COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – The 124th session of the South Carolina General Assembly begins Tuesday.
Lawmakers will meet for 18 weeks in the first year of the two-year session.
They plan to meet in person, even with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Senate president says that all senators will wear masks, while the mayor strongly encourages his members to wear facial covers.
The Senate will open with 30 of its 46 Republican members. This is the majority of Republicans in modern times.
Lawmakers are expected to deal with family issues like education, budgeting, Santee Cooper and abortion, and new things like COVID-19, redistricting and criminal justice reforms sponsored by Mayor Jay Lucas.
However, South Carolina’s Republican legislative leaders are unlikely to give permission this year to local governments or colleges that want to topple Confederate statues or rename buildings in honor of segregationists.
Lucas and Senate President Harvey Peeler said they have no plans to accept bills that eliminate the South Carolina Heritage Act, which requires a two-thirds vote by the General Assembly to remove a monument or rename streets or buildings in honor of historical figures.
They say they will also not accept any request from local governments to make changes.
The Heritage Act was passed in 2000 as part of the agreement that removed the Confederacy flag from the top of the Statehouse.
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