Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Three weeks remain in this year’s SC General Assembly legislative session.
It would be nice to think SC lawmakers would actually accomplish something useful before the year is done.
But, that is wishing too much from our current crop of do-nothing legislators in Columbia.
In case you missed it, WMBF News did an excellent in-depth investigation into possible drug cartel and terrorist money being funneled through Horry County.
It comes from the lack of state regulation, actually the refusal of the SC General Assembly to apply any regulations to the money transfer services business.
According to the report, there are over 3,000 of these money transfer services businesses operating in Horry and Georgetown counties alone. Much of the money transferred out of the state is going to drug cartels and terrorist organizations.
South Carolina is alone among the 50 states in failing to regulate this industry.
While it looks like a bill to ban the tattooing and piercing of dogs and cats will successfully pass the SC General Assembly into law this year, our legislators can’t be bothered with looking at an industry that allows a lot of our money to be passed to organizations no “red” state should support.
The SC General Assembly turned its attention back to passing a road funding bill this year, but the devil is in the details.
The bill, which began as H. 3579, was set for special order yesterday after a compromise was reached in the SC Senate to move it to priority status for debate.
Much changed since its original version, the bill contains the three elements Gov. Nikki Haley said was needed to avoid a veto – sort of.
The current plan raises the state gas tax by 12 cents per gallon and allows it to be adjusted for inflation in future years. Increases in license and registration fees and raising the sales tax cap on car sales are also included bringing the estimated rise in revenue to approximately $800 million per year.
The bill proposes a decrease of 1% in the state income tax spread over five years. However, the reduction in tax rates would be suspended in any year the projected growth in state revenue is less than 4%.
If the rate is lowered over five years, the estimated tax cut is $700 million.
From 2003-2013, South Carolina’s annual average growth rate was less than 2%, making the possibility of income tax reductions less than certain.
Finally, the bill makes some changes in how the SC Department of Transportation commission is appointed.
While the bill would probably allow for some improvement in funding road maintenance and repairs, it now appears to be more political nonsense than a real effort at fixing the state’s roads.
The SC General Assembly is moving quickly to another do-nothing year with respect to legislation that may actually be positive for the state.
Ethics reform went down in February because the Senate would not allow independent oversight of its members.
Legislation to raise money for road repairs is on the Senate’s contested calendar making it highly unlikely it will be up for a vote in the few weeks remaining in this legislative year.
This is the final week to get bills passed in one chamber of the SC General Assembly for the other chamber to debate them without a two-thirds vote.
In other words, this is the week bills effectively die for this year.
And with the rush to keep legislation alive, I believe road funding will become a dead issue for this year. H 3579 has passed the House, but includes an approximately $400 million tax increase. The Senate is probably amenable to a tax increase for road maintenance.
The SC General Assembly won’t be messing with county governments this week because it is on vacation.
However, when the legislators return next week, roads and the local government fund will be tops on the list of issues to be discussed.
As they are currently being handled in Columbia, both issues do nothing more than transfer funding problems to county governments.
A public hearing on Homeowner Associations (HOA) is being held by the Horry County Legislative Delegation tomorrow night.
This is the time to begin public input on much needed, possible state legislation by the S.C. General Assembly to make HOA’s answerable to the homeowners they purportedly represent.
With the rules and financial decisions it makes, an HOA board serves as a virtual mini-government for the property owners in the sub-division it represents.
Are the financial statements open and subject to review by the homeowners or does the board and/or management company put stumbling blocks in the way of seeing how money is spent?
The ongoing legal challenge over whether S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson can use the State Grand Jury to investigate ethics violation allegations against S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell will go a long way to answering the question of whether Harrell is the most powerful individual in the state.
Attorneys representing Harrell challenged Wilson’s right to investigate Harrell during a March 21, 2014 hearing before S.C. Circuit Court Judge Casey Manning.
Should Manning rule in Harrell’s favor, he will effectively establish in law what has been long established in fact, namely, S.C. legislators are above the law.
The Horry County Solid Waste Authority is looking for a way to continue lobbying activities in Columbia despite last week’s vote by Horry County Council to amend the county’s flow control ordinance.
The HCSWA Finance Committee will consider a request by HCSWA executive director Danny Knight to approve approximately $30,000 initially for continued lobbying activities.
If the committee approves the request, the HCSWA board will consider giving approval at its regular meeting in February.
In the meantime, Knight has approval of the HCSWA board to negotiate a temporary, month-to-month agreement in the $5,000/mo range.
Pre-filed bills for an upcoming session of the SC General Assembly always provide interesting reading, especially in an election year.
Three definitely caught our eye in recent weeks.
Sen. Katrina Shealy is evidently trying to give her friend Gov. Nikki Haley a campaign issue by filing a bill that proposes to eliminate the state’s income tax over a five-year period.
Speak Up…