Senate Inaction, Supreme Court Chief Justice & College Savings Plan

 The final week of the legislative session is upon us, and with most of the House’s major work complete, all eyes were trained on the Senate.

Budget: The Senate recently completed its budget debate. After my colleagues and I made some changes this week, we sent it back to the Senate in order to move the final budget to a House-Senate conference committee. However, because it took the Senate so long to finish the budget the first time, we will most likely have to return to Columbia after the final day of session to complete it.

Grassroots Success: Thank you to all of those who responded to our “Finish the Job” campaign and contacted your senators. Thanks to weeks of effort from so many in the grassroots, the Senate finally passed H.3114, the pro-life Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. There are many important reforms and pieces of legislation passed by the House that are stuck in the Senate. Don’t let up now. For a detailed description of other items stuck in the Senate, click here.

Senate Filibustering: Based on the filibustering going on in the Senate as of late, we took the responsible steps of passing a continuing resolution to make sure that if the Senate can’t pass a budget, government would not shut down.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Election: This week the House met with the Senate in a joint assembly to elect our state’s next Supreme Court Chief Justice. In a unanimous decision, members of both chambers selected Justice Costa Pleicones to lead the high court. This marks the first new Supreme Court Chief Justice in 15 years.

College Savings: If you or someone you know had a baby on May 29, that person is eligible for a grant of $529 to start a 529 college savings plan. The privately funded grant is available to anyone opening an account for their child by August 30. Contact the State Treasurer’s Office for more information.

June 4^th is “Sine Die”–the official end of the session. I’ll update you next week on when the House will have to return to session to consider the budget, any outstanding conference committee reports, or governor’s vetoes.

As always, it is a privilege to serve you in the South Carolina House. If you ever need help with state government, or have any thoughts or concerns about what we are doing, please do not hesitate to contact me.