This past week, the SC House was on "furlough" after Easter Sunday. While we did not have any formal proceedings, I followed up on a number of issues with meetings and phone calls to continue to work hard to solve problems. Two weeks ago, we used the furlough week email to summarize the legislation passed so far. Today, I will review some of the major work still to be done as well as pending legislation regarding these topics. Also outlined are the bills I plan to introduce in the next week or two on issues I have been researching that are not already being addressed elsewhere.

Some of the biggest concerns shared with me that have not yet been passed are as follows:

1. Closed Primaries - H3695 (there are others, but this is the one likely to come out of committee)

2. Parental Bill of Rights - S234 & H3197

3. Repealing Certificate of Need Requirements - S164 - Passed the Senate and is in the House Military, Medical, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee

4. Fentanyl-Induced Homicide - H3476 & S1 - Senate version passed and is in the House Judiciary Committee

5. School Choice/Open Enrollment/Money Follows the Child - S39 - passed the Senate, favorable vote from House Education and Public Works Committee, headed to the House Floor H3843 - Mentioned in an earlier newsletter, passed House and currently resides in Senate Education Committee

All of these bills are at various stages. Those that met the "crossover" deadline from one chamber to the other, which was April 10th, have a chance to pass both houses and go to the Governor for signing. For this reason, bills such as S164 & S1, and H3843 have a chance to become law this year versus their companion bills in the other chamber.

You can look up or follow any legislation you wish by downloading the "SC Legislature" app in the Google Playstore or Apple Store. There is a search link that can be used with keywords or the bill number.

One of the aspects of the lawmaking process that was good to learn is that if a legislator is listed as a co-sponsor on any bill, he or she is notified by email in advance of the subcommittee or committee meeting and invited to attend. When we attend, we are able to speak as if we were a member of the committee, which is different from local government where you can only address the committee as a member of the public. For this reason, I have co-sponsored a number of bills where I may or may not agree with everything written in the current text, but consider the general purpose important. By being notified of the committee meetings, I can actually bring an amendment to a bill that might be improved before it would advance to the House floor. So if you see my name as a co-sponsor on something you don't agree with, please send me your thoughts. It could be that I don't agree with everything either but do want to have a chance to try to change the bill before it is voted on by the whole body. I have already had some negative emails over bills with this very situation, and I just do my best to explain the process.

Between "learning the ropes" of everything we need to do, getting to know and vote on judiciary and trustee candidates in the first month in office, and trying to read through the over 700+ pre-filed bills, I held off submitting bills of my own until I had time to research whether these topics were already being addressed. With the help of our legal and research teams, I am working on several bills. Any bills introduced at this point in the session will be able to carry over to the second year without being reintroduced.

1. Stop Predatory Lending Practices in SC

2. Protect Residents of Coastal Tall Structures

3. Traditional Social Studies Standards 

4. No Central Bank Digital Currency in SC

Two other issues I investigated were first, to provide for hardening our power grids statewide against EMP, Electro-Magnetic Pulse interference which can knock out power for weeks. It can be either manmade, such as a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere or naturally occurring via sunspot activity. The effect is terrible, but the prevention is both known and attainable. So far, while I cannot find that this has been discussed widely in public forums, I am hearing that the major power companies and the military in SC are either working on this or have already accomplished it. I will keep researching further as this is something that should already be in place. The other issue was making a financial literacy course a requirement in the 9th grade. It turns out that the General Assembly passed such a law last year, except that it is required by the 12th grade to graduate. My concern is that for students who do not finish high school and are already at a disadvantage, this basic knowledge of the importance of having a bank account, writing a check, managing credit, saving for the future, and other aspects is critical to success as an adult regardless of what career path one chooses. I would have liked to see that required earlier in high school.

On Tuesday evening, I attended a fundraising and advocacy event for the new National Medal of Honor Leadership and Heritage Center to be built here at Patriots Point. We heard a great update from Executive Director Tommy McQueeney, as well as a rousing speech from Maj. General James Livingston, MOH, USMC (Ret.). The plans are coming along well for this exciting and inspiring structure, and my fellow Lowcountry SC Representatives and I will continue to do all we can to help support this effort. It was wonderful to see so many friends and fellow patriots, including District 80 residents Bryan and Ivette Smith there for this special event.