Dear Friends:

I believe a priority for every SC state legislator is to elect judges who will adhere to the rule of law, be impartial, and be fair and reasonable. In my view, nearly all SC judges are serving us well.

Judicial Reform

There are exceptions, and those judges make headlines. Judicial misconduct is treated to bold headlines and stories in the news, particularly political tabloids, while those who rant on social media go into overdrive, fanning the flames. They blame the legislature because we are one of two states where the General Assembly elects judges and calls for reform.

For 14 years, I have taken seriously my responsibility. I strive to interview judicial candidates. Those meetings can take an hour, but they are worth it for the insights I gain. I always conclude the interview by asking each candidate for a better way to elect judges. To a person, they believe the current process is the best, but each suggests some revisions.

This year, the legislature is moving forward with needed reforms. (See the top story in Senate Legislative Update below.) Of course, reform will never satisfy those yelling to demolish the system, eliminate legislative involvement, and let a governor appoint judges.

Here Comes Da Judges

This week, the House and Senate came together to elect 32 judges to serve in Circuit Courts, Family Courts, the Court of Appeals, and the Administrative Law Court. The two-hour proceedings were not without drama. More on that in a moment.

Meet Judge Martha Rivers

Congratulations to Aiken attorney Martha Rivers, elected Circuit Court Judge in the 2nd Judicial Circuit, including Aiken, Barnwell, and Bamburg Counties. A native of Williston, Judge Rivers is an experienced litigator who has appeared in SC civil, criminal, family, and magistrate’s court for over twenty years. She clerked in the circuit court system after graduating from Furman University and the USC School of Law. She returned to Barnwell County to open her legal practice, which later expanded to Aiken. Judge Rivers joins Judge Courtney Clyburn Pope as a Circuit Court Judge for this area.

Following the vote, several members of the Aiken Legislative Delegation joined Judge Rivers in offering our congratulations. (L-R: Rep. Bill Taylor, Sen. Tom Young, Judge Rivers, Rep. Melisa Oremus, and Rep. Bart Blackwell.

The Judicial Drama

One Circuit Court election had its share of drama. A majority of Republican legislators rejected the candidacy of James Smith. On a vote of 94-57, the slate for that position was recommitted to the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, where the nominating process starts over. Smith is a Columbia Democrat who ran for Governor against Gov. Henry McMaster in 2018. Previously, he served 22 years as a State Representative.

Democratic House members vehemently protested the motion to recommit to Senate President Thomas Alexander, who presided over the proceedings. There was much parliamentary confusion, maneuvering, and angst, but the slate was recommitted.

Smith’s political past was the issue. In 2018, Planned Parenthood endorsed Smith in his race for Governor. Smith’s vocal pro-choice stance and his opposition to anti-abortion bills over the years drove the opposition. Faith-based groups objected to his judicial candidacy, citing his connections with Planned Parenthood and other liberal organizations.

It is unlikely that most folks give much thought to the process of constructing buildings or athletic facilities on the campuses of our state colleges and universities. However, if I told you we could save millions of dollars by reforming the lengthy review and approval construction process, I suspect many taxpayers would be interested. That was the focus of Thursday’s hearing by our Ways & Means Higher Education Sub-committee, as we heard from the universities.

We took testimony on S.314, which passed the Senate unanimously. This reform bill streamlines the project approval process while still including diligent oversight. During the hearing, I unveiled a flow chart I had prepared that shows it can often take more than four years to win approvals at every step and complete construction. Because of inflation, those delays can significantly escalate the construction cost. Couple that with enormous increases in commercial construction costs in the past three years that range from 20-45%!

Our committee will meet again next week to amend the Senate legislation and get it to the whole Ways & Means Committee as we speed toward the end of this legislative session in three weeks.

Breaking Ground – A Joyous Day

It was a joyous moment on Friday at SC State University in Orangeburg. We symbolically turned dirt for the groundbreaking of the new Turner Hall. The academic facility will be state-of-the-art and serve as the new centerpiece of the campus. Old Turner Hall is a relic of the 1950s and will be more than 70 years old when the new building replaces it. The legislature continues to invest in SC State’s campus facilities that have suffered from funding neglect for decades. I told the assembled audience it’s catch-up time. Every student deserves a modern learning environment.

Senate Legislative Update

Courtesy of Sen. Tom Young  (Sign up for his newsletter HERE)

NOTE: I’m pleased to share the latest legislative update from Sen. Tom Young (R-Aiken). He lists some – but not all – of the bills the Senate has passed and/or acted on over the past month. I have edited some items for brevity.

Judicial Merit Selection Reform and Changes: In mid-March, the Senate unanimously passed this bill after several days of working on a compromise. The version sent to the House provides the following:

• Create a new 12-member screening commission. The Governor would appoint four members, while legislative leadership would appoint the other 8. No member could serve more than four consecutive years on the Commission.
• Allow the Senate to remove Senate appointees and the House to remove House appointees.
• Require members of the screening commission to resign from the Commission if a close family member seeks a judicial position screened by the Commission.
• Limit the use of anonymous surveys in candidate screening.
• Increase the number of candidates the screening Commission must nominate from the current 3 to no more than 6.
• To foster transparency, require the screening commission meetings to be live-streamed
• Prohibit legislators from committing to support a candidate before the release of the Commission’s screening report.

The amended bill unanimously passed the Senate and is now in the House of Representatives for consideration.

Comptroller General — Constitutional Amendment — Appointed by Governor Instead of Popularly Elected: The Senate passed a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to allow the Governor to appoint the Comptroller General rather than having that position elected by popular vote. If two-thirds of the House of Representatives agree with this proposal, the constitutional amendment will be on your November 5^th election ballot. If the voters adopt the constitutional change, the office will continue with the Comptroller being appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.

Delinquent Unemployment Insurance Tax Payments: The Senate passed a bill that would authorize the Department of Employment and Workforce (“DEW”) to work with employers who miss an unemployment tax payment by requiring an installment agreement rather than a significant penalty. The unemployment tax rate for employers can change each year, and it is not uncommon for some employers who use tax payment software to make the first payment at the old rate rather than the newly imposed rate. Current law requires a significant penalty in that situation. The bill was returned to the House, where they agreed to the changes. It now goes to the Governor for his approval.

Private Property Rights — Preventing Squatters: On April 4, the Senate amended a bill on the Senate floor to include provisions to protect the private property rights of citizens and close the door in South Carolina to squatters.

Vaping Product Regulation: On April 2, the Senate passed an amended bill regulating the sale and marketing of vaping products. The bill is designed to create a registry of vaping products to crack down on marketing flavors to children, which has led to a real problem with vaping products in schools. The bill is now in the House.

College and University Tenure Review: Recently, the Senate passed a bill requiring all colleges and universities that grant tenure to professors to establish a tenure review process and authorize the Commission on Higher Education to oversee that review process. The bill will now go to the House of Representatives.

First Responders Tax Deduction: The Senate passed a bill to expand the existing income tax deduction for subsistence offered to federal, state, and local first responders. The bill will now go to the House.

Abandoned Buildings Tax Credit: The Senate passed a bill to increase the total amount allowed for tax credits offered to those who revitalize, refurbish, or redevelop abandoned buildings. The House will now consider the legislation.

Prohibit Automatic Renewal of Service Contracts: The Senate passed a bill prohibiting the automatic renewal of service contracts unless the contract holder is given written notice of the renewal terms at least 30 days before the cancellation deadline. The bill was sent to the House.

Law Enforcement Access to Electronic Records: The Senate passed a bill that would grant law enforcement, solicitors, and the Attorney General the authority to issue subpoenas for electronic communications and transaction records as allowed by federal law. Because the custodians of these electronic records are most often outside South Carolina, law enforcement officials usually have difficulty getting those custodians to cooperate with criminal investigations with state court subpoenas. This bill should help law enforcement overcome that resistance. The House will now consider the legislation.

Exploitation of Morphed Images of Minors: The Senate passed a bill that would criminalize the use of “morphed” images of minors when those images depict minors engaged in sexual activity. Current technology allows for the manipulation of photographs such that a person’s face can be transposed onto other images, making it look like the person is performing certain acts. Using this technology, some people have been morphing photographs of minors’ faces onto photographs depicting sexually explicit activity. Those recreated images then appear to show the minor engaged in sexual activity. This bill would make that practice a crime. The bill now goes to the House.

Certified Medical Assistants — Scope of Practice: The Senate passed a bill to expand the scope of practice for certified medical assistants. The bill was sent to the House.

Firefighter Benefits: South Carolina offers supplemental insurance coverage for firefighters diagnosed with cancer. Earlier this month, the Senate passed a bill that would provide that coverage to all firefighters who have served in South Carolina, even if the firefighters later move to another state. The House is now considering that legislation.

Expulsion Hearings: This bill will change state law to require that students and their parent/guardian facing expulsion be provided written notification of the expulsion hearing, including the right to counsel, the right to question witnesses, and the right to access the investigative file. This bill is now in the House.

Recreational Trail Easement Tax Credit: The Senate passed a bill to offer a tax credit to property owners who encumber their property with perpetual recreational trail easements. The bill will now be returned to the House to consider Senate amendments.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage Law Modification: This bill changes current law to permit an insured person to submit a video recording of a wreck to show damage/injury caused by the unknown vehicle sufficient to trigger uninsured motorist coverage. The bill goes to the House.

Background Checks: This bill strengthens background checks on foster parents and people who work in childcare by requiring a fingerprint-based background check performed by the FBI and SLED. The bill goes to the House.

Seizure Training in Schools: The Senate passed a House bill requiring each public school district and charter school to adopt and implement a training program for all school staff to identify and treat students who experience seizures. With the Senate passage, the bill was sent to the Governor.

Organ Donation – Protection From Insurer Declining or Limiting Insurance Coverage: The Senate passed a bill that would prohibit insurers who offer policies for life, disability income, or long-term care from declining or limiting coverage for living organ donors, forbidding donation as a condition of continued coverage, or establishing terms of coverage based solely on a person’s status as a living organ donor and without evidence of additional actuarial risk. The Senate passed the House version, so the bill goes to the Governor.

Industry Partnership Fund Tax Credit: The Senate passed a bill that would increase the existing Industry Partnership Fund tax credit from $9M to $12M per year. The Industry Partnership Fund provides coaching, grants, investments, and other types of support for technology startups and academic research and development. The Senate passed the House version, so the bill will now go to the Governor.

State Budget: On April 10, the full Senate Finance Committee passed the 2024/2025 state budget. Next week, the full Senate will consider and debate the budget. After it leaves the Senate, it will return to the House, likely be amended again, and then will end up in a budget conference committee when the Senate non-concurs with the House amendments. The conference committee will issue a final budget conference report. Then, both legislative bodies will consider that report before passing the final version on to the Governor. Hence, there are still several steps to take in the budget process over the next 2.5 months or so before the budget is finalized.

Highlights in the Senate Finance budget are as follows:

• An accelerated income tax rate reduction: from 6.3% to 6.2%.
• An increase to the teacher salary schedule for all teachers, starting at $47,000
• An extension to the teacher salary schedule from 24 years to 28 years.
• $30 million for Education Scholarship Trust Funds
• $175 million for the creation of the new Veterinary School at Clemson
• $100 million for the new University of South Carolina Medical School
• $200 million to the Technical System for workforce training and capital improvements
• A 2.75% pay raise for state employees
• $20 million for the Department of Juvenile Justice for the implementation of masterplan for new facilities
• $6.8 million for the Department of Juvenile Justice immediate detention center crowding relief
• $10.8 million for cell phone interdiction in detention facilities
• $1.6 million for salary increases for the Highway Patrol
• $200 million for country transportation committees to use to resurface local roads (distributed on statewide formula)
• $100 million for bridge repairs across the state
• $117 million for rural roads across the state
• $4.2 million for a forensic audit of the state treasury
• $34.5 million for veteran nursing homes
• $43 million for local water and sewer through the Rural Infrastructure Authority
• $11.5 million toward the security and integrity of the 2024 elections
• Fully funds the State’s Reserve accounts as constitutionally required.

Is Your Money Waiting to be Claimed?

The State Treasurer’s Office reports that residents of Aiken County have nearly $23 million in 158,528 unclaimed accounts. Lexington County has over $35 million in 293,333 accounts awaiting the rightful owners. Could it be yours? Hope so.

Examples of unclaimed property include dormant bank accounts, uncashed checks (including paychecks), unclaimed insurance proceeds, forgotten utility deposits, uncashed dividend checks, and unexchanged shares of stock. The Treasurer’s Office maintains a link for residents to search for unclaimed property. Check it out – go here.

Road Paving & Bridge Fixing

With the nice weather, SCDOT is ramping up its road paving bridge repair and replacement program. For those who keep score, here’s a graphic of SCDOT’s progress on its 10-Year Plan.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

This week at the State House featured the annual SC Fire Fighters Day. We must support these first responders who run toward danger to keep us safe. Rep. Melissa Oremus and I were proud to stand with three Aiken County Fire Chiefs — New Ellenton Chief Michael Wayne Kellems, Midland Valley Chief Sean Johnson, and Silver Bluff Chief Kerry Green.

Want to Know More?

Do you want to learn more about my positions, bill sponsorships, voting record, and past writings? Here are some handy links:

• About Me: https://taylorschouse.com/about-2/
• My Positions: https://taylorschouse.com/issues/
• Sponsored Bill & Voting Record: http://tiny.cc/b1pouz
• Recent Newsletters: https://taylorschouse.com/category/newsletter/

I’m Available & AT YOUR SERVICE 

It is my honor to be of service. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need assistance navigating state government or have any thoughts or concerns about the legislature.

In Your Service,

Email: Bill@taylorschouse.com
www.TaylorSCHouse.com  

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