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Friday Reports — April 2008

Issue 16-08: April 25, 2008

Issue 15-08: April 18, 2008

Issue 14-08: April 11, 2008

Issue 13-08: April 4, 2008

(Back to Other 2008 Reports)

Issue 16-08 — April 25, 2008

The end of the session push has hit full tilt, with bills having to be sent to the other chamber by next Wednesday to avoid the two-thirds vote requirement to be considered in the second chamber. There are only six weeks left in the legislative session. For the remainder of the session, the first item in the Friday Report will be labeled "Critical Contact Issues" and will point out those select bills where a number of contacts by county officials may be the difference in the outcome of the issue.

Critical Contact Issues for the Week of April 28

Food Exemption from Local Sales Taxes – H. 4355. This bill was given a favorable report by the House Ways and Means Committee this week. H. 4355 exempts unprepared food from the local sales taxes. The members of the subcommittee said they thought this was contained in Act 388 when food was exempted from the state sales tax. This exemption applies to local option sales taxes adopted after the effective date of the act, unless the governing body votes to exempt food from a local option sales tax already in place.

Local Hospitality and Accommodation Tax Collection Discount. A committee amendment to H. 4355 was proposed to provide a cost of collection allowance of up to $3,000 per merchant for the local hospitality tax and up to $3,000 per merchant for the local accommodations tax. The committee amendment will be before the House when H. 4355 appears on the calendar.

Ask your House Member to raise the 24-hour point of order on H. 4355 next Tuesday, request debate and vote against the committee amendment.

Online Spending Registry – Proviso 86.2. This is the Senate proviso which requires the withholding of state aid to subdivisions money from counties, if they fail to provide an online searchable database of all county financial transactions and credit card expenditures to be updated monthly. For each check issued, the register must display the amount, the name of the payee and a detailed statement of the purpose of the check/expenditure. The register must not include an entry for salary or wages and cannot include information that can be used to identify an employee.

The Comptroller General and Sen. Bryant have repeatedly claimed this can be done at no cost. What they fail to understand or do not disclose is that:

not every county has a website, or a website that is currently usable for this feature;
the Comptroller General's registry does not meet requirements of the proviso, because it does not have a detailed description of the expenditure and it is searchable only as to the agency name and month of expenditure; and
the Comptroller General's online registry is a function of the multi-million dollar computer program agencies use through his office.

Contact your House member, and ask them to oppose any effort to adopt the Senate proviso when the House takes up the Senate amendments to the budget next Tuesday.

Municipal Capital Projects Sales Tax – H. 4378. The House Ways and Means Committee gave a favorable report to H. 4378. In many counties, the bill will prevent the use of the countywide shared capital projects sales tax, because the municipalities have representatives on the committee which formulates the project list. This bill also sets up the possibility of competing referenda at the same time.

Ask your House member to raise the 24-hour point of order on H. 4378 next Tuesday, request debate and vote against H. 4378.

Taxation and Finance Bills

School Sales Tax – H. 4883 and S. 1232. Both of these bills would allow a local option sales tax to be imposed for school capital projects. The tax may be imposed in the county upon the adoption of a resolution by the school district board and a favorable referendum result. The tax may only be imposed by a school district whose boundaries are the same as the county. The revenues may be shared with higher education for capital improvements on campuses. The Senate Finance Committee reported the bill out favorably this week, and the Senate gave S. 1232 a second reading. The House amended H. 4883 to allow the school capital projects sales tax only in a county which has collected at least $7 million in state accommodations taxes, and it is now in the Senate.

Big Annual Tax (BAT) Bill – H. 4887. The BAT bill was given a favorable report after several amendments were added. The bill contains the boat situs language requiring 180 days continuous presence or 270 days presence in the aggregate in order to be subject to property tax in South Carolina, when the boat has tax situs in two states. H. 4887 has passed the House and is in the Senate.

6 Percent Assessment Ratio for Warehouses – H. 4672. H. 4672 is on the contested calendar pending second reading. Rep. Cobb-Hunter led the effort to change the 6 percent warehouse assessment ratio change. After negotiations, there is an amendment pending to significantly reduce the fiscal impact of this provision from $12.7 million to about $1 million. H. 4672 was carried over, because of numerous other amendments which have also been proposed.

Motor Vehicle Accident Fees – H. 4797. This legislation, as introduced, prohibited a county from imposing a fee or seeking reimbursement of costs or expenses incurred as a result of responding to a motor vehicle accident. The House exempted EMS, hazardous waste cleanup and any insured charges from the scope of the bill. The House gave the bill a third reading, and it is currently in Senate Judiciary Committee.

Ag Use Appeals – H. 4499. This bill allows a taxpayer to receive attorney fees and costs when they prevail on appeal from the assessor's decision to deny or revoke an ag use application. There are no guidelines or limits on the amount of fees and costs, and the bill deletes the requirement that a court find the assessor's decision was unreasonable. H. 4499 amends a provision agreed to between the Farm Bureau and SCAC last year. The Farm Bureau did not request H. 4499 and has no position on the bill. The provision making this retroactive was deleted from the bill. H. 4499 passed the House and is in the Senate.

ATI or Point of Sale Revisions – H. 4942. This bill revises the recognition of full fair market value for real property subject to the valuation cap once it is transferred. The SCAC Board adopted no position on the point of sale/ATI issue, and SCAC staff will not advocate any position on this issue. If you have thoughts or concerns about the issue, you should communicate them directly to your Senator. H. 4942 passed the House and is now in the Senate.

Stormwater Fee Exemptions — H. 4337

This bill is awaiting second reading on the House contested calendar. As reported last week, the language is very broadly written and would totally exempt all agricultural lands, forest lands or undeveloped lands from any fees levied for stormwater or erosion control. S.C. Code §48-14-20 exempts certain land disturbing activities, including some farming and forestry practices. The language of the bill goes far beyond this and exempts all activities (including structures). This bill is based on a proposal that was considered, but never passed in one county. The proponents are now crying "wolf." If you are affected, please call your House member and Senator; let them know that this is legislation that could have an impact upon your programs.

Idling Commercial Vehicles — H. 4911, H. 3853 and S. 1303

The proposal creates a non-moving traffic offense—idling of commercial vehicles longer than 10 minutes—with some exceptions. Fines would be payable directly to DPS without the inclusion of court assessments. If the ticket is contested, it would be heard in magistrate court with the standard court assessments and revenue distribution. Unpaid fines would be enforceable by registration suspension. H. 4911 received third reading in the House and has been sent to the Senate.

H. 3853, which among other things deals with idling reduction systems on commercial vehicles, was amended by the House to include all of the provisions of H. 4911. H. 3853 will go back to the Senate for consideration of the House amendment.

S. 1303 contains similar provisions to H. 4911 and is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.

General Government Operations and Structure

Fireman Background Check – H. 5009. H. 5009 provides a criminal background check for paid and volunteer firefighters prior to employment. There is a grandfather provision that exempts firefighters employed as of June 30, 2001, as long as they remain with the same fire department. It also precludes hiring anyone convicted of arson. H. 5009 was given a favorable report by the House Judiciary Committee.

Animal Care Cost Recovery – S. 1260. The Senate Agriculture Committee gave this bill a favorable report. The bill would allow county/municipal animal shelters or animal protection groups awarded custody of animals in abuse cases to petition the court to require defendants to pay for the care and medical treatment of animals seized. The bill is currently awaiting third reading on the Senate calendar.

Coroner Vacancies – S. 1172. S. 1172 was amended to strike the special election requirement when a vacancy in the office of coroner occurs more than one year before the next general election. The bill is awaiting third reading on the Senate calendar.

Solar Panelsx – H. 4892. The House LCI Committee gave a favorable report to this bill with a proposed amendment to allow local governments to regulate placement and other aspects of solar panels. It is pending second reading on the House calendar.

Courts, Clerks and RODs

State Grand Jurors – H. 4694. This bill would prohibit any person who is currently charged in a state or federal court with a criminal offense that carries a maximum penalty of one year or more from serving on a state grand jury. The House Judiciary Committee gave the bill a favorable report, and it is pending second reading on the House calendar.

Electronic Recording Act – H. 3451. This bill provides for the electronic recording of land title documents in the RODs' offices. The House concurred in the Senate amendments, and it has been enrolled for ratification.

Mechanics Liens – S. 511. The Senate LCI Committee gave a favorable report to S. 511 with a proposed amendment. The amendment provides a process for removing liens from the records after six months by court order or written affidavit by either party, if no suit or notice of pendency has been filed.

Protective Orders – H. 4312. This bill provides that a protective order established by reason of incapacity—other than for being a minor—does not automatically terminate upon the incapacitated person reaching the age of majority. The House Judiciary committee gave this bill a favorable report.

Evidence Warehousing – S. 429. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave this bill a favorable report after adopting the subcommittee amendment based upon the compromise language worked out by SCAC and law enforcement groups over the last several weeks. The bill would require evidence in homicides, sexual crimes, first degree robbery and first degree burglary to be held: for the term of incarceration for guilty verdict cases; for the lesser of seven years or the term of incarceration for sentences after guilty or nolo contendere pleas; and until execution in capital cases. The bill is currently awaiting third reading on the calendar. Storage of retained evidence is a major concern in S. 429.

A Fiscal Impact Statement request was sent out by the Budget Division. If you received that request, it is critical to get that data returned so the cost to local government can be accurately determined.

'Can't Wait to Get Your Friday Report Each Week, or Missed Your E-mail Version This Week?

Information has a short shelf life in the legislative arena. The sooner you receive legislative updates, the sooner you are able to contact the members of the General Assembly to thank them for doing helpful things or give them the information they need to make better decisions. The Friday Report is usually available on the website by 3 p.m. on Friday. The Friday Report can also be sent to you directly. Just fax the enclosed form, or follow e-mail request instructions.

Newly-Introduced Legislation

Note: If you would like copies of any of the bills or if you would like to offer comments to the SCAC staff, please call us toll-free at 1-800-922-6081, fax to 1 (803) 252-0379 or send e-mail. You can view or download bills by clicking on the bill number.

House Bills

H. 5059 – makes it an unfair trade practice for anyone to pay for services rendered by a person that is in the U.S. illegally.

H. 5063 – creates a civil cause of action against a municipality, if a person can demonstrate that the municipality exercised its powers to tax and acquire land through condemnation or other means in a discriminatory manner.

H. 5072 – creates the Post-Conviction DNA Procedures Act, which allows a person convicted of a criminal offense to apply to the court in the county where they were convicted for DNA testing of biological material. The cost for the testing will be paid by the person making the request. If they are indigent, the state will pay for the testing.

H. 5088 – prohibits state and local governmental bodies that are subject to the state procurement code from entering into a purchase contract with a vendor located or otherwise operating in a foreign country without first giving a U.S. resident vendor an opportunity to be awarded the contract.

Senate Bills

S. 1309 – provides changes in the tax incentives for companies that film movies in this state. It eliminates the previous provisions that provided a tax rebate on state and local sales tax, repeals the provision of chapter 62 under Title 12 relating to the S.C. Motion Picture Incentive Act and increases the number of days state property may be used by a film production company without a fee.

S. 1310 – creates the S.C. School Facilities Infrastructure Act, which provides an infrastructure authority for the construction of school facilities.

S. 1311 – creates the Public Education Funding Effectiveness and Fairness Panel to study school funding and to provide a report with recommendations to the General Assembly by Jan. 1, 2010.

S. 1313 – allows a person who acquires an equitable interest in property through a contract to qualify for the 4 percent assessment ratio, as long as the person claims the property as their legal residence and is responsible for taxes on the property in question.

S. 1323 – removes the Senate's advice and consent appointment authority to various councils, boards and committees—including the local committees that are created in response to drought.

Issue 15-08 — April 18, 2008

The pace of meetings and the length of sessions in each chamber will increase, as the May 1 procedural deadline approaches. Bills which do not cross from one chamber to the other by May 1 will require a two-thirds vote in the receiving chamber to be considered. The period after May 1 is sometimes referred to as "rabbit season," when bills which did not pass a chamber or items which have never been introduced appear as amendments to other bills. SCAC may send Legislative Alerts, and these will require immediate action to keep provisions which were thought to be dead for the year from being adopted—creating problems or just bogging down desirable legislation.

Senate Completes the Budget

The Senate finished work on the budget this week. The budget will now go back to the House, where it will likely be amended back to a version similar to the House-passed budget. Then, a conference committee will be appointed. The Local Government Fund (LGF) was fully funded according to the statutory formula; however, proviso 89.new (outlined below) could potentially risk some counties' state aid to subdivisions funding. The Senate was able to fund a 1 percent raise for state employees. Some of the provisos of interest are as follows:

Truth in Spending Proviso – Proviso 89.new. The Senate adopted this proviso which requires the withholding of state aid to subdivisions money from counties, if they fail to provide an online searchable database of all county financial transactions and credit card expenditures to be updated monthly. Specifically, the proviso requires:

An online transaction register that includes a complete record of all checks written for $100 or more; and

An online register of all credit card expenditures, including those for credit cards issued to county officers/employees.

The register must display the amount, the name of the payee and a detailed statement of the purpose of each check or expenditure. The register must not include an entry for salary or wages and cannot include information that can be used to identify an employee. A memo from Sen. Bryant concerning this proviso is attached.

DOR Collection of Local Hospitality Taxes. This proviso would have required DOR to collect all local hospitality taxes with state sales tax collections. Sen. Martin sponsored an amendment to delete this proviso from the budget, but Sen. McGill raised a point of order before it could be brought to a vote. The Senate ruled the proviso out of order and struck it from the budget.

Suspension of the EIA Maintenance of Local Effort. The Senate adopted this proviso, which suspends for FY 2008-09 the requirements of §59-21-1030, the local maintenance of effort requirement in the Education Improvement Act.

$5 Traffic Ticket Surcharge – Proviso 90.11. This proviso was determined to be out of order at Finance Committee and was not adopted in the Senate budget. The proviso is in the House version of the budget. It would add a $5 surcharge on all misdemeanor traffic tickets and non-moving violations. The revenue from the surcharge was to fund the Criminal Justice Academy.

Court Fine Reports – 76.14. This proviso is in both versions of the budget. If a county is more than 90 days delinquent in remitting monthly court fines, the State Treasurer shall withhold 25 percent of state funding for that county until all monthly reports are current. After 90 days, the funds being held by the Treasurer's Office will be made available to the State Auditor to conduct an audit of the entity for determining an amount due, if any.

Mileage Reimbursement – Proviso 89.25. The reimbursement rate for standard mileage increases from 44.5 cents to 50.5 cents. This proviso is in both versions of the budget.

Proviso Codification – S. 530. This bill codifies numerous provisos which have been in the budget act for several years. S. 530 will likely be taken up next week in the Senate.

Taxation/Finance Bills at House Ways and Means Committee

The following bills were given a favorable report by the House Ways and Means Committee and will be on the House calendar next week.

School Sales Tax – H. 4883. This legislation would allow a local option sales tax to be imposed for school capital projects. The tax may be imposed in the county upon the adoption of a resolution by the school district board and a favorable referendum result. The tax may only be imposed by a school district whose boundaries are the same as the county. The revenues may be shared with higher education for capital improvements on campuses.

Big Annual Tax (BAT) Bill – H. 4887. The BAT bill was given a favorable report after several amendments were added. The committee reversed course on the boat situs language, and now it requires 180 days continuously or 270 days in the aggregate. A committee member also seized upon the property tax exemption for mobile homes and mentioned making the exemption for boats $2,500 in value, as well.

6 Percent Assessment Ratio for Warehouses – H. 4672. The committee gave a favorable report to H. 4672, even with the $12.7 million local fiscal impact of changing the assessment ratio on warehouses owned by a manufacturing facility from 10 percent to 6 percent. The bill also contains a number of fee in lieu of tax changes proposed by the S.C. Economic Developers Association. Rep. Cobb-Hunter asked several questions about the fiscal impact of this bill.

Mini-bottle Hold Harmless – S. 951. This bill holds harmless state agencies and local entities which received mini-bottle tax revenues for alcohol education, prevention and other purposes.

Ag Use Appeals – H. 4499. This bill was given a favorable report. It allows a taxpayer to receive attorney fees and costs when they prevail on appeal from the assessor's decision to deny or revoke an ag use application. There are no guidelines or limits on the amount of fees and costs, and the bill deletes the requirement that a court find the decision was unreasonable. H. 4499 amends a provision agreed to between the Farm Bureau and SCAC last year. The Farm Bureau did not request H. 4499 and has no position on this bill. The provision making this retroactive was deleted from H. 4499.

ATI or Point of Sale Revisions – H. 4942. This bill revises the recognition of full fair market value for real property subject to the valuation cap once it is transferred. The SCAC Board adopted no position on the point of sale/ATI issue, and SCAC staff will not advocate any position on this issue. If you have thoughts or concerns on the issue, you should communicate them directly to your House member.

Motor Vehicle Accident Fees – H. 4797. After the committee amendment, this legislation exempts EMS and hazardous waste cleanup—if covered by insurance—from the prohibition on charging fees which result from services rendered as a result of an accident. H. 4797 is too broad in scope and exempts uninsured and under-insured motorists from accident-related fees for services.

Stormwater Fee Exemptions — H. 4337

The House Agriculture Committee gave a favorable report to H. 4337 with an amendment. The amendment would totally exempt all agriculture lands, forest lands and undeveloped lands from any fees levied by a county for stormwater, sediment or erosion control. None of the terms are defined, and it has been confirmed in conversations with the proponents that this is intended to exempt all lands, buildings and structures related to agriculture. Rep. Heyward Hutson of Dorchester County was the only committee member who voiced a concern about this bill.

Other Finance-Related Bills of Interest

Municipal Capital Projects Sales Tax – H. 4378. This bill was scheduled to be heard in a Ways and Means subcommittee on Tuesday, April 22, in room 524 of the Blatt Building after debate adjourned this week. H. 4378 allows a municipality to hold a referendum on a capital project sales tax within the city boundaries. Although there is no legal prohibition on an additional countywide capital projects sales tax, the likelihood of voters in that municipality supporting a second bond penny is remote. The members of the subcommittee are: Reps. Littlejohn (Chairman), Battle, Simrill, Edge and Leach. If H. 4378 passes, the current county/municipal joint capital projects sales tax will be useless.

Realtor Business Licenses – H. 4554. The House adopted the LCI Committee amendment on H. 4554 to provide that business licenses are applied at the office of the broker in charge. The gross receipts from transactions reported to the broker in charge in all jurisdictions would be the base for calculating business license tax, with a credit being given for gross receipts already taxed in another jurisdiction. H. 4554 received third reading as amended and is now in the Senate.

Collateralization of Public Funds – S. 642. This legislation allows a depository to secure funds using the dedicated method or the pooling method, and authorizes the local government entity or State Treasurer to require the depository to use the dedicated method. S. 642 was passed by the House and returns to the Senate for consideration of the House amendment.

Idling Commercial Vehicles — H. 4911

H. 4911 creates a non-moving traffic offense—idling of commercial vehicles longer than 10 minutes—with some exceptions. Proponents want to preempt this area and make enforcement of vehicle idling the exclusive jurisdiction of the State Transport Police. Fines would be payable directly to DPS without the inclusion of court assessments. If the ticket is contested, it would be heard in magistrate court. Unpaid fines would be enforceable by registration suspension. SCAC was successful in amending the bill to require the standard fine and assessment laws to be applied if it goes to magistrate court, so that the fine would go to the county to defray magistrate court expenses. The House Education and Public Works Committee gave the bill a favorable report, and it will be on the House calendar next week.

General Government Operations and Structure

Immigration – S. 392. The conference committee on S. 392 met on Wednesday. The House has now backed off its earlier concurrence with the Senate version of the bill, which allows local government to pass ordinances as long as they do not exceed or conflict with state or federal law. The conferees will meet with their respective chambers to discuss their differences and try to reach a final agreement on this bill.

SPD Dissolution – H. 4578. This amendment to the S.C. Constitution permits local legislation to abolish special purpose districts (SPDs). The bill passed the House without amendment and is now in the Senate.

Weapons Discharge Ordinances – S. 1039. This bill would prohibit local government ordinances which restrict a landowner from discharging a firearm on his property of 25 acres or more to protect people or property. SCAC was successful in getting an amendment in the Senate to allow existing ordinances without the 25-acre exception to remain valid and otherwise enforceable. The House passed the bill, and it has been enrolled for ratification.

Coroner Vacancies – H. 3740. This bill was passed by the House and is in the Senate.

Derelict Cars – H. 4847. This bill amends the law dealing with abandoned vehicles and their disposal to allow code enforcement officers to handle derelict vehicles in addition to law enforcement officers. A House Judiciary subcommittee gave a favorable report to H. 4847.

Solar Panels – H. 4892. A House LCI subcommittee gave a favorable report to H. 4892. The bill grants an income tax credit for green energy features. The subcommittee did change language which may have prohibited local government regulation of the placement or appearance of solar panels on residential structures.

Courts, Clerks and RODs

State Grand Jurors – H. 4694. This bill would prohibit any person who is currently charged in a state or federal court with a criminal offense which carries a maximum penalty of one year or more from serving on a state grand jury. A House subcommittee gave the bill a favorable report, and it will be considered by the House Judiciary Committee at its next meeting.

Electronic Recording Act – H. 3451. This bill provides for the electronic recording of land title documents in the RODs' offices. House consideration of Senate amendments was postponed until April 22.

Failure to Appear – H. 3857. This bill addresses procedures for the issuance of bench warrants when a defendant fails to appear at a court proceeding. The bill would also authorize a $20 filing fee for motions filed with a clerk of court for a surety to be relieved on a bond. The House did not agree to the Senate amendments, and it now returns to the Senate. Senators will decide whether to insist on their amendments and send the bill to conference committee or abandon their amendments.

Protective Orders – H. 4312. This bill provides that a protective order established by reason of incapacity—other than for being a minor—does not automatically terminate upon the incapacitated person reaching the age of majority. A House Judiciary subcommittee gave this bill a favorable report.

Education Benefits Garnishment – H. 4368. H. 4368 would allow someone who has obtained a judgement to collect outstanding educational benefits to obtain a wage garnishment order. H. 4368 was given a favorable report by the House Education and Public Works Committee.

Expungement – S. 110. S. 110 codifies a court order issued by the Chief Justice regarding expungement. The House recommitted this bill to the Judiciary Committee.

Retirement Issues

OPEB Constitutional Amendment – S. 463. This constitutional amendment to allow investment of OPEB funds in the stock market was not reached in the Senate this week. The Senate must consider the House amendment.

2 Percent COLA – H. 4673. This bill increases the guaranteed retiree cost of living adjustment (COLA) to up to 2 percent for all retirement systems, except judicial retirement. If the rate of inflation is less than 2 percent, the COLA would be the actual rate of inflation. A .5 percent increase in the employer's contribution would be required to add a 2 percent guaranteed COLA to the Police Officer Retirement System (PORS). This bill has been scheduled for a House Ways and Means subcommittee on Tuesday, April 22, in Blatt Building room 521.

Police Retirement for EMTs – H. 4864. This bill would give administrative law judges the option to elect to participate in the Police Officers Retirement System (PORS). There was an attempt to amend the bill on the House floor to include emergency medical technicians (EMTs) under PORS, but the amendment was tabled. H. 4864 was then committed to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Landfill Issues

Super Regulation – R. 3113. The Super Regulation which deals with siting and permitting is scheduled to "clock out" of the time period for the legislature to address it on May 6. It then will run for 30 days in the State Register and be effective on or about June 5. It was revised to provide notice early in the process.

Demonstration of Need Regulation – R. 3198. This regulation is still in the possession of DHEC. It has been amended to ensure greater county input on local land use regulations, but it is being held up pending discussions on the variance provisions. The issue is how to address permitted landfills that need to be expanded or relocated.

Landfill Moratorium – S. 1173. This is a local bill to provide a moratorium on C&D landfills in Anderson County and has been recommitted to subcommittee for further study.

What's Coming Up Next Week?

The following were the meetings posted at the time this Friday Report was written. A full listing of meetings is posted late Friday to www.scstatehouse.gov.

Tuesday, April 22:

House Ways and Means Sales Tax Subcommittee – upon adjournment of the House in Blatt Building Room 524:

H. 4378 – Municipal Local Option Capital Project Sales Tax.

H. 3975 – to allow a county to delay reassessment implementation for one additional year.

H. 4924 – to use surplus school operating sales tax from Act 388 for charter schools.

House Ways and Means General Government Subcommittee – upon adjournment of the House in Blatt Building Room 521:

H. 4673 – Two percent COLA for retirees.

House Ways and Means Committee – 1½ hours after adjournment of the House in Blatt Building Room 521, to consider any bills from the previous two subcommittee meetings and any other bills added to the agenda.
House Judiciary Committee – 2:30 p.m. in Blatt Building Room 516:

H. 4847 – derelict cars enforcement by code enforcement officers.

H. 4312 – guardianship for incapacity beyond 18 years of age.

H. 4819 – parking ticket enforcement.

H. 5009 – firefighter background check for arson charges.

H. 4309 – no parole offenses and middle courts.

Senate Judiciary Committee – 2:30 p.m. in Gressette Building Room 308:

S. 429 – relating to criminal evidence retention.

Wednesday, April 23:

House Judiciary Special Laws Subcommittee – 9 a.m. in Blatt Building Room 516:

S. 590 – jail recodification.

Health Care in County Jails

On April 3, HR 5698, the "Restoring the Partnership for County Health Care Costs Act," was introduced in Congress. This bill would prohibit the federal government from stripping pretrial inmates of their Medicare, Medicaid, SSI and SCHIP benefits. As a result, counties would not be required to cover medical expenses for these inmates. Nationwide, it is estimated that this act would save counties hundreds of millions of dollars in medical expenses.

This is a legislative priority for both SCAC and NACo. SCAC has faxed letters to the S.C. congressional delegation, asking them to sign on as co-sponsors of this legislation. Please contact your Congressman, and ask him to support HR 5698. SCAC has sample letters and resolutions for use in contacting your Congressman. Please contact SCAC staff member Kathy Williams for further information.

'Can't Wait to Get Your Friday Report Each Week, or Missed Your E-mail Version This Week?

Newly-Introduced Legislation

House Bills

H. 4976 – provides that a business in a county that has been declared a disaster area by the Governor is exempt from the Blue Laws for a period of 30 days following the declaration.

H. 4977 – provides that a county may only charge a license, tax or fee upon a residential builder at the place where he or she maintains his or her principal office. The fee is based upon the gross receipts of houses built on property located in the unincorporated areas of the county.

H. 4983 – amends the state constitution by requiring the General Assembly to provide for the maintenance and support of a free public schools system, and requiring the General Assembly to establish, organize and support public institutions of learning.

H. 4992 – provides a guaranteed 2 percent COLA under the State Retirement System and the Police Retirement System, based upon the increases in the Consumer Price Index, with a 4 percent cap on COLAS.

H. 4999 – provides that new public school construction must comply with certain architectural requirements, as determined by a S.C. Department of Education committee that will create three architectural plans that all must choose from for construction.

H. 5003 – authorizes the State Treasurer for FY 2008-09 to transfer from the Homestead Exemption Fund to the Education Finance Act Reserve Fund school funds equal to what the schools received in FY 2007-08.

H. 5009 – requires a criminal background check for paid and volunteer firefighters prior to employment with an exemption for firefighters employed as of June 30, 2001, as long as they remain with the same fire department. No one convicted of arson may serve as a firefighter.

H. 5010 – authorizes a county to designate as dangerous animals certain breeds or species of dogs and cats.

H. 5045 – requires a candidate for an elected office to report anything given of value to make communications more than 45 days before an election to influence the election outcome.

Senate Bills

S. 1279 – provides that for a presidential election, if more than one political party which receives 5 percent of the popular vote for President wants to conduct a presidential preference primary, the political parties must mutually agree to set a single date for the presidential preference primary. If the parties cannot agree on a single date, the election will be held on the second Tuesday of June of the general election year.

S. 1289 – deletes the reference to Chapter 17 in the provisions of the law pertaining to an unincorporated area that has been denied incorporation for six months petitioning to be incorporated into a municipality.

S. 1290 – authorizes a volunteer fire department to establish a reasonable service charge for being called to extinguish or control a fire.

S. 1293 – authorizes the creation of a middle court process in each judicial circuit by the solicitor to expand the drug court process to include the rehabilitation of nonviolent offenders.

S. 1303 – sets an idling time period for commercial diesel vehicles and passenger buses at 10 and 15 minutes within an hour period respectively. Violation carries a $75 citation for offenses committed after July 1, 2009. Contested cases go before the magistrates court with all costs and fees collected going into the general fund of the county.

Issue 14-08 — April 11, 2008

Senate Finance Revisits the Budget

The Senate will begin its floor debate on the budget next Tuesday. Early this week, the Board of Economic Advisors reduced the estimate of the amount of revenue the General Assembly has available for FY 2007-08 by $40 million. In response, the Finance Committee has deleted the state employee raise in the budget and made numerous other cuts. The Local Government Fund was in fact fully funded in the Finance Committee version of the budget and was not cut this week.

There are several provisos of interest in the budget or which will be debated on the floor, including:

DOR Collection of Local Hospitality Taxes – Proviso 81.15. The Finance Committee adopted a new proviso to require DOR to collect all local hospitality taxes imposed pursuant to Chapter 1 of Title 6 with state sales tax collections. DOR is authorized to retain 1 percent of the gross proceeds to fund this collection program. Please call your Senator, and ask that this proviso be deleted from the budget.

Maintenance of Local Effort Suspension. The Senate Finance Committee briefly brought up the idea of repealing or suspending the EFA maintenance of local effort requirement and then carried it over because of questions about the effect. When it was carried over, there was a statement that the issue would come back up during the floor debate.

New $5 Traffic Ticket Surcharge – Proviso 90.11. The Finance Committee deleted this proviso, which would add a $5 surcharge on all misdemeanor traffic tickets and non-moving violations. The revenue from the surcharge was to fund the Criminal Justice Academy. If there is no amendment on the Senate floor to add this proviso, this will be a conference committee issue.

Taxation and Finance Bills at Ways and Means Committee

The following bills will be on the House Ways and Means Committee agenda next Wednesday afternoon. A copy of the Ways and Means Committee roster is attached.

School Sales Tax – H. 4883. This legislation would allow a local option sales tax to be imposed for school capital improvements. The tax may be imposed in the county upon the adoption of a resolution by the school district board(s) and a favorable referendum result. The tax may only be imposed by a school district or group of school districts whose boundaries are the same as the county. The revenues may be shared with higher education for capital improvements on campuses.

Big Annual Tax (BAT) Bill – H. 4887. The BAT bill was given a favorable report by a subcommittee. The subcommittee adopted an amendment to strike the boat situs provision and insert the contents of H. 4685 to provide taxation of boats from out of state, if they are in South Carolina for 180 days in the aggregate.

6 Percent Assessment Ratio for Warehouses – H. 4672. A subcommittee gave a favorable report to H. 4672, which lowers the assessment ratio on all manufacturers' warehouses from 10.5 percent to 6 percent. This reduces local property taxes by $12.7 million.

Representatives from the S.C. Economic Developers Association and the Manufacturers' Alliance asked for an amendment to place several economic development incentives in the legislation. Unfortunately, these representatives also asked to retain the property tax assessment ratio reduction for manufacturers' warehouses. The expressed reasoning behind this assessment ratio drop is that manufacturers will otherwise set up separate warehousing companies and then lease the warehouses from their own company in order to receive the 6 percent assessment. This asks for a tax break (and a tax increase on everyone else), because they have discovered a way to avoid the tax laws. Please contact your member of the House, and ask that they delete the 6 percent assessment ratio for warehouses.

Mini-bottle Hold Harmless – S. 951. This bill holds harmless state agencies and local entities which received mini-bottle tax revenues for alcohol education, prevention and other purposes.

Ag Use Appeals – H. 4499. A subcommittee deleted the retroactive effect of this bill and gave it a favorable report. H. 4499 allows a taxpayer to receive attorney fees and costs when they prevail on appeal from the assessor's decision to deny or revoke an ag use application. There are no guidelines or limits on the amount of fees and costs, and the bill deletes the requirement that a court find the assessor's decision was unreasonable. H. 4499 amends a provision agreed to between the Farm Bureau and SCAC last year. The Farm Bureau did not request H. 4499 and has no position on the bill. Please ask the committee members to send H. 4499 back to subcommittee for additional study.

Assessable Transfers of Interest/Point of Sale Revisions – H. 4942. A subcommittee gave a favorable report to H. 4942, which revises the recognition of full fair market value for real property subject to the valuation cap once it is transferred. The SCAC Board adopted no position on the point of sale/ATI issue, and SCAC staff will not advocate any position on this issue. If you have thoughts or concerns about the issue, you should communicate them directly to your House member and the members of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Motor Vehicle Accident Fees – H. 4797. H. 4797 prohibits a county from imposing a fee or seeking reimbursement of costs or expenses incurred as a result of responding to a motor vehicle accident. The bill is written so broadly to preclude EMS fees for ambulance response and haz-mat cleanup fees. SCAC is working with the insurance companies to narrow the scope of this bill. The insurance companies complain that municipalities are charging cleanup fees for ordinary wrecks.

Stormwater Fee Exemptions — H. 4337

A House Ag subcommittee adjourned debate on H. 4337. At issue was an amendment that would have exempted farming and forestry lands from local stormwater management fees. Our argument, "let representative democracy work on the local level." They asked SCAC to compile a schedule of stormwater fees that are currently being assessed by the counties. Your county has probably been contacted by SCAC staff.

Other Finance-Related Bills of Interest

Realtor Business Licenses – H. 4554. The House LCI Committee gave a favorable report to H. 4554, which allows a business license to be charged only at the place of business of the broker in charge. The bill is pending second reading on the House calendar.

Residential Improvement Districts (RIDs) – H. 4745. This bill is based upon the county improvement districts in Chapter 35 of Title 4, which allows assessments to finance public infrastructure and improvements. The House passed H. 4745, and it is now in the Senate.

Collateralization of Public Funds – S. 642. This legislation defines a financial institution that holds the uninsured funds on deposit of a local government entity and the state as a qualified public depository. The legislation also allows the depository to secure funds using the dedicated method or the pooling method, and authorizes the local government entity or State Treasurer to require the depository to use the dedicated method. A House LCI subcommittee adopted an amendment to require the consent of the local entity to utilize the pooling method and then reported the bill out favorably.

Idling Commercial Vehicles — H. 4911

H. 4911 is an effort to address some factors contributing to the air quality non-attainment problem. The bill creates a non-moving traffic offense—idling of commercial vehicles longer than 10 minutes—with some exceptions. Proponents want to pre-empt this area and make enforcement of vehicle idling the exclusive jurisdiction of the State Transport Police. Fines would be payable directly to DPS without the inclusion of court assessments. If the ticket is contested, it would be heard in magistrate court. Unpaid fines would be enforceable by registration suspension. SCAC was successful in amending the bill to require that the standard fine and assessment laws be applied if it goes to magistrate court, so that the fine would go to the county to defray court expenses. A subcommittee gave the bill a favorable report as amended. H. 4911 will be on the House Education and Public Works Committee agenda next week.

Common Law Marriage Bill Dies — H. 3427

The Senate took up H. 3427 and failed to cut off debate. After the vote, H. 3427 was recommitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee. It is most unlikely to be scheduled again.

General Government Operations and Structure

Removal of Roads from the State System – S. 981. The Senate adopted an amendment to require county approval before a road could be removed from the state highway system and placed in the county road system and passed the bill. S. 981 now goes to the House.

Landfill Moratoriums – S. 1163 and S. 1173. These are bills requesting that DHEC place a moratorium on permitting of C&D landfills, until the regulations governing landfills become active. S. 1163 was a statewide measure; S. 1173 applied only to Anderson County. A Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee gave a favorable report to the local bill and adjourned debate on the statewide bill.

Landfill Regulation Update. The Demonstration of Need regulation was scheduled to go to the DHEC board for approval this month. It has been pulled back by staff, while they explore options to address the variance section of the regulation. The compromise language on consistency that SCAC negotiated remains in the proposed regulation.

Weapons Discharge Ordinances – S. 1039. This bill would prohibit local government ordinances which restrict a landowner from discharging a firearm on his property of 25 acres or more to protect people or property. SCAC was successful in getting an amendment in the Senate to allow existing ordinances without the 25-acre exception to remain valid and otherwise enforceable. The House gave the bill second reading.

Coroner Vacancies – H. 3740. This bill was given a favorable report by the House Judiciary Committee and is pending second reading on the House calendar.

Derelict Cars – H. 4847. This bill amends the law dealing with abandoned vehicles and their disposal by allowing code enforcement officers in addition to law enforcement officers to handle derelict vehicles. A House Judiciary subcommittee gave a favorable report to H. 4847.

Voter Registration and Elections

Candidate Drug Testing – S. 1070. After several weeks of debate, the Senate amended S. 1070 to make drug tests for candidates for popularly elected office and appointees voluntary. A candidate can voluntarily submit a drug test result at the time of filing. The results would be posted on the website of the State Elections Commission.

Multi-Party Candidates – H. 4725. H. 4725 would require that a candidate's name not appear on a ballot more than one time. If a candidate is nominated by multiple parties, the name of each nominating party must be placed under the candidate's name. The House passed H. 4725, and it is now in the Senate.

Child in a Voting Booth – S. 14. S. 14 would allow a minor child to accompany their parent in the voting booth. The bill was amended to change minor child to a child under the age of 17. The House passed S. 14, and it is enrolled for ratification.

Courts, Clerks and RODs

Mechanics Liens – S. 511. A Senate LCI subcommittee gave a favorable report to S. 511. The bill contains a mechanism to remove liens from the land records.

Electronic Recording Act – H. 3451. This bill provides for the electronic recording of land title documents in the RODs' offices. H. 3451 was given third reading and returns to the House for consideration of the Senate amendment.

Failure to Appear – H. 3857. This bill addresses procedures for the issuance of bench warrants when a defendant fails to appear at a court proceeding. The bill also would authorize a $20 filing fee for motions filed with a clerk of court for a surety to be relieved for good cause on a bond. The Senate gave H. 3857 third reading, and it will return to the House for consideration of the Senate amendment.

Deep Stamp Exemption – H. 4067. This bill would create a deed recording fee exemption for property transferring from a trust to the trust distributee upon the death of the settlor, just like property transferred through a probate estate is exempt from deed recording fees. The House passed this bill, and it is in the Senate.

Middle Courts – H. 4309. H. 4309 creates a broad class of offenses carrying a sentence of one year or more that would not be eligible for early release from incarceration other than the existing good time credit. A House Judiciary subcommittee amended the bill to include the creation of a middle court process similar to existing drug courts. The middle court would be available to a person with an active sentence of 90 days or more for a nonviolent crime and having no prior convictions. The amendment sets out basic procedures for the meetings of a middle court, but does not include detail about use of courtroom space and court personnel.

Education Benefits Garnishment – H. 4368. The bill allows wage garnishment for collection of outstanding educational benefits. Actions on debts of $7,500 or less would be handled in magistrates courts, and those above $7,500 would be handled in circuit court. A House subcommittee gave the bill a favorable report. The bill will be before the Education and Public Works Committee next week.

Retirement Issues

OPEB Constitutional Amendment – S. 463. This constitutional amendment to allow investment of OPEB funds in the stock market passed the House and returns to the Senate for consideration of the House amendment to clearly authorize a trust of more than one county to invest in the stock market.

2 Percent Guaranteed COLA – H. 4673. The House gave second reading to H. 4673 and recommitted the bill to the Ways and Means Committee. H. 4763 standardizes all retirement systems, except judicial, with a 2 percent guaranteed COLA. If the rate of inflation is less than 2 percent, the COLA would be the actual rate of inflation. A .5 percent increase in the employer's contribution would be required to fund the PORS 2 percent guaranteed COLA.

2 Percent Guaranteed COLA – S. 1124. The Senate Finance Committee gave a favorable report to S. 1124, the Senate companion to H. 4673. It was amended with the contents of H. 4876 and is pending second reading on the contested calendar.

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Newly-Introduced Legislation

Issue 13-08 — April 4, 2008

Fire Sprinkler Property Tax Credits — S. 860

The Senate LCI Committee gave S. 860 a favorable report after substantial amendment. The amended version of S. 860 creates an optional property tax credit incentive of up to 25 percent of the cost of the installed system available. The state matches that incentive with an equal income tax credit, if the county grants the property tax credit. Taps and maintenance fees for sprinklers are capped at actual cost. A requirement that fire sprinkler fees be approved by the Public Service Commission was deleted. S. 860 will be pending second reading on the contested Senate calendar.

Act 388 Assessable Transfers of Interest (ATI) or Point of Sale Revisions — H. 4942

On Tuesday, April 8, at 3 p.m. in Blatt Building room 523, the House Ways and Means Property Tax Subcommittee will take up H. 4942, which revises the recognition of full fair market value for real property subject to the valuation cap once it is transferred.

H. 4942 allows the recognition of full fair market value of a property when it is sold, but delays that recognition until implementation of the next reassessment. H. 4942 does not explicitly address how implementing the point of sale as part of the scheduled reassessment affects the rollback millage calculation. It may work out that the rollback millage calculation would count the increase in value due to the transfer as it does increases in value which result from ordinary reassessment, resulting in no net revenue increase. H. 4942 also contains a number of other assessor-related items.

The SCAC Board adopted no position on the point of sale/ATI issue, and SCAC staff will not advocate any position on this issue. If you have thoughts or concerns on the issue, you should communicate them directly to your House member and to the members of the subcommittee which are: Reps. Bill Cotty (Chairman), Joe Neal, Annette Young, Jim Merrill and Bill Clyburn.

Realtor Business Licenses — H. 4554

A House LCI subcommittee met twice on H. 4554 and gave it a favorable report with an amendment. The amendment currently provides that business licenses are applied at the office of the broker in charge. The gross receipts from transactions reported to the broker in charge in all jurisdictions would be the base for calculating the business license tax, with a credit being given for gross receipts already taxed in another jurisdiction. The legislation was designed to halt alleged municipal practices of making each individual realtor obtain a business license. H. 4554 will be on the next House LCI Committee agenda.

Innocence Project Evidence Retention — S. 429

The Senate Judiciary Committee carried over S. 429 again to allow the subcommittee members and interested parties to continue working on this bill. The bill creates a procedure for inmates to apply for DNA testing to prove wrongful conviction. S. 429 requires the custodian of evidence (clerk of court, sheriff, solicitor) to preserve physical evidence, until a convicted person is executed or released from physical incarceration (does not include parole or probation). Currently, evidence in criminal cases other than capital cases may be destroyed if unclaimed 18 months after sentencing.

Although S. 429 is not technically in the possession of the subcommittee, the subcommittee members, committee staff and interested parties continue to work on a solution to concerns with the original bill. The amendment being worked on would require evidence in homicides, sexual crimes, first degree robbery and first degree burglary to be held: for the term of incarceration for guilty verdict cases; for the lesser of seven years or the term of incarceration for sentences after guilty or nolo contendere pleas; and until execution in capital cases. If there is no DNA material evidence in the robbery and burglary cases, then the custodian may dispose of the evidence through the normal procedures. In addition, the custodian of the evidence could petition the court to dispose of evidence for other reasons, including size/bulk issues, request for return to the rightful owner, or where DNA testing is proof of guilt of the person convicted. Storage of retained evidence remains a major concern in S. 429.

Senate Finance Finishes Budget

The Senate Finance Committee completed work on the budget this week. The budget will be printed and made available to members to review during next week and debated on the Senate floor during the week beginning April 14. Although the spreadsheet with dollar amounts was not available at the time this was written, it appears that the Local Government Fund (LGF) was fully funded according to the statutory formula. It also appears that state employees were given a 2 percent raise, instead of 1 percent passed by the House. It is not clear where $50 million was cut to make room for the higher raise.

The Finance Committee also agreed to a bill codifying (making them permanent law) many provisos which have appeared in the budget for several years. The text of this bill is not yet available, but will be on the Senate calendar as S. 530. The provisos reported on last week remained the same with two exceptions:

New $5 Traffic Ticket Surcharge – Proviso 90.11. The Finance Committee deleted this proviso. It would add a $5 surcharge on all misdemeanor traffic tickets and non-moving violations. The revenue from the surcharge was to fund the Criminal Justice Academy. If there is no amendment on the Senate floor to add this proviso, this will be a conference committee issue.

DOR Collection of Local Hospitality Taxes. The Finance Committee adopted a new proviso to require DOR to collect all local hospitality taxes (imposed pursuant to Chapter 1 of Title 6) with state sales tax collections. DOR is authorized to retain 1 percent of the gross proceeds to fund this collection program. If this creates a problem for your county, please call your Senator.

Taxation and Finance Bills of Interest

School Sales Tax – H. 4883. This legislation would allow a local option sales tax to be imposed for school capital improvements. The tax may be imposed in the county upon the adoption of a resolution by the school district board(s) and a favorable referendum result. The tax may only be imposed by a school district or group of school districts whose boundaries are the same as the county. The revenues may be shared with higher education for capital improvements on campuses. The House Ways and Means Committee carried H. 4883 over.

Closed Plant Personal Property – S. 1171. As amended, S. 1171 allows manufacturing machinery in a closed plant to be property tax exempt. A manufacturer that is not under a fee agreement would return personal property as non-taxable, if the property is in a plant which is closed for one fiscal year and the personal property has not been used in operations for one fiscal year. The personal property becomes taxable at the earlier of its operation in a manufacturing process or four years. The Senate passed S. 1171, and it is now in the House Ways and Means Committee.

Boat Situs – H. 4685. This bill states that a boat not used in interstate commerce is subject to taxation in this state, if it is present in the state for a total of 180 days. Current time requirements are 60 consecutive days or 90 non-consecutive days in a year to become subject to S.C. property tax. This issue is also addressed in H. 4887 (BAT bill). H. 4685 has passed the House and goes to the Senate.

Mini-bottle Hold Harmless – S. 951. This bill holds harmless state agencies and local entities which received mini-bottle tax revenues for alcohol education, prevention and other purposes. The House Ways and Means Committee carried this bill over, because of concerns about ongoing shortfalls in this revenue stream since the mini-bottle law was changed.

Residential Improvement Districts (RIDs) – H. 4745. This bill is based upon the county improvement districts in Chapter 35 of Title 4, which allows assessments to finance public infrastructure and improvements. The House Ways and Means Committee gave H. 4745 a favorable report, and it is pending second reading in the House.

Affordable Housing TIFs – H. 4743. This bill allows publicly- and privately-owned affordable housing to be the focus of a Tax Increment Financing District (TIF). H. 4743 has passed the House and is now in the Senate.

Disabled Veteran Motorcycles – H. 3592. This bill amends 12-37-220(B)(3), which currently allows a disabled veteran to exempt two automobiles from property tax, to also allow an exemption for a motorcycle. The House passed the bill, and it is in the Senate.

Idling Commercial Vehicles — H. 4911

H. 4911 is an effort to address some factors contributing to the air quality non-attainment problem and was carried over for further work in a House Education and Public Works Subcommittee. The bill creates a non-moving traffic offense, idling of commercial vehicles longer than 10 minutes, with some exceptions. Proponents want to pre-empt this area and make enforcement of vehicle idling the exclusive jurisdiction of the State Transport Police. Fines would be payable directly to DPS without the inclusion of court assessments. If the ticket is contested, it would be heard in magistrate court. Unpaid fines would be enforceable by registration suspension. SCAC has asked for an amendment to require the standard fine and assessment laws to be applied if it goes to magistrate court, so that the fine would go to the county to defray magistrate court expenses. H. 4911 will be heard again next week.

Law Enforcement Training Reimbursement — H. 3326

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee gave a favorable report to H. 3326 with a wordsmithing amendment. A jurisdiction which hires a law enforcement officer from another jurisdiction would be required to reimburse 100 percent of the training costs, including salary paid, if hired within one year of the officer completing mandatory training. During the second year following training, the hiring jurisdiction would be required to pay 50 percent of the training costs, including salary paid to the officer. H. 3326 would also prohibit agreements whereby the officer pays part of that reimbursement.

General Government Operations and Structure

Municipal Annexation – H. 3642. The House Judiciary Committee sent this bill back to subcommittee. SCAC will not support liberalization of annexation, unless it incorporates the elements of our legislative agenda.

Adult Businesses – H. 3679. The House Judiciary Committee sent H. 3679 back to subcommittee for further study. The bill would require adult businesses to close between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and require dancers to be more than six feet from patrons. The bill provides for criminal penalties. There was discussion of possible preemption of existing ordinances which are more stringent. This will be heard in subcommittee next week, see below.

Removal of Roads from the State System – S. 981. The Senate Transportation Committee adopted an amendment which would require county approval before a road could be removed from the state highway system and placed in the county road system. S. 981 will now go to the Senate floor.

Immigration – S. 392. The conference committee for S. 392 met Wednesday and agreed to the Senate version of the bill, which allows local governments to pass immigration ordinances as long as they are not in conflict with state or federal law. However, it is unclear whether the full House will support the conference committee provision.

SPD Dissolution – H. 4578. This amendment to the S.C. Constitution permits local legislation to abolish special purpose districts (SPDs). The House adjourned debate on the bill again, and it is pending third reading on the contested calendar.

Water District Sewer Authorization – H. 3030. This bill allows rural water districts created pursuant to Chapter 13 of Title 6 to provide sewer service. It was amended to require that the provision of sewer service be compatible with the county land use plan and that the district not duplicate the service of another entity. The Senate Judiciary Committee carried over the bill.

Coroner Vacancies – H. 3740 and S. 1172. These companion bills were both given favorable reports by the respective chamber Judiciary subcommittees. H. 3740 was approved without amendment, but S. 1172 was amended to strike the special election and hold an election at the next general election.

Weapons Discharge Ordinances – S. 1039. This bill would prohibit local government ordinances which restrict a landowner from discharging a firearm on his property of 25 acres or more to protect people or property. SCAC was successful in getting an amendment in the Senate to allow existing ordinances without the 25-acre exception to remain valid and otherwise enforceable. A House Judiciary subcommittee gave a favorable report to the bill as passed by the Senate.

Voter Registration and Elections

Combined Registration and Election Boards – S. 1106. This bill has passed the Senate and is now in the House. S. 1106 is an effort to combine county registration and election boards in a constitutionally sound manner. The bill codifies the numerous local acts which have been used to combine these boards without making substantive changes to existing structure in each county.

Multi-Party Candidates – H. 4725. H. 4725 would require that a candidate's name not appear on a ballot more than one time. If a candidate is nominated by multiple parties, the name of each nominating party must be placed under the candidate's name. The House Judiciary Committee gave a favorable report to H. 4725, and it has been placed on the House calendar.

Child in a Voting Booth – S. 14. S. 14 would allow a minor child to accompany their parent in the voting booth. The bill was amended to change minor child to a child under the age of 17. The House Judiciary Committee gave S. 14 a favorable report as amended, and it is now on the House calendar.

Proof of Citizenship to Vote – H. 3343. This bill would require a person to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote. The House Judiciary Committee recommitted this bill to a subcommittee.

Courts, Clerks and RODs

Probate Court Jurisdiction – S. 1068. The Senate Judiciary Committee carried over S. 1068. After the subcommittee amendment, the bill increases probate court jurisdiction for minor settlements from $25,000 to $50,000; increases the amount of annual distributions to a minor not requiring court approval from $10,000 to $25,000; and retains the direct appeal to the Court of Appeals.

Electronic Recording Act – H. 3451. This bill provides for the electronic recording of land title documents in the RODs' offices. H. 3451 was given a favorable report after adoption of the subcommittee amendment.

Failure to Appear – H. 3857. This bill addresses the procedures for issuing a bench warrant when a defendant fails to appear at a court proceeding. The bill would also authorize a $20 filing fee for motions filed with a clerk of court for a surety to be relieved for good cause on a bond. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave the bill a favorable report.

Deep Stamp Exemption – H. 4067. This bill would create a deed recording fee exemption for property transferring from a trust to the trust distributee upon the death of the settlor, just like property transferred through a probate estate is exempt from deed recording fees. The House Judiciary Committee gave this bill a favorable report, and it has been placed on the House calendar.

Middle Courts. During a House Judiciary Criminal Laws Subcommittee meeting on H. 4309 to provide abolishment of parole, the middle court concept was proposed as a new sentencing mechanism. As discussed, the proposal is to rename drug courts as middle courts and expand them. Other non-violent offenses would be added to the jurisdiction of the middle courts. The defendant would plead guilty and enter a counseling-based program with violations, to mean serving the sentence which was suspended to allow entry into the middle court program. There was discussion of folding mental health courts into this proposal and which non-violent offenses might be eligible. There was also a lot of discussion on various structural aspects of this concept. It was free-flowing discussion, and will likely be revisited when the subcommittee meets again next week.

Retirement Issues

OPEB Constitutional Amendment – S. 463. This constitutional amendment to allow investment of OPEB funds in the stock market passed the House. It returns to the Senate for consideration of the House amendment to clearly authorize a trust of more than one county to invest in the stock market.

2 Percent Guaranteed COLA – H. 4673. The House Ways and Means Committee gave a favorable report to H. 4673, and it is pending second reading on the House calendar. H. 4763 standardizes all retirement systems, except judicial, with a 2 percent guaranteed COLA. If the rate of inflation is less than 2 percent, the COLA would be the actual rate of inflation. A .5% increase in the employer's contribution would be required to fund the PORS 2 percent guaranteed COLA.

2 Percent Guaranteed COLA – S. 1124. The Senate Finance Committee gave a favorable report to S. 1124, Senate companion bill to H. 4673. It was amended with the contents of H. 4876, discussed below. It now goes to the Senate calendar.

IRS Compliance – H. 4876. This bill is required to bring the retirement system statutes into compliance with IRS regulations and was given a favorable report by the House Ways and Means Committee. It has passed the House and now goes to the Senate.

Killed in the Line of Duty Benefits – S. 1006. This bill would provide health and dental benefits to the surviving spouse of a firefighter or police officer killed in the line of duty. A Senate Finance subcommittee amended it to allow local governments to grant these surviving spouse benefits and gave it a favorable report.

What's Coming Up Next Week?

The full list of legislative meetings is posted to www.scstatehouse.gov beginning late Friday, but here is what was of interest when this report was written. There will be additional meetings added, and other bills may be added to one of these agendas:

Tuesday, April 8:

House Ways and Means Property Tax Subcommittee – 3 p.m. in Blatt Building Room 523:

H. 4499 – Attorney fee awards upon denial of ag use application.

H. 4942 – Point of Sale/ATI delay and other assessor-related provisions.

House Ways and Means Economic Development Subcommittee – 1½ hours after House adjournment in Blatt Building Room 321:

H. 4815 – Motion picture incentives.

House Ways and Means Licenses and Fees Subcommittee – 1½ hours after House adjournment in Blatt Building Room 501:

H. 4672 – Sales tax exemption on construction materials.

H. 4382 – Electronic products environmental assessment.

House Ways and Means General Government Subcommittee – 1½ hours after House adjournment in Blatt Building Room 521:

H. 4887 – BAT Bill.

House Education Subcommittee – Earlier of 2:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after House adjournment in Blatt Building Room 433:

H. 4368 – To provide for wage garnishment for educational benefits.

House Agriculture Subcommittee – 2:30 p.m. in Blatt Building Room 410:

H. 4337 – To exempt farm, forest and undeveloped land from stormwater management fees.

Wednesday, April 9:

House Judiciary Criminal Laws Subcommittee – 1½ hours after House adjournment in Blatt Building Room 516:

H. 3679 – Adult business hours regulation.

H. 4309 – No parole offenses and possibly a middle courts amendment.

'Can't Wait to Get Your Friday Report Each Week, or Missed Your E-mail Version This Week?

Newly-Introduced Legislation

House Bills

H. 4908 – authorizes the state to construct toll projects and to enter into partnerships with political subdivisions to finance, by tolls or other means, the construction and maintenance of highways, roads, streets and bridges. Once the costs of construction have been repaid, toll charges shall cease. H. 4908 also allows the state to delegate to political subdivisions the authority to adjust the tolls to account for inflation and other economic conditions.

H. 4911 – provides that the idling of commercial diesel vehicles for longer than 10 minutes is a nonmoving traffic offense. Contested hearings that are requested by persons cited for this offense are held in magistrates court with no assessment provisions, and all of the funds collected by the magistrate are sent to the Department of Public Safety for deposit in the Diesel Idling Reduction Fund.

H. 4912 – provides new eligibility criteria for receiving a Job Tax Credit, designates each county in one of three tiers based upon their development factor, and repeals Chapter 14 of Title 12 relating to the Economic Impact Zone Community Development Act of 1995 and a tax credit for certain manufacturers making qualified investments. The Department of Revenue will continue to use the law for county rankings prior to this provision until 2018.

H. 4924 – provides that a portion of the Homestead Exemption Fund carried forward to FY 2008-09 must be distributed to the S.C. Public School Charter District based upon a per pupil formula.

H. 4942 – allows for postponement of the transfer value of property unimproved since the last reassessment until the next countywide reassessment, and requires the 15 percent value increase limit to be calculated separately on land and improvements. This bill also reduces the number of continuing education hours required for tax assessors.

Senate Bills

S. 1256 – authorizes the local option sales tax proceeds to be used for the acquisition of interests in real property—including the purchase of development rights—for economic development, conservation, blight remediation or military base protection.

S. 1260 – provides that a when a county takes an animal into custody, it may petition the court to order the owner of the animal to deposit funds sufficient for the care of the animal pending the disposition of the case. If acquitted or found not guilty of the charges, the owner is entitled to a refund of the balance not used for the animal's care.

South Carolina Association of Counties

In This Section

Friday Reports — April 2008