We have already written about how the South Carolina Senate – which added three “republican” seats during the 2020 election cycle – should be better positioned in 2021 to promote pro-freedom, pro-free market and pro-taxpayer reforms.
Emphasis on “we must … ”
The GOP has enjoyed a large majority in both chambers of the SC General Assembly for years, but these growing party margins have not yet translated into positive results for the people of the State of Palmetto.
What did the “republican government” generate? Failure … increasingly expensive failure.
Not to mention disappointment in their main social issues …
Now, South Carolina’s difficulties have become even more serious thanks to the continuing collapse of tourism, the decline in the employment trajectory and the abject failure of state leaders to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
As we noted in previous posts, these challenges increase pressure on legislative leaders to adopt new policies aimed at increasing competitiveness – economically, academically and with respect to quality of life.
Notice that we said new policies … are not new faces promoting the same old failed policies of the past.
What kind of policy are we talking about? First and foremost, we asked state legislators to enact tax reforms in a number of areas. More significantly, we are pushing for a reduction in the individual income tax – which would allow the State of Palmetto to capitalize on the escalation of the national exodus from urban centers, as well as the “work at home” movement that emerged during the pandemic.
The adoption of broad-based tax cuts – rather than failed capitalist giveaways – should be the number one priority if we are to compete for those jobs in the months and years to come.
We also ask lawmakers to stop surrendering to the mob of educators and to subsidize the perpetual failure of the worst school system administered by the country’s government. Instead, they must finally insist on market responsibility – that is, choosing the school.
In addition, we challenge lawmakers to review the functions that the government should and should not perform – starting with the discharge of its indebted utility, Santee Cooper, and the transfer of its port system with poor results to a private sector manager.
Anyway … getting these reforms through the legislature should be easier than ever in 2021. And not because “Republicans” have more seats in the House (making it more difficult for liberal Republican leaders to line up with Democrats to form governing majorities).
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No … the real change that made it possible to change the legislature in 2021 can be found in little-noticed amendments to the rules that govern the debate in the Senate of SC. Until now, the so-called “superior” chamber of the SC General Assembly has been a real bottleneck where a legislator can effectively block a bill.
Good, unless, of course, the account is a tax increase … In that case, Republican Party lawmakers eventually find the votes needed to force the measure on fiscal conservatives’ objections of principle.
In any case, lawmakers changed Senate rules this year to drastically reduce a legislator’s ability to obstruct works and block a specific piece of legislation. Specifically, motions for coagulation – or motions to end the debate and move forward with the vote on bills – can now contain “deadline” provisions.
In other words, senators can put themselves on the clock when considering a bill – setting a definitive “cutoff point” for the debate.
In addition, coagulation motions can now limit the number of amendments attached to the legislation – either to ten amendments in total or three amendments per senator, depending on the bill in question.
In the past, unlimited amendments were allowed – allowing opponents of specific pieces of legislation to submit hundreds of them in an effort to drag debate over a project for weeks on end.
The collective effect of these reforms?
“The Senate that has existed for decades no longer exists,” a lawmaker told this media outlet, noting that the congestion that previously benefited the fewest Democrats has now been removed.
A lobbyist following the changes agreed, arguing that power in the chamber was transferred from veteran obstructionists like Brad Hutto Orangeburg and Gerald Malloy Hartsville as a result of the new rules.
Obviously, it is up to us to remind our readers that restrictive rules have not been the only problem plaguing the Senate of SC – a real graveyard of reform measures in the past two decades.
New and improved rules are only worthwhile if lawmakers propose better bills. In addition, it is important to note that these rule changes also make it much easier for bad projects to clear the chamber – limiting the ability of tax conservatives like Tom Davis Beaufort, SC, to block unnecessary tax increases, for example.
As always, the real test of leadership will remain the commitment of individual legislators to remain true to the principles they campaigned for … commitments that, unfortunately, vary from occasional to nonexistent in the SC Senate since the Republican Party claimed control of this chamber. in 2001.
Will things be different two decades later? We’ll see …
-FITSNews
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