It's Friday, April 3.
That wraps Week 12 at the South Carolina Statehouse.
With the House and Senate both off next week — technically the Senate will be in a perfunctory session, meaning no floor work — we're giving ourselves a little bit of a break from daily reporting at the Statehouse, too.
We will return fully fresh and wide-eyed for Week 13, which will kick off five more weeks and 15 more days until sine die May 14.
For our coverage through the next week, click here.
You're reading an abbreviated 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.
Calendar note: The General Assembly plans to hear from state Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge in a noon joint assembly on April 15. It's expected his remarks will be followed by joint elections over various college and university boards candidates, who can now get commitments from lawmakers.
And get your closets ready, April 23 is seersucker and summer suit day.
Lawmakers break with priority list for when they return
Many legislators headed back home, or somewhere warmer, on Thursday as the Senate took its first session break, and the House took its second week of furlough.
It doesn't necessarily mean all work stops, particularly for the Senate which is still continuing committee hearings next week, even though there won't be any chamber work.
The Senate was out Thursday but the House was in session.
We caught up with House Majority Leader Davey Hiott to chat about the calendar when the lower chamber returns April 14.
Still on the House calendar includes legislation dealing with hemp-derived consumables/drinks, a debate the Senate has already had when it passed a bill to regulate the sales of THC drinks and gummies.
That bill currently sits in a House committee.
Also on the House calendar includes a proposal over whether to allow the over-the-counter sale of ivermectin — what became an alternative medication of choice for many opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Commonly used to treat parasitic worms, a handful of states have passed laws to allow the sale without a prescription.
The Pickens Republican also said the House will decide, when they return, what to do with Senate changes to H. 4756, a bill sponsored by Rep. Tommy Pope, R-York, restricting bathroom, changing room and locker room use at K-12 public schools and universities to a person's biological sex at birth.
In one change to appease some colleagues, the Republican-controlled Senate expanded the definition of "accommodations" and removed the impression, they said, that every building on campuses must have a single-use restroom.
There is one piece of legislation still hanging out there the House says it wants to prioritize before they leave Columbia for the year.
And we're not talking about the state budget.
We're talking about the expansive roads legislation the Senate already advanced and is now sitting on the House floor.
The legislation aims to modernize state transportation department operations, and identify areas in which the state can ease congestion and speed up construction.
Earlier this year, the House Republican Caucus identified the legislation as a priority within its legislative agenda after holding several meetings across the state in the off session.
"There's a lot of work to do on it, a lot of opinions on it," Davey said, noting there's not a concrete consensus within either political party.
"That will be quite a debate on the floor," he said.
What about the Senate?
The upper chamber is practically off in the next week, mainly to give the Senate Finance Committee time to work on its version of the more than $15 billion state spending plan.
The budget-writing committee, headed up by Gaffney Republican Harvey Peeler, is expected to meet early next week.
Senators won't actually debate the budget, which takes effect July 1, on the floor until late April.
Senate budget writers won't be the only ones meeting.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled four hearings Wednesday on various legislation — bills range from eviction legislation, to master-in-equity terms to judicial salaries and pretrial intervention — and one appointment.
The Judiciary Committee will screen and decide whether to advance Conway Belangia to the full Senate to be confirmed as the next permanent State Elections Commission executive director.
Belangia was an elections director in Greenville County for more than three decades before being named last month as the state agency's interim director.
The State Elections Commission has been without a permanent director since last fall, when former Director Howard Knapp was fired and jailed on misconduct in office, embezzlement and other charges.
Jenny Wooten, the chief of staff, was named his successor, but did not have the necessary administrative experience required by state law and the State Elections Commission was forced to find someone else.
Belangia is expected to sail through to manage the state's top elections agency just in time to oversee South Carolina's statewide June 9 primary elections.
Statehouse clips from around the state
- SC state senator says he was contacted by FBI over lobbyist-promised campaign fundraiser claim (Post and Courier)
- Clemson relationship with housing developer didn’t violate state law, SC inspector general finds (SC Daily Gazette)
- 26 abandoned boats in SC are slated for removal. This new tracking tool shows where. (Post and Courier)
- SC bill would require judges to start child custody cases with 50‑50 presumption (WIS)
- Lead state epidemiologist who helmed response to measles outbreak and COVID-19 pandemic retires (SC Public Radio)
- In conversation with Craig Melvin, Rahm Emanuel says Dems lost focus (Greenville News)
- SC lawmakers debate DUI overhaul, including whether crashes that kill should count as violent crimes (WLTX)
- To fill teacher vacancies, SC could accept certificates from other states (SC Daily Gazette)
- Gas prices are high. But do the numbers support suspending state gas taxes? (AP)
- ICE says it will not screen Parris Island visitors. What we know (Island Packet)
- In pivot from foreign stage, Sen. Lindsey Graham blasts GOP challengers over staffers' comments (Post and Courier)
- "Poor public policy": Proposed lottery ticket machines brings convenience and concerns (WACH)
- ‘Laid low in Ohio’: SC poet laureate tweaks lyrics to potential state song at lawmakers’ request (Free Times)
- Rom Reddy shares his vision for the governor's office (Greenville News)
- SC House lawmakers pass bill requiring local governments to work with ICE, federal immigration (Post and Courier)
- New study details types, amounts of materials entering state landfills, areas for opportunity (SC Public Radio)
- Bill filed in SC House seeks to repeal same sex marriage (WLTX)
