SCAPA 2016 Year End Legislative Review

The year 2016 brought with it many issues related to election year politics (both the House and Senate are up for re-election), including the so-called bathroom bill, the ethics reform fight and gas tax filibustering. It also brought with it a time to recover from the historic floods and time to heal from the Emmanuel Nine Tragedy. Regardless, at the end of the day, the Legislature passed and the Governor signed a bill that takes a significant step towards better road funding for the state’s citizenry.  

2016 was a mixed bag for SCAPA. Peanut’s Law (Highway Work-zone Safety Act), hovering over the legislative finish line, languished under the obstruction of one senator. Ultimately, it failed and must be reintroduced in 2017.  

On a positive note, SCAPA once again was able to defeat the bill that arbitrarily forces the SC Department of Transportation to conduct a life cycle cost analysis, among other things, on any project over $1M. House Ways and Means Subcommittee Chairman Mike Anthony (D-Union) and others saw that this bill as a means to politicize and introduce anti-competitiveness to the DOT process.

The Legislative Session ended on a high note of sorts. The Legislature passed and the Governor signed a bill that bonds $2.2B, which will be used for road maintenance and construction, bridge replacement and repair and paving over the next ten years. DOT officials say that this money can be leveraged to increase infrastructure funding upwards of $4B for that same amount of time. Many say that it is a far cry from the recurring source of revenue this state needs to take its roads from poor to good, but many site this bill (S.1258) as a positive step forward. 

More specifically, S.1258 notes the following:

•Approximately $4B in new funding for roads and infrastructure

•DOT Commissioners to be composed of one member from each Congressional Delegation

•Governor will now appoint the Commissioners, whom must first be approved by legislators from each respective

•Congressional Delegation, screened by the Joint Transportation Review Committee, will finally go before the Senate for its consent

•Governor to appoint one at-large Commissioner

•The Commission will elect the Chairman

•Governor may remove a Commissioner with the approval of the members of that respective Congressional Delegation

•State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) projects must now be approved by the DOT Commission, prioritized under Act 114, and are set at a minimum of $25M