By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | The South Carolina Senate is poised to create a new, powerful position upon the start of a new session in January, and Republican Education chairman Harvey Peeler of Cherokee is likely to fill that position, according to senior Republican leadership sources.
In years past, the lieutenant governor has presided over the state Senate. But with a constitutional amendment that put the governor and lieutenant governor on a joint ticket in 2018, the role of lieutenant governor changed to be squarely in the executive branch. To adapt, the Senate Rules Committee has drafted a proposal that creates the new position of “President of the Senate” to be the Senate’s presiding officer.
“The rules are going to have to be changed to deal with that [constitutional change],” Rules Chairman Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, said this week.
He said, the Rules Committee will need to pass the proposed rule change on the first day of session, Jan. 8, and then the full body will have the opportunity to adopt it. He added it will be similar to the House getting its body in order after an election, like it just went through.
Once the rule passes, the Senate then will elect the president, assign new committee chairs as needed, and elect new officers, such as the chamber’s sergeant-at-arms.
“This is all just talk until the Senate actually votes on it,” Massey said.
S.C. Sen. Greg Hembree, who suffered and recovered from a brain aneurysm this summer, served on the Rules subcommittee that drafted the proposal. He said the proposal has not met any opposition and was drafted with “a general spirit of cooperation.”
“Nothing’s final until we vote on it, but it seems we have reached a consensus,” Hembree said.
The new Senate president would vote as a member of the Senate and any tied votes would fail, Massey said. The president would also assume the responsibilities of the current president pro tempore of the Senate, a position currently held by Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence.
But the proposal would prevent the president from chairing any current standing committees in an effort “to diffuse power,” Massey said. According to multiple sources, Leatherman has strongly signaled he would not seek the president’s position so he could maintain his Finance chairmanship.
A new committee, too
However, the president could head a new standing committee being proposed for the Senate: the Senate Oversight Committee.
“We think we can do a better job than we have been doing,” Massey said of the proposed committee.
Hembree added the oversight committee would be modeled after the House’s committee. He called the proposed committee “a very good thing.”
Under the proposed rule change, the president position will not be limited to seniority or majority party. The Senate presidency will depend on votes, Massey said. Currently, Peeler appears to be the only name being floated to serve as Senate president. If he is elected under the current proposal, then the Education Committee would require a new chair, which is offered to majority lawmakers based on seniority.
Hembree is the likely member to fill the seat, according to multiple sources, including Hembree.
Hembree said he is preparing for the possibility of taking over the Education committee since session would be underway by the time the vote is made.
“By January, it will be on,” Hembree said. He called education in the state “very nuanced” and said he is starting his homework now.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!