It's Friday, Jan. 23.
There are 16 weeks and 48 days left of the legislative session.
You're reading The State House Gavel, your daily reporter notebook by Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson that previews and captures what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse.
Notebook highlights:
- Statehouse preps for winter weather
- Governor's take on NIL bill
- Senate embarks on its own plan to tackle infrastructure
- Bill debate starts over giving the governor more powers
Winter weather could delay session
South Carolina lawmakers are bracing for the potential of moderate to severe winter weather that is forecast to impact most of the state, especially the Upstate.
The state Emergency Management Division says the wintry mix with freezing temperatures is set to start Saturday into Monday morning with ice, sleet, snow and very cold temperatures.
Gov. Henry McMaster has already ordered a state of emergency.
SCETV will livestream any weather-related press conference.
The House and Senate don't return to the Statehouse until Tuesday, but leaders said they'll be prioritizing the safety of legislators when they make the call whether to gavel in.
Keep in mind that a handful of Statehouse leaders hail from some of the areas projected to get hit the worse.
Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, who runs the upper chamber is from Oconee County in the Upstate. Sumter County, where Republican House Speaker Murrell Smith hails from, is also in the line of potential bad weather.
Smith told the House whether he cancels session for part or all of next week will be a "game time decision."
Hear Smith's full remarks:
Beyond the legislative session, Gov. Henry McMaster is scheduled to give his final State of the State address Wednesday night.
That speech will also be livestreamed by SCETV.
Gov wants transparency in NIL
Gov. Henry McMaster gave his take Thursday on legislation that would prohibit anyone from filing a public records request to get information about how much student-athletes receive through their university's name, image and likeness (NIL) or revenue-sharing programs.
The House passed the bill — H. 4902 — quickly last week, without any debate in committee. It now sits in the Senate, which sent it to the Senate Education Committee.
We asked McMaster on Thursday whether he supported the NIL bill pushed by universities.
In addition to criticizing NIL, McMaster said he didn't think the money paid to athletes — private or not — "ought to be a secret."
"It should not exist, in my opinion," said McMaster, adding NIL is "ruining college sports."
It's unclear whether the governor would veto the bill if it hit his desk.
Brandon Charochak, the governor's spokesman, said McMaster has some concerns with the transparency in the bill.
The governor "wants transparency, but doesn't want to compromise the competitiveness of collegiate athletics," Charochak said.
The bill's sponsor, House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, told colleagues last week the bill is time sensitive, given a lawsuit filed against the University of South Carolina to make those contracts public.
Lawmakers also want to send a strong message to the court.
The State reported Thursday the judge in the case, Judge Daniel Coble, agreed to delay the case for now.
Senate paves way for DOT legislation
The House ad hoc committee has for months focused on the future of infrastructure and modernization of the state Department of Transportation.
After public listening sessions around the state last year and a couple of hearings in Columbia since session started, the committee has yet to file a formal bill.
Rather than wait, the Senate this week may have just moved into the passing lane.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, dropped his own version of an infrastructure and DOT bill, S. 831.
And a subcommittee has already started work on the bill.
Grooms's bill is similar to what the House is working on and would:
- Permit tolling
- Allow for express lanes
- Implement county transportation committee reforms
- Start developer impact fees for residential and commercial development to mitigate congestion caused by growth
- Increase fees on electric vehicles
- Tweak the transportation department commission
- Strengthen internal audits
- Allow DOT to enter into private-public partnerships
- Give the state more control of permitting related to environmental impacts
Another piece of the debate? Finding additional revenue.
DOT maintains the recent gas tax increase does not go nearly as far (literally, in miles paved) as expected due to road construction inflation.
Pair that with the federal Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act expected this fall, which state DOT Secretary Justin Powell said will likely mean less of than what was passed under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021, when the state saw an increase of $300 million to $1 billion of federal funds annually.
The DOT steers that money mainly to major interstate and bridge projects, which the federal government already plays a major role in approving and permitting.
“We do not expect growth in the federal program like we had back in 2021,” Powell told the subcommittee Thursday. “And I would say we probably need to be braced for the potential of a cut. We haven't seen legislative text yet, so we don't know what that looks like. But that's something that definitely I think in the next few months we'll start being able to see what that actually could mean to South Carolina.”
Bill to give gov JMSC appointment power advances
Removing legislators from the judicial screening process is one step closer to become a possibility.
On Thursday, a panel of the House Judiciary Committee voted 4-1 to advance H. 4755, which would overhaul the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, a body that screens judicial candidates for consideration by the full Legislature when they vote to elect judges.
The proposal, sponsored by Dorchester Republican Rep. Gil Gatch and cosponsored by most House leaders, would give a governor full appointment powers over the members of JMSC.
How it works now: Currently, the House and Senate get appointment power over eight of the spots on the panel. All eight spots are represented by lawmakers — four from the House and four from the Senate — who are also attorneys. After changes enacted last year, the governor now gets to appoint four members.
Removing all legislators from the JMSC process would only require a change to state law while taking the power from the General Assembly to elect judges, a change called for by some, would require a heavier lift — changing the Constitution.
South Carolina is one of two states where lawmakers elect judges.
Gatch's bill would also prohibit JMSC from using diversity factors like race, gender, sex, religion and national origin, or any other diversity, equity and inclusion criteria.
You can listen to Gatch's remarks on the bill below:
What else did the House do?
- Amended two chamber rules — H. 5012 — that concern sine die agreements and how lawmakers take questions over bills on the floor
- Approved resolution H. 4962, that now heads to the Senate, which officially greenlights the design and location for the planned Robert Smalls statue on the Statehouse complex
Statehouse clips from around the state
- How are SC school voucher recipients performing academically? Lawmakers don’t know (The State)
- Charleston County to reallocate Mark Clark funds for other road projects like Maybank Highway lane (Post and Courier)
- What private voter data will SC election agency give to Feds? Here’s what we know (The State)
- Rep. Bill Clyburn announces he will retire from the S.C. General Assembly (Aiken Standard)
- SC legislators mull toll lanes to cut down on traffic, help pay for road improvements (SC Daily Gazette)
- What private voter data will SC election agency give to Feds? Here’s what we know (The State)
