COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – South Carolina’s 2021 legislative session begins with the pandemic COVID-19 still on the rise and many pending issues that were left aside when the pandemic started last spring and stopped most of the work of the General Assembly.
Lawmakers plan to meet in person and promise protocols to keep people safe, even as the record number of COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state in recent weeks. Lawmakers are expected to meet for 18 weeks starting Tuesday.
It will be the 124th time that the General Assembly will meet for a period of two years. This year is the first year of the session, so all accounts will have to start from the beginning.
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IT SEEMS DIFFERENT
The session will be different from all the others because of the pandemic.
Senate President Harvey Peeler said all 46 senators agreed to wear masks while in the Senate floor and in meeting rooms or common areas of their office buildings. The Senate weapons sergeant has the authority to ensure that everyone else wears a mask. The pandemic is of particular concern in a chamber where 22 members are 60 or older.
Mayor Jay Lucas is strongly encouraging members to wear masks, but several of the 124 members had no face coverage inside the tight chamber during the December organizational session, leading to COVID-19 cases between new and veteran lawmakers.
Officials were especially frustrated with members of the House without a mask, said minority leader Todd Rutherford.
“If someone wants to sit in a crowded room and be stupid and not wear a mask, that’s a problem. But they shouldn’t spread that to a team member, ”said Democrat Columbia.
COVID-19 means that no large group, such as high school championship teams, visits the Statehouse for at least a few months.
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FEEL DIFFERENT
The South Carolina Senate took a decided turn to the right after the November elections. Republicans won three seats and are now 30 of the 46 senators, the most they have had in modern times.
Democratic senators who lost were also more moderate.
Senate rules give a senator enough power to prevent a bill from being passed and the House has long respected other members, but excessive obstruction can mean changes to the rules or more frequent use of votes to limit debate.
Democratic senators also have a new leader as Senator Brad Hutto of Orangeburg takes over as the minority leader after Senator Nikki Setzler stepped down from the leadership role. Hutto promised to seek consensus as Setzler, but in his 25-year legislative career, Hutto also showed skill in pulling Republicans back through obstructions or other maneuvers.
There are fewer changes in the Chamber. Republicans won two seats. But the leadership remains the same outside Republican Representative Chris Murphy of North Charleston, who became President of the House Judiciary after Pete McCoy left the Legislature to become South Carolina’s attorney in the United States.
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FAMILY ISSUES
There are many family issues that are likely to arise in 2021 – education, Santee Cooper, the budgetabortion. They were all driven off the road after the 2020 pandemic.
The House and Senate passed their own general education overhaul bills, but COVID-19 arrived before leaders in the two chambers could resolve their differences.
Possible salary increases for teachers – if budget allows – would be easy to achieve. Major reforms may require more time and perhaps relaxation of the pandemic social detachment requirements, so that legislators can hold hearings and negotiate more easily.
House and Senate subcommittees have already held hearings on state concessionaire Santee Cooper before the start of the session. House members hope to sell the utility to a private company, while senators say that option is probably out of the question.
House and Senate leaders agree that Santee Cooper needs a heavy reform that begins with the withdrawal of the board and executives. The majority leader in the House, Shane Massey, said that there are good and smart employees at Santee Cooper, but many entrenched employees resistant to change.
“I am convinced that there needs to be a thorough cleaning of the house. I think a culture was created in Santee Cooper where they hide things, ”said Edgefield Republican.
Almost every year, South Carolina lawmakers recently discussed abortion. More restrictions pass in the House, but fail in the Senate.
This year could be different with more conservatives in the Senate and two new conservative judges at the U.S. Supreme Court increasing the chances that a law with stricter abortion limits could be challenged in court.
House Democrats have pledged to fight harder this year since Senate Democrats lost important seats.
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SOME NEW THINGS
Seek legislators to address COVID-19 issues earlier, including face-to-face classes five days a week for any child whose parents want them and a discussion about banning people from suing companies claiming they became sick as a worker or customer, although the chances of that account risky.
In the House, there will be much discussion about criminal justice reform after Lucas made it a priority after protests following the death of George Floyd, who died when a Minnesota police officer pressed his neck during an arrest last summer.
The bills would change law enforcement training, sentencing guidelines and impose stricter rules on how law enforcement agencies can take property used in illegal acts.
But the centerpiece is a state hate crime law add penalties to anyone who kills, attacks or damages someone’s property based on race, religion, sexual orientation or other factors. Only South Carolina, Wyoming and Arkansas do not have the laws.
There was a lot of support from a wide range of House members during the fall. But more conservative Republicans have suggested that they want the increased penalties to be extended to people who attack police officers for their jobs.
And lawmakers will pay close attention to the process that takes place once every decade to draw new district lines for state seats in the House and Senate and in the U.S. House when U.S. Census data are released later this year. South Carolina’s population is expected to exceed 5 million – adding about 500,000 people in the past 10 years. The state added a seat in the U.S. House in 2010.
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Jeffrey Collins covered South Carolina for the AP for more than 20 years. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.