Employers would be able to tell prospective workers in advertisements that they have nonsmoking workplaces under a bill headed to the Senate floor.
The legislation clarifies part of the state law that says employers cannot use a worker’s tobacco use in hiring or firing decisions. (more…)
How much water does it takes to make a stream a stream? A state Senate committee might well decide that today.
The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee today will debate for a third time a proposed state water plan, a law that would create a permitting system and set withdrawal limits for most large surface water users.
The fight is over minimum stream flow, the least amount of water that must be left in a stream as water is drawn down for commercial use. (more…)
Action on a proposed “home rule” constitutional amendment was delayed in a Senate subcommittee last week, and that’s a good thing. There were and still are far too many concerns about making any changes to the hard-fought provision for county “home rule” that was added to the state Constitution in 1973. Further, lawmakers should heed those who contend that there are other ways short of constitutional change to skin the cat.
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell proposed the constitutional change as one way to cure legal problems, now faced by a number of local boards and commissions, brought on by the legislators themselves. Those problems all stem from an important “home rule” provision that prohibits lawmakers from passing “local” or “special legislation.” That prohibition was intended to end the days when legislators ran county government from Columbia. Unfortunately, some legislators have continued to defy the ban, resulting in a number of successful protests to the courts. (more…)
The Senate again is set to take up common-law marriage when it convenes today, and by some accounts, the centuries-old S.C. tradition is hanging on by a thread.
Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, is on a three-week filibuster of a House-passed bill that, with Senate approval and the governor’s signature, would end recognition of marriages that are forged on intent, rather than a state license.
The measure has provisions that would give residents a grace period to legitimize their relationships via a state license, and also call for a state effort to educate the public that common-law marriages would no longer be recognized. (more…)