The Senate has agreed to tougher restrictions on payday loans.
The bill requires lenders to check a borrower database and places a $500 limit on loans. It also bans multiple loans in a seven-day period.
Spartanburg Senator John Hawkins spent more than an hour Tuesday calling for a ban, saying the state can never contain the industry. (more…)
The constitutional amendment that would require all future candidates for elected office in South Carolina to pass a drug test began making its way through the legislative process Thursday.
The amendment, S.1070, gained approval from a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee. State House officials say the subcommittee added judges to the list of officials that would be required to submit the results of a drug test with candidate filing papers.
Republican Senator Harvey Peeler of Cherokee says he feels the measure is common sense, because he feels elected officials are asking the public for their trust. (more…)
Want to see where your state tax dollars are going?
You will be able to look it up online if a bill introduced in the General Assembly becomes law.
The communications director for state Senate Republicans said that the “Truth in Spending Act” would requires all state and local government entities, including school districts, to post monthly expenditures over $100 on their Web sites. (more…)
Spartanburg lawmakers on opposite sides of banning industry
John Hawkins and Jim Ritchie sit next to each other in the Senate chamber.
But the two Spartanburg Republicans couldn’t be farther apart when it comes to payday lenders.
Hawkins, one of 13 lawyer-legislators involved in a class-action lawsuit against the industry, wanted an outright ban. Ritchie helped author compromise legislation that regulates payday lenders but allows them to stay in business. (more…)