Submitted by Sunnie Harmon and John DeWorken, LobbySC
Representative Gary Simrill (R-York) announced his retirement this week. Beyond shepherding the road funding bill through the Legislature, Simrill, a 30-year veteran in the House of Representatives, was known to be one of the business community’s fiercest champions, often using his skills to push policy to promote jobs and economic development.
Please join the SCAPA Board in thanking Representative Gary Simrill for his impactful tenure in the General Assembly.
The House of Representatives is set to debate the State’s budget. Some of the highlights of the House plan are as followed:
The Senate passed S.1087, a bill that would provide for the following:
With the positive news from the BEA that the 2023 budget should increase by $621M, Governor McMaster and House leadership joined together in a press conference earlier this month to put forth a $1B plan to reduce the State’s income tax to 6% from 7%. The first one-half percent will be immediate, using the announced $621M in new revenue, while the second one-half percent will be phased in over the next five years to 6%. The plan also eliminates military retirement income from being subjected to State income taxes.
The Senate Medical Affairs Committee passed S. 2, a bill by Senator Harvey Peeler (R-Cherokee) that would reorganize the SC Department of Health & Environmental Control (DHEC) into two cabinet agencies. With the passage of this bill, the Department of Environmental Services and the Department of Behavioral and Public Health would be established.
The new Department of Environmental Services would oversee all environmental services currently overseen by DHEC and the Water Resource Division currently under the Department of Natural Resources. The current SC DHEC Director of Environmental Affairs would become the interim director of the new Department of Environmental Services.
The new Department of Behavioral and Public Health would take on all health functions currently overseen by DHEC, as well as the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS).
SC DHEC’s current Director would become the interim director of this new cabinet agency.
Finally, DHEC’s food and safety division minus shellfish would move to the Department of Agriculture. If this bill were to become law this year, then it would take effect June 30, 2023. The full Senate is expected to take this bill up in the coming days.
The Senate passed S. 248 by Senator Tom Young (R-Aiken) that prohibits driving while holding a mobile device or other device in one’s hand. A driver would not be allowed to text, read, talk or watch videos on a mobile electronic device. The driver would be able to use voice commands to activate a mobile device. Those in violation of this may receive two points on their license.
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Sunnie Harmon & John DeWorken
LobbySC
Sunnie Harmon
864.337.1584
Sunnie@LobbySC.com
John DeWorken
864.905.5529
John@LobbySC.com