By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | The penultimate week of session may have been mistaken for an episode of “Trading Spaces.”
Bucking decades of party tradition, a Democrat found himself proposing an amendment in the Senate that would effectively ban abortions in the state. Likewise, Republican leadership found themselves pushing for a tax conformity bill that makes the income tax code more progressive by reinstating a tax exemption.
Abortion debate turns
Sick of the abortion debate sucking all the air out of the Senate while other bills languish, S.C. Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, proposed an amendment to outlaw virtually all abortions Wednesday. The same reason was given for Republicans breaking ranks to defeat the bill: getting on with their jobs.
Hutto, a longtime pro-choice champion, defended his move Thursday.
“Every year in multiple forums, some form of abortion debate comes to the Senate and ties us up in knots,” Hutto said. “This will remove the incentive to argue this over and over and over again because (if passed it would be) in the courts for the next three years.”
He earned quick support from many Republicans, but not from an abortion-ban touting senator from Anderson, who said it doesn’t go far enough. Recently-elected Sen. Richard Cash said he would vote against the bill because it offered exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother. He said it was providence that the bill was being considered for third reading, however.
“I do believe this is one of those times that it is true the Lord works in mysterious ways,” Cash said on the floor.
Hutto said his proposed amendment — which he emphasized he did not support — is blatantly unconstitutional He said he hoped that it would ignite passion from abortion-rights advocates.
“I’m convinced the courts are going to protect women,” he said, adding that a big ban is better than slowly “chipping away” at abortion access.
Abortion-rights advocates, however, immediately called the move risky and denounced it. Democratic senators launched a filibuster Thursday, which bled into the early morning hours Friday before the Senate voted 24-21 to send the bill back to committee, where it is expected to remain quiet for the rest of session.
During the debate, Sen. Sandy Senn, R-Charleston, also lamented abortion politics taking away from more pressing issues, such as the $9 billion nuclear fiasco and the budget. Key Republicans who voted to put the issue back in committee included Chip Campsen of Mount Pleasant, Katrina Shealy of Lexington, Hugh Leatherman of Florence, Greg Gregory of Lancaster and Luke Rankin of Conway.
According to a Post and Courier story, Rankin said he broke so the Senate could get on with other bills. The Senate resumes session 11 a.m. May 8.
Progressive tax consequence?
Meanwhile, S.C. House Speaker Jay Lucas filed a bill this week that will conform the S.C. tax code to the federal code, a move made every year as the federal government’s code adjusts. But this year’s conformity would cause a rise in taxes in the state after the federal government’s overhaul in late 2017.
In March, a House study committee issued a report that said conformity without raising taxes could be achieved by overhauling the state’s tax code. The proposal would be flatter and remove many exemptions.
But while a flatter tax code has been a Republican mantra since at least the 1980s, that was not part of Lucas’ plan. To avoid increasing taxes on South Carolinians, Lucas’ plan would restore the personal exemption in the state, which the federal overhaul did away with.
Lucas’ spokesman Caroline Delleney did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. During House discussion Thursday, S.C. Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York, spoke in favor of the bill, H. 5341.
“What this bill does is protect the taxpayers of South Carolina so there is no increase on them,” Simrill said.
Some see the bill as quiet agreement that the state is barely meeting its service obligations under the current tax code and flattening it may not prove beneficial.
“I’m sure they (Republican leadership) would be shocked to realize that and would certainly disagree that it is a progressive tax reform,” Democratic S.C. Rep. Gilda Cobb Hunter of Orangeburg said Friday. She praised the bill for maintaining the personal exemption “that will mitigate some of the damage by the GOP tax scam in eliminating deductions.”
The bill received unanimous consent for second reading and is on the House’s calendar for third reading next week.
In other news this week:
Exceptional SC. A bill that codifies a voucher program for special education received unanimous second reading in the Senate. It is poised for third reading for next week. The bill has already passed the House and could be on the Governor’s desk before end of session.
Vision tests to return. A bill reinstating vision tests for drivers in 2020 will go to Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk now that it has passed both bodies.
Anti-Semitism on campus. A bill aimed at helping college campuses battle discrimination and anti-Semitism has passed both chambers. A McMaster spokesman said the governor would sign the bill.
Solar gets boost in budget. The House’s budget amendments include a provision that would raise the state’s net metering cap from 2 percent to 4 percent. The amendment needs to pass in conference and make it through gubernatorial vetoes to be enacted.
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