Staff reports | When state lawmakers return to Columbia after Easter – they’re taking a furlough week next week – they’ll likely be introducing fewer bills as an important procedural date comes April 10. That day, known as the “crossover” day, marks when new bills have to get a super-majority after passage in one chamber to be considered by the other. From a work flow standpoint, this means few bills introduced for the next month stand much of a chance of passage this year. They will, however, still be on the calendar next year in the second year of the two-year session.
Most of the 63 bills introduced in the Senate and House this week were congratulatory or memorial resolutions, such as bills to recognize the University of South Carolina’s men’s and women’s basketball teams. Substantive policy bills that may be of interest include:
Beach renourishment plan. S. 610 (Goldfinch” seeks a working group to develop a
“long-range comprehensive beach management plan” to quantify beach renourishment needs, with several provisions.
Body cameras. S. 612 (Kimpson) seeks a law to prohibit deletion or destruction of data from police body cameras, with several provisions.
Education accounts. S. 622 (Massey) seeks a new law to establish “scholarship accounts” to meet certain education expenses and to provide oversight by the Education Oversight Committee and a parent committee to determine whether expenses are qualified.
Opioids. H. 4092 (Bedingfield) would require Medicaid health plans to ensure “appropriate clinical services,” including medications to deal with opioid use disorders. H. 4112 (Bedingfield) would require the state Department of Health and Environmental Control to develop a “voluntary nonopioid directive form” to allow a person to deny or refuse administration or prescription of an opioid, with several provisions.
Party registration. H. 4115 (Clemmons) seeks to require registration of voters by political party, with several provisions.
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