Staff reports | In bicameral legislatures, state senates often are lauded for being chambers where bad ideas coming from a reactionary or rowdy sister chamber can be improved through a more deliberative process.
In recent years in South Carolina, however, the state Senate also has been criticized as a place where good ideas also go to die due to complex rules that stymied the process and placed lots of power in the hands of individual senators who use rules to kill something easily.
This week, the Senate reconsidered its rules and came up with a new process that should allow good, noncontroversial ideas to proceed toward law without getting as clogged in procedures and process. New rules created a “consent calendar” where uncontested bills coming out of committee are to be placed on the Senate floor calendar for action at the beginning of each legislative day. Any bill on this calendar, however, can be moved to the regular calendar at the request of a senator or if an amendment is placed on it.
New rules also essentially get rid of the power of “minority reports,” which have been used in the past by single senators to move bills to the contested calendar and, in practice, into bill purgatory as the contested calendar often grows and grows with bills that eventually die from inaction. To offset the new way of dealing with minority reports, individual senators can object – or hold up – five bills, up two from previous years.
- To look at an overview of new Senate rules, click here.
Also this week in the Senate, there was some shuffling of chairs of committees following several departures from the last session:
- Luke Rankin, R-Horry, now chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. He formerly chaired the Ethics Committee.
- Paul Campbell, R-Berkeley, now chairs the Ethics Committee.
- Ronnie Cromer, R-Newberry, is new chair of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee,
- Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, is chair of the Senate Invitations Committee.
- Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg, is new chair of the Senate Corrections and Penology Committee.
- Shane Massey, an Edgefield Republican who was reelected as Senate Majority Leader, is chair of the Senate Rules Committee.
Leatherman reelected as Senate president pro tempore
Senate Finance Committee chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, was reelected 36-9 this week as the chamber’s president pro tempore, or presiding officer – despite making it clear he wouldn’t serve as lieutenant governor when Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster moves up to governor when Gov. Nikki Haley is confirmed as an ambassador.
Leatherman got votes from 18 Republicans and 18 Democrats. Sen. Katrina Shealy, R-Lexington, voted “present.” Nine Republicans – the more conservative or new members of the caucus, voted no:
- Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester
- Chip Campsen, R-Charleston
- Wes Climer, R-York *
- Tom Davis, R-Beaufort
- Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley
- Greg Hembree, R-Horry
- Shane Massey, R-Edgefield
- Rex Rice, R-Pickens *
- William Timmons, R-Greenville *
* New members of the Senate
In the House, members re-elected Rep. Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, as speaker. Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, was elected to be chair of the House Ethics Committee, replacing Rep. Kenny Bingham who retired.
Prefiling to occur next week
State senators will be able to prefile legislation for the coming January session on Tuesday, Dec. 13. House members will prefile bills two days later.
- Click here next week to find prefiled legislation.
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