House Walks Out On Immigration Bill
Filed Under Caucus, Ritchie, Top News | 3 Comments
Ritchie vows to fight for strong illegal immigration reform
Columbia, SC – The House today walked out on illegal immigration reform. The Senate calls on the House to live up to its agreement. Less than 24 hours after agreeing to ask their members for a vote on private employer verification, the House failed to follow through on their agreement. After more than a week of political rhetoric, the House has failed again to take a decisive vote on legislation addressing private employer verification requirements.
“The people of South Carolina deserve better than what the House is doing,” says Senator Jim Ritchie (R-Spartanburg), Chairman of the Joint Legislative Conference Committee on illegal immigration reform. “The House has tried to kill this bill twice this year. They are hiding behind some strange interpretation of the rules to avoid delivering strong illegal immigration reform to the people of South Carolina”
The Senate has consistently led the effort on including private employer verification, while the House has offered little more than rhetoric and political maneuvering. The House had at least seven opportunities to vote on private employer verification and they have again failed to do anything to strengthen immigration reform.
Since 2006, the Senate has been working to deliver the strongest illegal immigration reform bill possible and remove the $186 million financial burden that illegal immigration places on the citizens of South Carolina.
After failing to secure the vote they had committed to yesterday, House conference committee members walked out on a conference committee meeting this afternoon.
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Senate Forces House to Take Stand on Private Employer Verification
Filed Under Caucus, McConnell, Ritchie, Top News | Leave a Comment
Columbia, SC - Today, Senator Jim Ritchie (R-Spartanburg), Chairman of the Joint Legislative Conference Committee on illegal immigration reform, forced House conference committee members to return to their body and get a vote on private employer verification. The Senate’s Illegal Immigration Reform Act is the only bill that has ever included a requirement for private employers to verify the legal immigration status of new hires. Recent political maneuvers by the House put the bill in jeopardy due to their refusals to include private employers in their legislation.
“The House has ducked this issue from its inception, the House returned the Senate bill without addressing private employers, the House sent their own immigration bill to the Senate without addressing private employers, the House voted to nonconcur with Senate amendments that include private employers,” says Senator Ritchie. Read more
Leatherman Tax Realignment Commission Receives Senate Approval
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Senator wants independent, objective analysis of current tax system.
Columbia, SC - The South Carolina Senate today took the first step in rebuilding a “cobbled together” tax code that no longer reflects the realities of the state’s current economic forces. Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman (R-Florence) introduced the legislation (S.1242) to establish the South Carolina Tax Realignment Commission earlier in this session and today the senate gave the idea second reading.
“It’s the only way I know to get an independent, objective analysis of our present tax system, and to retool the tax code to meet today’s challenges,” says Senator Leatherman. “A tax code based on the realities of today’s economic environment is absolutely essential if we are to have the quality of life that all of us want.”
The eleven-member commission will be charged with reviewing the current state tax code from top to bottom and making recommendations that are fair, equitable, and maintain or enhance the state’s competitive edge in attracting new business. The commission will consist of four members appointed by the Senate, four members appointed by the House, two members appointed by the Governor, and the Director of the Department of Revenue. Commission members appointed by the General Assembly must be highly qualified individuals with a background in public finance, tax law, economics, accounting or other related areas of expertise.
The commission’s recommendations will serve as the foundation for the future of South Carolina’s state tax code. Any major changes by the General Assembly to the commission’s initial recommendations would require a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber placing an additional procedural hurdle to amending the independent commission’s suggested legislation. Technical or minor changes would only require a simple majority vote.
“If we succeed, South Carolina would be the first state in the country to overhaul its tax code,” says Senator Leatherman. “We are competing in a knowledge-based global economy. Our competitors are no longer Georgia and North Carolina, but India and China. It is time we took a hard look at the state’s tax code.”
The commission’s final recommendations and proposed legislation would be submitted to the General Assembly by January 1, 2010 for its action.
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S.C. Senate OKs budget; McConnell gets $5 million more for Lowcountry schools
Filed Under Caucus, Leatherman, McConnell, Peeler, Rankin, Top News, ryberg2 | 2 Comments
The state Senate approved a $7 billion spending plan Wednesday after a 12-hour session that had coastal lawmakers sparring for cash and ended with promising state workers a 1 percent raise.
Final deals were reached just after 10 p.m. after Charleston and other Lowcountry legislators were promised millions to shore up spending for their schools, as well as more tourism promotion cash as soon as the economy turns around.
That cleared the way for the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 to head back to the House. A joint conference committee will work out final deals in the next few weeks amid fears a weak economy could prompt more spending reductions. Read more
