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High Profile Bills Remain Alive as S.C. Legislative Session Nears End

South Carolina State House

With just two weeks left in this year’s regular session of the state legislature, the fates of a number of high-profile, controversial bills that backers hope to see enacted into law this year remain unclear.

Bills that would create a hate crimes law and legalize the use of medical marijuana are once again not expected to make it through this year’s session.

A bill that is expected to make it to the Governor’s desk before adjournment could see the return of executions in the state.

Another priority bill for conservative lawmakers this year would expand gun rights. The Open Carry with Training Act has already passed in the House and is in now pending in the Senate. The bill would allow residents with a state issued concealed weapons permit to openly wear sidearms.

And, social conservatives at the Statehouse continue to look for ways to try and prohibit trans-gender students from playing on girl’s middle and high school sports teams. Backers of the Save Women’s Sports Act say it is un-fair and even un-safe for transgender students to play on girl’s teams. This week Democrats and a few Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee blocked the bill for the second time this session.

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Russ McKinney has 30 years of experience in radio news and public affairs. He is a former broadcast news reporter in Spartanburg, Columbia and Atlanta. He served as Press Secretary to former S.C. Governor Dick Riley for two terms, and for 20 years was the chief public affairs officer for the University of South Carolina.