receiving wide and bipartisan support in the Senate, the bill has been praised for its cost savings, keeping prison beds reserved for the most dangerous criminals and cleaning up the state’s “hodge-podge” of criminal statutes. Stumbling block: It is an election year in the House, which now has to vote on it. Politicians hungry for reelection may not want to appear soft on crime. But with Attorney General Henry McMaster calling for a relaxing on sentencing on drug crimes, it is expected to go through easily this year. Voter ID. This may emerge as this session’s least popular bill, which would require voters to show photo identification before they vote. The Senate passed it with rancor, and the House, which now has it back, has already seen a filibuster and a walk-out of Democratic lawmakers over it earlier in the session. Stumbling block: Democrats largely hate it, but in a numbers game with only technical changes to the bill to mitigate, it likely will clear both chambers and conference committee this session. Tort reform. Outside of the budget, this may represent the biggest fight in the Senate for the rest of the session. Stumbling block: Timing. Democratic opposition may not be as powerful a foe as the race to get the bill out of committee, where members are tied up on other issues, like the budget, in time to get to the floor to get back to the House before adjournment. (Because it is a House bill, it won’t fall afoul of the May 1 crossover deadline, when bills need two-thirds approval and not just a majority to be sent to the other chamber.) Crystal ball: Before the ink on the “congratulations” card dries, legislators need to remember what already didn't get done this year. The Taxation Realignment Commission (TRAC) was supposed to have filed its report and recommendations by now. Instead its report has been put off until after the general election in November. All the while, the state’s General Fund twists in the wind. Also, remember last session when legislative leaders were fuming about the need to address K-12 funding? This year, they apparently didn't. Perhaps they'll get to it early next year before redistricting, thanks to the ongoing Census, takes over as the big issue in 2011. |
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