Regulatory & Ethics Reform, Protecting Our Children, Improving Our Roads & Honoring National Republican Leaders

The House of Representatives, led by your Republican majority, made significant progress on regulatory reform, updating public safety laws, and protecting the unborn this week.

Government red tape and over-regulation burden job creators and stifle small business start-ups – I hear this repeatedly from business owners here in our district. We passed a regulatory reform law in the House placing a sunset provision on all future regulations. Many regulations are outdated, and this new measure would give an automatic expiration to regulations five years after implementation. This ensures an ongoing review of our regulations and provides the business community’s opportunity to have input. The bill now heads to the Senate, and I hope they will join us in lending a hand to the businesses and innovators that drive our state’s economy.

Last week I mentioned that the Pain-Capable Child Protection Act cleared a significant hurdle. I am pleased to report my Republican colleagues joined me in giving final passage to this important bill. The House passed this same legislation last year, but the Senate failed to pass it. I will continue to use every opportunity given to me to support the right to life of the unborn in South Carolina.

We took additional steps this week to pass the next set of ethics reform legislation – part of our larger ethics reform package. We passed the Whistleblower and Public Employee Protection Act providing public employees legal protections and substantially increased financial incentives for reporting unethical behavior when your tax dollars are on the line. I was also proud to support H 3195 which tightens and clarifies our existing ethics statutes. The act also gives guidance to elected officials about the proper use of political campaign dollars.

We continue to discuss the best path forward to fix our ailing road system. On Wednesday, the two highly-discussed proposals – one resembling Governor Nikki Haley’s plan and one from the House Transportation Infrastructure & Management Ad-Hoc Committee – were placed into bill form. Both bills head to the House Ways and Means Committee where work will begin to find common ground. If you have not yet taken the chance to share your thoughts with me on this important matter, I encourage you to take a moment to do so today.

One of the core functions of a limited government is providing for the safety of our children and otherwise vulnerable adults. All too often during the heat of our South Carolina summers, we see news reports of children who have died while trapped or locked inside hot vehicles. My House colleagues and I supported a measure that would give certain legal protections to bystanders who rescue those trapped inside sweltering cars and trucks.

This Wednesday, the House Republican Caucus will be hosting a reception for Ohio Governor John Kasich. The reception will be Wednesday night from 5:30-7:00pm at the Hilton in Columbia (924 Senate St, Columbia, SC). I want to extend a personal invitation to you. Ensure your complementary priority members’ guest reservation by clicking here or emailing rsvp@schousegop.org or texting SCHRC to 99000. Hope to see you there.
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.