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South Carolina General Assembly

  • Last week the SC Supreme Court ruled the state’s six-week Fetal Heartbeat Law unconstitutional stating that it violated a woman’s right to privacy as provided by the state constitution. That left the previous 20-week abortion law in effect. The court’s decision didn’t sit well with the state’s conservative Republican leadership opening the door for another abortion debate, and lawmakers signaling they may also begin something they have long avoided, closer scrutiny of the judicial philosophy of potential Supreme Court justices.
  • South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster wants to increase 2022's record amount of capital investment and offset shortages across workforces like education and law enforcement. That's according to the governor's budget request released Friday. The proposal is just a first step. Lawmakers will now begin writing and approving a spending plan when the General Assembly reconvenes next week.
  • A federal court has ruled South Carolina lawmakers illegally used race as the basis to redraw the boundaries of one of its U.S. House districts. A three-judge panel wrote Friday that the General Assembly diluted Black voting power when it remade the boundaries of the 1st District — the only U.S. House district flipped by South Carolina Democrats in more than 30 years. The ruling requires the state to redraw the map by the end of March and prohibits any elections before a new map is approved.
  • A federal trial to determine whether South Carolina's congressional maps are legal is closing with arguments over whether the state Legislature diluted Black voting power. The NAACP says the General Assembly removed Black voters from the coastal 1st District to make it easier for Republicans to win and dilute African American votes. The General Assembly says it drew maps fairly to deal with 10% population growth concentrated along the coast. A panel of three federal judges will hear closing arguments in the case Tuesday morning in Charleston. A ruling is expected later.
  • In Grenville and other counties in South Carolina, an acrimonious public debate is is growing over whether LGBTQ+-themes materials belong near the children's sections of public libraries.
  • National advocacy groups and hundreds of demonstrators have descended on the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse grounds to testify before lawmakers considering new abortion-related measures after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. A 21-year-old college student speaking against abortion access Thursday shared the story of her own birth, when doctors advised her parents to get an abortion after an ultrasound showed a severely underdeveloped leg and a cyst on her brain. In his testimony against additional restrictions, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joe Cunningham noted the story of a 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio who recently traveled out-of-state for an abortion.
  • When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month it stated that it was time to return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives, meaning state or federal lawmakers. Surveys by news organizations indicate that about half of the states are now expected to restrict or enact laws making abortion illegal. South Carolina is among them, and later today in Columbia the legislative process to do that will begin with a public hearing by a special State House of Representatives Committee.
  • The South Carolina General Assembly has overturned many of Gov. Henry McMasters budget vetoes. But they did agree with the biggest one, taking $25 million out of the $13.8 billion spending plan to try to help bring a super computer to Columbia. The money was set aside for what supporters called a quantum computing operation and set up a nonprofit to rent time on the machine to researchers and others. Both the House and Senate continued Tuesday afternoon to consider the 73 vetoes issued by the governor, taking about $53 million from from the nearly $14 billion budget set to start July 1.
  • The South Carolina General Assembly is returning to Columbia on Tuesday to consider nearly $53 million in local projects that Gov. Henry McMaster wants out of the $13.8 billion state budget. All the money went toward items put in by lawmakers for local concerns, like $25 million to help pay for a quantum computer facility in Columbia, $7 million for a cultural welcome center in Orangeburg and $500,000 to improve the stadium at Summerville High School. McMaster says he allowed projects where lawmakers detailed exactly who got the money and where it was going.
  • Supporters of a bill to allow women in South Carolina to get birth control pills at a pharmacy without a doctor's prescription are trying to get it passed before this year's session ends. A House subcommittee on Wednesday approved the bill, sending it to the chamber's full medical committee. The bill has already passed the Senate, but there are just nine regular legislative days left in the General Assembly's 2022 session. Supporters say it is another logical step to reducing the number of abortions in the state by stopping unwanted pregnancies. Pharmacists could choose whether to participate in the program.