Bad Bills Racing to the Finish Line in the Final Days of SC Legislative Session
The end of legislative session is finally coming to an end! Sine die is scheduled for May 8th and with that, our state legislators are working furiously to pass several bills before the deadline arrives. With the help of several other resources like former Rep. Jonathon Hill’s Bad Bill sheet, SpartanburgCAN, and Conservatruth, I have compiled a list of *some* of the bad bills that are quickly approaching passage that could use your action:
H.3305 - Politicians Move to Shield Themselves from Critics
It appears that SC politicians want to protect government agents from lawsuits while also creating legal loopholes that open up nonprofits such as ours to (further) censorship and punishment for exposing corruption. Of course, they have named this bill the “South Carolina Public Expression Protection Act” to insult your intelligence. Representative Weston Newton authored H.3305 and it has already passed the House.
Major concerns: 1) motions in this act supersede any other pending actions or remedies, 2) may hear/rule on motions unrelated, 3) may hear/rule on “a motion seeking a special or preliminary injunction to protect against an imminent threat to public health or safety, and 4) setting up a “loser pays” scenario.
A former OK state representative noted that H.3305 appears to be a “velvet knife.” This bill sounds good but can be dangerous. Legislators have been marketing this bill as a protection of speech, yet that speech is already guaranteed through the Bill of Rights. So, why do they want to codify it in state law in a confusing legal manner? In reality, we don’t need more laws that may or may not do what they say. It seems that that if H.3305 is passed, it will more than likely be used agains the citizens’ free speech.
Contact your State Senator and ask them to vote against H.3305.
H.4176 - Government Controlled Gambling
This bill legalizes casino gambling and establishes a state Gaming Commission that takes 15% of gross revenues from each casino and gives it to the state. The Gaming Commission also imposes a $500,000 application fee and a $2 million license fee on casinos.
Not only does H.4176 grow government, but it reduces accountability by passing the buck to an unelected board that is mostly appointed by the legislature. It is clear that the legislative branch is attempting to increase taxes so they can continue increasing revenue for their pet projects. Contact your State Representative and ask them to vote against H.4176.
H.3625 - Government Controlled Sports Betting
This bill legalizes sports betting and creates a state Sports Wagering Commission. Similar to the casino bill (H.4176), H.3625 grows government and removes accountability through the unelected board that is mostly appointed by the legislature. This commission would impose a $100,000 application fee and a $1 million license fee on sports betting operators. This bill also raises taxes by imposing a privilege tax of 12.5% on every bet that will be earmarked as: 82% to state government, 10% to local government, 5% to state mental health, and 3% to the Sports Wagering Commission.
Contact the House Ways and Means Committee members and ask them to vote against H.3625.
H.4189 -DHEC Clean Up Bill That Doesn’t Allow Clean Up
This nearly 300 page bill is the second installment of the process started to split DHEC into two new agencies: the Department of Public Health and the Department of Environmental Services. H.4189 does more than just replace the name “DHEC” as is described by its sponsors, it updates and reassigns responsibility relating to isolation, quarantine, testing, and vaccination of South Carolinians during a state of emergency and upheld by law enforcement.
In committee, Rep. Thomas Beach offered an amendment that would strike the sections authorizing unelected officials to administer medicine without consent and impose quarantine orders. The committee voted against this amendment with several excuses, one being that they could just handle it later down the road…which they always say, and never do.
There are several sections in this bill that should be repealed. Just search the word “vaccination,” “quarantine,” or “isolation” and see what power your state government has over you.
Contact your State Representative and ask them to support Rep. Beach’s repeal amendment on H.4189 and any other amendment that repeals the dangerous code of law found in this bill.
H.4216 - Tax Reform Bill…That Increases Taxes
Due to the huge backlash from their first “tax reform” bill that raised taxes for nearly 60% of taxpayers and over 20% would see no change, the house amended H.4216 so that only 57% would either receive a raise or no change in state taxation.
In their latest article on H.4216, Conservatruth noted, “One-third of South Carolinas get nothing. One-fourth get a higher tax bill. That means 57% of us are either paying more or exactly where we started.” This bill is awaiting debate on the House floor so contact your State Representative and tell them to vote against H.4216.
S.35 - Making Comptroller General an Appointed Position
The Comptroller General is currently elected by South Carolinians. Following Eckstrom’s resignation, Governor Henry McMaster appointed Democrat Brian Gaines (former Budget Director of the Department of Administration) to fill his position. Since 2023, SC legislators are now pushing S.35, a bill that would make the Comptroller General position appointed by the Governor, instead of elected by the people.
Contact your State Senator and ask them to vote against S.35.
H.3309 - The Addition to Biden’s “Clean Energy” Initiative (South Carolina Energy Security Act)
This bill authorizes another public/private partnership between Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy for power plant construction. The bill states that they may immediately begin charging ratepayers for nuclear construction costs even before construction has been approved by the Public Service Commission and even if the projects are abandoned before completion. This has happened once before, which led to the failed V.C. Summer nuclear construction project between Santee Cooper and SCANA. SCANA went bankrupt because of this project and sold to Dominion. Lawmakers tied the hands of regulators and locked ratepayers into the deal regardless of whether or not the projects were ever completed. Several people went to jail and ratepayers are still paying off the billions of debt for this failed project.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is controlled by the legislature and is majorly impacted by H.3309. Not only does this bill contain language to force the PSC to act more as a judicial body, but it prohibits the PSC from using experts to present their own evidence. Instead, it limits the PSC’s decisions to rely on the evidence only submitted by utility companies on the record. If any information is left out of the submitted evidence, the PSC cannot consider it in any ruling. This rigs the system against ratepayers, favors the utility companies, and protect legislators from blame for the rate hikes. Furthermore, H.3309 redefines the mission of the Public Service Commission (PSC) to include actively planning for the state’s energy needs instead of just regulating public utilities, creating more economic development incentives, and will build economic development further into the state’s regulatory fabric.
Authorizes Santee Cooper (a state-owned utility) to incur massive amounts of debt as well as allowing all utilities to apply for available grants to fund nuclear site research.
Allows businesses that are large enough and are selected by the SC Department of Commerce to pick their own power company regardless of where they are located in South Carolina. For example, a foreign business could move in and choose where they get their energy from, but everyone else in South Carolina has to operate under whatever monopoly power district they are located in.
Creates a legislatively controlled “Energy Policy Research and Development Institute” within the University of South Carolina to do energy research for state lawmakers. This institute is being created to collaborate with SC Nexus, a “clean energy” initiative which began last session under the Biden administration and was passed by the South Carolina General Assembly (another bill that was sponsored by House Speaker Murrell Smith).
Fiscal impact statement is listed as $23,494,500 which is a sharp increase from last year’s H.5118 of $2,587,418.
Contains several encouragements for privately owned utilities and creates a 10-year energy plan for the state, which stifles utilities driven by the market and increases the state-driven energy monopoly that has resulted in the highest electric utility rates in the southeast.
Contact your State Senator and ask them to vote against H.3309.
S.146 - Unconstitutional Nursing Home Emergency Restriction
This bill restricts visitors to nursing home patients during an unconstitutional declared state of emergency. This proposed legislation prohibits visiting a loved one in a nursing home during a state of emergency unless you are their designate visitor. The nursing home resident can only have one designated visitor and that visitor can only be changed once a year.
It is unconstitutional not only for the government to declare a state of emergency, but it is unconstitutional for anyone to restrict someone’s freedom of movement. We watched loved ones die alone in nursing homes during COVID, this bill would codify it.
Contact the House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee members and ask them to vote against S.146.
S.268 - Social Media Lawfare
This bill takes over the role of a parent and regulates the appearance, functionality, and privacy of online apps used by kids. The aim of S.268 is to set the scene for gigantic legal settlements with large corporations in order to create more revenue for the state. See examples on page 17 of Hill’s most recent Bad Bill Sheet. Contact the House Judiciary Committee members and ask them to vote against S.268.
H.3431 - Censorship Bill That Became S.268 in Recent Amendment
This bill started out as a social media ban for anyone under 18 years old without parental consent and creates a “media literacy” program. However, after a recent amendment from the Senate Committee, they struck the entire bill and added S.268 so now it is an exact mirror of the social media lawfare bill. Contact you State Representative and ask them to vote against H.3431.
S.165 - Creating New Government Program: Conservation Education Act
This bill creates a new program fund under the Department of Natural Resources to educate kids on conservation. This bill grows government to connect “youth with nature” which should be left to organizations in the private sector to handle this (scout groups, nonprofits, etc.) instead of wasting government funds.
Contact your State Representative and ask them to vote against S.165.
H.4025 - State Budget
The state budget totals a whopping $39 billion, which is slightly less than the previous budget yet is still a far cry from responsible spending. According to Hill's Bad Bill Sheet (page 24-28), H.4025 spends $889 million tax surplus, spends $121 million in property credits, adds nearly 836 new state employees, funds Planned Parenthood, funds the state health plan that also funds abortion, requires affirmative action when hiring, subsidizes college tuition, funds research into climate change, supports state agencies that promote DEI, and so much more.
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