End of the Legislative Year Summary
Dear Friends,
I hope everyone had a fun-filled 4th of July. I wanted to thank you for helping me make our 2016 legislative session a productive one. My biggest request was passed this year! House Bill H-3799, that I sponsored, gave us CWP Reciprocity with Georgia. We can now use our CWP's in Georgia and vise-versa. We passed this bill with lots of help from other folks, so I want to thank everyone for all your help. My second biggest request was regarding the hazardous roads and bridges. We passed S-1258 to begin repairing our roads and bridges. It is not perfect but it is still a step in the right direction. Since we have now adjourned for the year, I will be sending out newsletters as needed rather than monthly. Thank you again.
In order for me to have a strong voice in Columbia, I have to communicate with my constituents. And that is you! My website, newsletters, mailers, and Facebook are the communication tools that I use. It takes extra time, staff, and campaign funds to maintain these tools.
Please help me by making a contribution to Hixon for House, P.O. Box 7927, North Augusta, SC 29861.
I hope that you find this update helpful and informative. If I can help you with an issue, please let me know. Thank you for reading and allowing me to serve you.
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Legislative Update – June 6, 2015 |
S.1258: Legislation addressing ROAD FUNDING AND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION RESTRUCTURING. The legislation allows for an estimated total of up to $4.5 billion to be devoted to the state's roads over the next ten years. This includes: $950 million to repair or replace all structurally-deficient bridges on Interstate and national highways; $2 billion in widening and improvements to existing Interstates; and, over $1.4 billion in pavement resurfacing.
H.5001: The General Appropriation Bill, and H.5002, the joint resolution making appropriations from the Capital Reserve Fund, which together comprise the $7.5 billion FISCAL YEAR 2016-2017 STATE GOVERNMENT BUDGET. $84 million in Department of Motor Vehicles fees and fines and $131 million in motor vehicle sales tax revenue is transferred to the State Highway Fund. $50 million in nonrecurring funds is distributed among the County Transportation Committees to use for resurfacing, reconstructing, and repairing roads and bridges in the state-owned secondary road system. $49 million is allocated to the Department of Transportation to address road repair costs from the October 2015 flood damage.
H.5021: The "ADULT STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS CONSENT ACT". The legislation establishes procedures and policies through which adult students who are eligible for special education under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act may delegate authority over their educational program to agents or representatives. Under this bill, an adult student who is eligible for special education under IDEA and who is not determined to be incapacitated in probate court can delegate his or her right to make educational decisions to an agent or representative on a form prescribed by the Department of Education. An adult student under IDEA who has not been determined to be incapacitated, but may be identified (by certain medical professionals) as unable to provide informed consent may have an educational representative designated.
H.4554: The "SOUTH CAROLINA ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING ACT" which establishes new provisions for the regulation and oversight of money transmission services. The legislation is offered as a means of rectifying South Carolina's status as the only U.S. state lacking comprehensive regulatory authority over money transfers which has made the state a center for money laundering activities that facilitate organized criminal enterprises and terrorist activities. The legislation establishes new requirements for the licensure and regulation of money transmission and currency exchange services with the South Carolina Attorney General. Record keeping requirements are imposed on licensees and the Attorney General's Office is afforded authority to review records and conduct investigations. Penalties are established for violations including felony criminal penalties for falsifying records and engaging in illicit money transfers involving larger dollar amounts. The jurisdiction of the state grand jury is expanded to include South Carolina Anti-Money Laundering Act violations.
H.4521: The "TUCKER HIPPS TRANSPARENCY ACT", legislation named in memory of the Clemson University student who died during a fraternity activity on September 22, 2014. The legislation requires the state's public institutions of higher education, excluding technical colleges, to maintain a report detailing student misconduct investigations related to fraternity and sorority organizations formally affiliated with the institution. These reports are specifically required to include a violation of a Student Code of Conduct for offenses involving alcohol, drugs, sexual assault, physical assault, and hazing. Each public institution of higher learning must provide the required reports on its Internet website in a prominent location and must also furnish a printed notice of the nature and availability of this report and the website address where it can be found to those who attend student orientation. Deadlines are established for compiling the required reports and updating them in a timely manner. A sunset provision is included so that the legislation is set to expire in three years unless reauthorized by the General Assembly.
H.4387: A bill PROHIBITING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES FROM REQUIRING OFFICERS TO MEET A QUOTA FOR THE NUMBER OF CITATIONS ISSUED. The legislation provides that law enforcement agencies, departments, or divisions, including municipal police departments, sheriff departments, the Highway Patrol, SLED, and other agencies that enforce state and local laws, may not require their law enforcement officers to issue a specific amount or meet a quota for the number of citations issued during a designated period of time. Law enforcement officers' job performance reviews may be based on their points of contact that involve their interaction with citizens and businesses and participation in community-oriented initiatives. An employee of a law enforcement agency, department, or division who files a report with an appropriate authority alleging a violation of these provisions is protected by the state's "Whistle Blower Act"
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H.3147: The legislation provides for a SOUTH CAROLINA INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX DEDUCTION FOR MILITARY RETIREMENT BENEFITS in an amount of up to thirty thousand dollars each year for those who are at least sixty-five years old and up to seventeen thousand five hundred dollars each year for younger taxpayers. A surviving spouse receiving military retirement income is eligible for the deductions. The deductions are gradually phased in under a five-year schedule so that maximum deductions for military retirement benefits are provided by 2020. The legislation also includes provisions for unused textile mill site rehabilitation tax credits to be carried forward.
H.4542: "THE RIGHT TO TRY ACT". The legislation provides authorization for physicians to prescribe certain promising experimental treatments to terminally ill patients who have considered and exhausted all other treatment options currently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. The provisions apply only to an investigational drug, biological product, or device that has successfully completed Phase I of a clinical trial but has not yet been approved for general use by the United States Food and Drug Administration and remains under investigation in a clinical trial approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration.H.4773: Designated as "MARGY'S LAW", the legislation expands South Carolina's Emergency Medical Services Do Not Resuscitate Order Act by including provisions for a DO NOT RESUSCITATE BRACELET that may be worn by someone with a terminal condition to signify to health care providers and EMS personnel that they are to withhold resuscitative treatment in keeping with a "do not resuscitate" order.
H.4262: Legislation revising FAMILY CHILDCARE HOME training and registration requirements. The legislation increases minimum hours of training from two to ten for operators of family childcare homes, employees or contractors with operators of family childcare homes. The legislation incorporates these training requirements and provides for other revisions within the criteria that the Department of Social Services uses in determining whether to deny an application for a statement of registration, deny an application for a renewal of registration, work with a family childcare home operator to resolve a concern, or withdraw a statement of registration. DSS shall consider previous applications and the circumstances of prior inspections or withdrawals of registration as factors to be considered in the application process; however, a prior concern does not prohibit the department from granting the family childcare home a statement or renewal of registration if the department is satisfied the concern has been resolved. The legislation provides that any person fifteen years of age or older who moves into the family childcare home after the initial application for registration is approved must also undergo the required criminal background reviews.
S.267: A bill SHORTENING THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION. The legislation provides for the regular annual session of the General Assembly to adjourn for the year by the second Thursday in May rather than the current deadline of the first Thursday in June. In addition to the current provisions for extending a legislative session, the legislation provides that if a forecast reduction is submitted by the Board of Economic Advisers after April tenth for the next fiscal year, the adjournment date for the General Assembly may be extended up to two weeks with the agreement of the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
S.233: The "SOUTH CAROLINA PUBLIC PRAYER AND INVOCATION ACT". The legislation makes revisions in keeping with particular court rulings to the statutory protocol governing the way in which a deliberative public body may invite religious leaders to offer voluntary public invocations at its meetings which are not to be used as opportunity to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other faith or belief, or coerce participation by observers of the invocation.
H.3440: A bill making comprehensive statutory revisions regarding MOPEDS.The legislation establishes new requirements for registering and licensing mopeds with the Department of Motor Vehicles. New safety requirements are established for mopeds including requirements for moped operators and passengers to wear reflective vests at night. The legislation provides that it is unlawful for a person to operate a moped on the public roads in this state that have a speed limit of greater than fifty-five miles per hour. A moped, while traveling along a multi-lane highway, must be operated in the farthest right lane except when making a left turn. No person may operate a moped at a speed in excess of thirty-five miles an hour. As with motorcycles, a person under the age of twenty-one may not operate or ride upon a moped unless he wears a protective helmet. Mopeds are exempted from ignition interlock device requirements of DUI provisions. Those who sell mopeds are required to post signs that provide brief explanations of such matters as age restrictions, maximum speeds, and the definition of a moped. A moped seller is not required to obtain a motor vehicle dealer's license. The legislation replaces the multiple, sometimes conflicting, definitions for mopeds currently found in statutes with a single new definition for mopeds and makes other revisions to allow for greater consistency in the way that the laws governing motor vehicles are applied to mopeds.S.868: The legislation makes provisions DISALLOWING THE USE OF EMINENT DOMAIN POWERS BY PRIVATE, FOR-PROFIT PIPELINE COMPANIES, including publicly traded for-profit companies, that are not defined as a public utility. A sunset provision is included so that these provisions are set to expire on June 30, 2019, unless the General Assembly makes other arrangements.
S.1065: The legislation creates a temporary PETROLEUM PIPELINE STUDY COMMITTEE which is charged with submitting a report the General Assembly that sets forth findings and recommendations regarding matters related to the presence of petroleum pipelines in South Carolina by June 30, 2017.
S.1037: The legislation expands the provisions physician licensure exemptions to include TEAM PHYSICIANS OF ATHLETIC TEAMS VISITING THIS STATE FOR A TEAM TRAINING CAMP.
H.4090: A bill revising requirements governing the operation of PAWNBROKERS, and enrolled the legislation for ratification. Offered as a comprehensive update of the provisions regulating pawnbrokers, the legislation includes among its revisions an increase in the maximum amount of a loan that a pawnbroker is allowed to make from $2,000 to $15,000.
S.980: The legislation establishes new regulatory provisions governing ANIMAL SHELTERS AND EMERGENCY VETERINARIAN CLINICS that provide veterinary services including a requirement for all shelters and emergency veterinarian clinics that provide veterinary services must register with the South Carolina Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. The legislation provides that dispensing a prescription drug to the owner of an end-user for the treatment of a bodily injury or disease of an animal is unlawful unless the prescription is: (1) labeled with all information required by state and federal law; and (2) prescribed by a licensed veterinarian. The legislation provides for the South Carolina Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners to regulate the dispensing of these prescription drugs. The legislation requires a mobile veterinarian practice to provide information concerning the closest local emergency veterinary services facility to the mobile location. A mobile veterinarian practice affiliated with, operated by, or supported by a public or private nonprofit animal shelter is prohibited from operating within eyesight of the nearest privately owned veterinarian practice. The legislation includes provisions regarding the dispensation of proceeds derived from 'No More Homeless Pets' special motor vehicle license plates. The legislation creates a temporary Pet Care and Humane Treatment Study Committee to review, study, and make recommendations concerning the need for improved oversight and regulation in the state. The study committee shall make a report of its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly during the 2017 legislative session, at which time the study committee shall cease to exist.
H.5118: A bill revising provisions governing the operation of golf carts along the state's highways by providing AUTHORITY FOR CERTAIN COASTAL MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES TO ADOPT ORDINANCES THAT ALLOW GOLF CARTS TO BE OPERATED AT NIGHT if they are equipped with working headlights and rear lights. A sunset provision is included so that any ordinances approved are set to expire on January 1, 2021.
H.3849: A bill establishing CONFIDENTIALITY FOR TEACHER EVALUATION RECORDS. The budget legislation includes a proviso that addresses the subject of the legislation for the upcoming fiscal year..
As always, thank you for the privilege of serving you in Columbia. If I can ever be of assistance to you, or if you have ideas on issues you want me to share with the rest of the General Assembly, please do not hesitate to contact me.
