January Update
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
On Tuesday, January 12, 2016, the House of Representatives convened in Columbia for the commencement of the second regular session of the 121st South Carolina General Assembly. Since we are waiting for the Senate to work on a roads bill, ethics reform and other legislation that we sent to them last year, I don’t have many bills to report, thus far. Please see below for a summary of the bills the House debated and passed in January.
Every month, I will continue to update you as to the bills that have passed in the House and other important happenings. As always, I am interested in hearing your thoughts and concerns on the issues.
Thank you for electing me to serve you and our community at the State House.
Best,
HOUSE WEEK IN REVIEW January 12, 2015
The House of Representatives amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3440, a bill making comprehensive statutory revisions regarding MOPEDS. The legislation establishes new requirements for registering and licensing mopeds with the Department of Motor Vehicles and for maintaining the same insurance coverage required of individual private passenger automobiles. New safety requirements are established for mopeds including requirements for moped operators and passengers to wear reflective vests and for a moped to be equipped with a rear red tail light that flashes continually while the moped is in motion. The legislation provides that it is unlawful for a person to operate a moped on the public roads in this state that have a speed limit of greater than fifty‑five miles per hour. A moped, while traveling along a multi‑lane highway, must be operated in the farthest right lane except when making a left turn. No person may operate a moped at a speed in excess of thirty‑five miles an hour. Those who sell mopeds are required to post signs that provide brief explanations of such matters as age restrictions, maximum speeds, and the definition of a moped. A moped seller is not required to obtain a motor vehicle dealer’s license. The legislation replaces the multiple, sometimes conflicting, definitions for mopeds currently found in statutes with a single new definition for mopeds and makes other revisions to allow for greater consistency in the way that the laws governing motor vehicles are applied to mopeds.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.4632, a joint resolution REVISING THE APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN STUDENT ASSESSMENT STATUTES FOR THE 2015‑2016 SCHOOL YEAR including authorization for all public high schools and, where necessary, career centers, to offer a state‑funded college entrance assessment to each student entering the eleventh grade for the first time in school year 2015‑2016.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.4633, a joint resolution EXTENDING THE DEADLINE BY WHICH AN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL MUST APPLY TO BECOME AN ELIGIBLE INSTITUTION FOR PURPOSES OF THE EDUCATIONAL TAX CREDIT FOR EXCEPTIONAL NEEDS CHILDREN until February 15, 2016.
HOUSE WEEK IN REVIEW
The Week of January 19, 2015
The House of Representatives approved and sent the SenateH.4689, a joint resolution authorizing the preparation and publication of REVISED VOLUMES OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS. The legislation provides for Volume 7A, containing Title 16 of the South Carolina Code, and Volume 19 containing Title 58 of the South Carolina Code, to be published and adopted as revised and updated editions that incorporate the supplementary changes to statutes that have been made since these volumes were last published.
The Week of January 26, 2015
The House of Representatives amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4145, the “SOUTH CAROLINA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT ACT”. The legislation creates a Coordinating Council for Workforce Development within the Department of Commerce to provide centralized oversight and comprehensive planning for the numerous job training initiatives housed in various state agencies as way of maximizing the benefits of these programs.
The House amended and gave second reading approval to H.3521, a bill PROHIBITING AN APPLICATION OF SECULAR OR RELIGIOUS FOREIGN LAW THAT VIOLATES RIGHTS GUARANTEED BY THE CONSTITUTION OF THIS STATE OR OF THE UNITED STATES, such as due process, freedom of religion, speech, or press, and privacy rights.
The House adopted H.4700, a resolution to approve a HOUSE RULES CHANGE LIMITING SPECIAL INTRODUCTIONS, RECOGNITIONS, AND ANNOUNCEMENTS made by House Members. The House’s order of business is revised to designate a period at the beginning of its work day and when the House recurs to the morning hour for making special introductions, recognitions, and announcements, the sum total of which may not exceed fifteen minutes with no more than eight special introductions, recognitions, or announcements, each one not exceeding ninety seconds. The Speaker of the House is, however, authorized to allow such special introductions, recognitions, and announcements during roll call voting at his discretion.
