Staff reports | State House members pre-filed more than 350 bills last week, including high-profile measures related to online porn and bathroom choice that got coverage. But there were a host of additional important bills that you should be aware of.
- To view all pre-filed House bills, click here.
- To view Statehouse Report‘s summary of major Senate pre-filed bills, click here.
Key pre-filed House bills include measures related to taxes, wages, discrimination, medical marijuana, mopeds, drug tests, term limits, reapportionment and more:
Regulations. H. 3002 (Atwater) calls for state regulations to expire five years after first promulgated, with several provisions.
Human trafficking/porn. H. 3003 (Burns) seeks to require businesses u sing the Internet to install and operate a digital blocking capability that “renders obscenity inaccessible” with several provisions.
Living wage. H. 3007 (Gilliard) seeks a resolution for a “living wage” of $15 per hour.
Bathroom bill. H. 3012 (Long) seeks a change to public accommodations laws to keep governments from requiring people to use bathrooms other than their biological sex, with exceptions.
Anti-discrimination. H. 3021 (Rutherford) seeks the “Uniform Antidiscrimination Act” to expand the definition of discrimination to include sexual orientation, with several provisions.
School bus belts. H. 3027 (Clary) seeks to require school buses to have lap belts. H. 3061 (Robinson-Simpson) is similar.
Right to work. H. 3029 (Cobb-Hunter) seeks to repeal the state’s right to work law and replace it with the “Freedom of Employment Contract Act.”
School district consolidation. H. 3032 (Crawford) would consolidate school districts into one district per county, with several provisions.
Dress code. H. 3050 (McKnight) seeks a mandatory dress code in public schools, with some exceptions.
Public school gun permits. H. 3052 (Putnam) calls for a law to allow public school employees to get authorization to carry a concealed weapon on school grounds, with several provisions. H. 3330 (Hill) is related.
Confederate flag. H. 3083 (Whipper) would allow relocation of a Confederate flag at The Citadel with approval of its board of directors.
Minimum wage. H. 3085 (Cobb-Hunter) would establish a state minimum wage of at least $10.10 or equal to a federal minimum wage, with several provisions.
Legislative pay. H. 3090 (King) seeks a statewide referendum to raise legislative pay to $42,830 a year.
Local government fund. H. 3099 (Ott) seeks to change the formula for the state’s local government reimbursement fund.
Gambling. H. 3102 (Rutherford) seeks a constitutional amendment to allow betting on horse racing, sports betting, casino betting to fund road improvements, with several provisions.
Gas tax hike. H. 3111 (Whipper) calls for a 7 cent per gallon gas tax increase to go to road funding.
Drug tests. H. 3114 (Burns) calls for drug tests for people on family assistance of nutrition assistance benefits if the state Department of Social Services “reasonably suspects” they are engaged in drug use, with several provisions.
Health care. H. 3115 (Cobb-Hunter) seeks to improve access to health care by having the state design an insurance plan similar to one in Arkansas that includes acceptance of federal funds based on criteria, with several provisions.
Nursing homes. H. 3120 (Gilliard) seeks to establish minimum staff-resident ratios at nursing homes, with several training and other provisions.
Alimony reform. H. 3122 (Govan) seeks major reform to the length of alimony payments, with many provisions.
Medical marijuana. H. 3128 (Rutherford) seeks to allow medical use of marijuana and to allow authorized cultivation of it by dispensaries, with many provisions. H. 3162 (Rutherford) would legalize veterans with PTSD to have up to an ounce of marijuana, with several provisions.
DHEC reform. H. 3131 (G.M. Smith) seeks multiple changes to laws governing the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, including its Certificate of Need program.
Term limits. H. 3141 (Ballentine) seeks a constitutional amendment to limit terms of state House members and senators. H. 3142 (Ballentine) is a related statutory proposal to limit terms to six terms in the House and four terms in the Senate. H. 3160 and H. 3161 (Putnam) are related. H. 3164 and H. 3166 (G.R Smith) are similar.
Candidate residency. H. 3145 (Crosby) would require candidates for House or Senate to live in their districts at least 90 days prior to filing opens for office, with other provisions.
Constitutional officers. H. 3146 (Delleney) seeks a constitutional amendment to make the state superintendent of education an appointed, not elected, office. H. 3229 (W. Newton) seeks a referendum for the comptroller general to be appointed, instead of elected.
Straight-party voting. H. 3147 (Funderburk) seeks to eliminate straight-party ticket voting.
Automatic registration. H. 3157 (King) seeks to create a process whereby applying for a driver’s license automatically registers someone as a voter, with several provisions.
Gubernatorial succession. H. 3159 (Pope) seeks to clarify gubernatorial succession if there is a vacancy, with several provisions.
Background checks. H. 3180 (Cobb-Hunter) seeks successful completion of a “National Instant Criminal Background Check” before a firearm is transferred to a purchaser or transferee. H. 3181 (Cobb-Hunter) is related and deals with checks at gun shows. H. 3328 (Bernstein) would require a 28-day waiting period for purchases or transfers of firearms.
Online impersonations. H. 3214 (Rutherford) would make it illegal to intentionally impersonate another person online, with several provisions.
Dams. H. 3218 (Lucas) would update state law on dams and reservoirs and require annual reporting by private owners to the state, with several provisions. H. 3340 (Ott) is related to repair of dams and notification.
Tax credit. H. 3226 (Cobb-Hunter) seeks a refundable state individual income tax credit equal to 3 percent of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit, with annual increases to 5 percent.
Concealed weapons. H. 3240 (Clemmons) seeks changes to allow out-of-state concealed weapons permit holders to conceal their guns in South Carolina, with several provisions.
Smoking in cars. H. 3241 (Clyburn) would make it illegal for anyone to smoke in a vehicle if a child under 5 were in the vehicle.
Mopeds. H. 3247 (Crosby) would make multiple reforms to state law governing moped use. H. 3287 (Ryhal) is related.
Drug tests for cops. H. 3269 (McKnight) would require anyone who wants to be a police officer in the state to pass a drug test, including a test for anabolic steroids.
Toll road. H. 3273 (Ridgeway) seeks for Interstate 95 to become a toll road, with several provisions.
Homeowners’ associations. H. 3301 (Duckworth) seeks to amend the state’s act governing homeowners’ associations by providing more disclosures, and other provisions.
Elected insurance director. H. 3306 (Stavrinakis) seeks to have the state director of the Department of Insurance to be elected.
High speed rail. H. 3309 (Stavrinakis) seeks establishment of a high speed rail commission to study and develop a plan for such rail transportation.
Pathways to Careers. H. 3311 (White) seeks a Pathways to Careers initiative, including scholarships and tax credits, with other provisions.
Fair tax. H. 3317 (Corley) seeks to implement the state Fair Tax, with many provisions.
Reapportionment. H. 3339 (Funderburk) seeks to establish a state Reapportionment Commission to develop and submit reapportionment plans for legislative districts.
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