South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus

The 10th week of the legislative session:

STATE BUDGET: The House gave final approval Thursday to a $7.2 billion budget that includes a slight raise for state workers and more money for public schools. The Senate will debate the budget in April.

CHILD CARE VOUCHERS: Gov. Mark Sanford’s staff is working to prevent the loss of child care vouchers provided by the Department of Social Services for moms in shelters and foster parents. Rep. Tracy Edge, who handles the budget for DSS, said he didn’t find out until Wednesday that the voucher program would be cut by nearly 900 slots. The Republican said he only knew the agency wanted $6 million less than it had originally sought in new state spending. The state budget passed later that day before any changes could be made.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: Legislators working out the differences in the immigration reform proposals got little done during their second meeting Tuesday. The six-member conference committee voted on a few minor issues but said they couldn’t spend too much time on the proposals because House members were needed for budget debate. The committee won’t meet this week because the House takes a one-week break before Easter. Read the rest of this entry »

Week of March 11 – 13, 2008

Quote of the Week: All I want is to leave enough water in the river for it to remain a river.
  Senator Chip Campsen (R-Charleston) commenting on minimum flow standards discussed in the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

Candidate Drug Testing Bill to be Screened on Senate Floor The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Senate Bill 1070, a.k.a the Candidate Drug Testing Bill, on Tuesday, March 11. The debate on the bill, while serious, certainly had its moments of levity, including an amendment by a senior Democrat senator to include IQ test results with candidate filing papers. The amendment was immediately voted down.

The bill is now on the Senate calendar awaiting debate. Read the rest of this entry »

Columbia, SC – The Joint Legislative Conference Committee working on the Illegal Immigration Reform Bill (S.392), met for the second time today to continue working toward a comprehensive and effective plan to combat illegal immigration.
 
The committee’s lead action today was to adopt portions of both the House and Senate versions of the bill that will establish a Memorandum of Understanding with federal officials to create effective relationships with state and local law enforcement officials under the 287-G program. The funding for the program would come from Federal, State or other sources.
 
“Today’s action empowers all levels of our law enforcement officials to effectively deal with the illegal alien issue. This bold plan will help all of our communities to better handle criminal issues involving illegal aliens,” says Conference Committee Chairman, Senator Jim Ritchie (R-13). “There are several additional issues to be settled and I am hopeful that the positive exchange of today’s meeting continues.”
 
The committee moved forward on other issues as well. The first action of the committee was to adopt a change to the overall withholding, from six-percent to seven-percent, businesses are charged when they engage in the hiring of people who are unlawfully in the United States. 
 
The committee also discussed the Senate’s proposed “hotline”, to be maintained by the Commission on Minority Affairs, which would gather information on possible illegal immigration violations and abuse.  House members requested additional time to review the specifics of the “hotline” before moving to adopt final language.
 
 The next meeting of the committee will be scheduled based on the availability of House members who are engaged in budget debates this week and are on furlough the following week.
 
In addition to Senator Ritchie the conference committee consists of Senators Chip Campsen (R-Charleston), and Vincent Sheheen (D-Kershaw), as well as Representatives Jim Harrison (R-Richland), Greg Delleney (R-Chester), and Thad Viers (R-Horry).
 
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Gov. Mark Sanford expressed his concern this week about a serious “pitfall” in the immigration bill now in a House-Senate conference committee. His position is indicative of a welcome and growing recognition that the legislation isn’t as strong as it easily could and should be.

The flaw in the House bill was the lack of a private employer verification system. The House version only required those businesses with government contracts to verify a worker’s legal status. The Senate version compounded the flaw with a private employer verification requirement that is virtually worthless.

That point has been convincingly made by two Lowcountry senators, Chip Campsen and Glenn McConnell, who sounded the “sham” alarm. The problem is a verification option known as the I-9 which is part of the discredited federal system.

Sens. Campsen and McConnell contend that their colleagues caved in to pressure from lobbyists for business interests who want to retain the relatively worthless federal I-9.

READ MORE->

The Post & Courier
Editorial
March 8, 2008

CAPITOL CONNECTION

Caucus’ concerns put nominee ‘on hold’ The confirmation of state Department of Public Safety director James Schweitzer will be reconsidered by a Senate panel because of concerns raised by the Legislative Black Caucus.

Caucus members met with Senate president pro tem Glenn McConnell on Tuesday to discuss inappropriate behavior by some members of the Highway Patrol. The Highway Patrol is under the Department of Public Safety.

In one incident the caucus cites, an African-American woman was handcuffed to the bumper of a patrol car by a Highway Patrol officer. In another incident, a trooper stopped a black motorist who then ran. The trooper yelled a racial slur at the motorist.

“(McConnell) was very receptive to our concerns,” said Rep. Leon Howard, D-Richland, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. “So until we get some answers, the confirmation is still on hold.”

Schweitzer has told an S.C. media outlet that the officers’ behavior was wrong and that the officers were punished.

Both officers were suspended for 12 hours, Howard said. Howard, along with other caucus members, will meet with Gov. Mark Sanford on Thursday to discuss the issue further.

TETHERED-DOG BILL

The Senate will further study a bill designed to prohibit the tethering and chaining of dogs for certain periods of time in a day.

Amid concerns the proposed new law was too broad, and could be used to interfere with what some legislators said are legitimate instances of tying up dogs for several hours a day, the Senate Judiciary Committee decided Tuesday to amend the measure, though it already contained exemptions for activities such as hunting and leashed walking.

Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, worried the proposal could affect working dogs. Specifically, Campsen said he was concerned about dogs used in training and hunting activities associated with field trials.

“Every instance of tethering a dog is not cruelty,” Campsen said.

Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, raised questions about how time constraints in the measure might affect tethered dogs at major hunting events.

Committee members will review questions about the bill, sponsored by Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, and take it up again next week.

CONCEALED WEAPONS

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill Tuesday keeping state lists of residents with concealed-weapons permits private.

The House-passed bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, restricts the circumstances under which the State Law Enforcement Division can release such lists to requests from law enforcement agencies involved in an investigation, subpoena and court order.

SLED does not release such lists, according to Lexington Sen. Jake Knotts, a retired police officer and committee member, but he said the agency is under pressure to do so.

“This gives them something to stand on,” Knotts said.

Knotts and other senators said requests for release of the information are designed to serve open government, but feed Internet enterprises and media snooping. “They have absolutely no reason to have this list except they want to have more knowledge and be in everybody’s business,” said Sen. John Hawkins, R-Spartanburg, who supported the bill.

The measure was amended to require an annual report be published by SLED profiling the transactions of gun permits in the state, such as the number issued, denied or renewed each year.

The bill also was amended to require that all existing lists of permitted gun carriers be destroyed under penalty of law once the bill is enacted. Other changes are expected in the bill when it reaches the Senate floor, legislators said.

CAR SALES TAXES

Buying a car would help repair South Carolina roads and bridges under a bill that cleared a House panel Tuesday.

The legislation calls for at least $10 million in taxes generated from car sales to go toward overdue maintenance of roads and bridges.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell said the proposal would generate about $104 million in taxes during the next several years. And that money could be used to back around $1 billion in bonds for road work, state Rep. Tracy Edge said.

The House discussed a similar bill last year, splitting the cash between new projects and maintenance. “Here, we’re putting it toward the state highway fund, which is used for maintenance and paving and generally not for construction” said Edge, R-Horry.

TRAINS

White Rock residents battling a proposed rail siding in the area got help Tuesday from Richland County lawmakers.

Measures that would stop railroads from forcing landowners to sell a site for projects were introduced by Sen. John Courson and Rep. Nathan Ballentine.

WIRELESS CLOUD

A House panel has begun discussions on converting ETV’s broadband service licenses from analog to digital — a move that could result in a windfall of new revenue for the state.

The transition will free up 80 percent or more of ETV’s capacity that could then be used for some other purpose. One use being considered is a “wireless cloud” that would cover the state. In essence, it’s high-capacity Internet access that would be available to nearly all of the state’s residents.

A House panel will resume discussions today. The deadline for a conversion plan is January 2009.

The State
2/27/08

North Charleston, SC – Some Lowcountry lawmakers are taking up the illegal immigration battle and trying to make some changes at the state level.

State senators are holding a public hearing to inform citizens about the bill they are trying to push.

The bill would attempt to prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants. Lawmakers say they hope this bill will give the jobs back to the citizens.

The Illegal Immigration Reform Act would penalize people who hire illegal immigrants.

One of the bill’s sponsors, Senator Randy Scott of Summerville, is pushing the bill which he says is a step in the right direction.

“This bill actually came about because people of South Carolina are just fed up with illegal immigrants and it’s time to do something about it,” Scott said.

This “something” would not allow state and local governments to contract with businesses that employ illegal immigrants and would allow local governments to detain illegal immigrants and hit the federal government with the bill.
From ABC News 4 in Charleston:

“If you hire somebody, go ahead and be sure that he is legal. [Make sure he/she's] not an illegal alien standing out on the corner, or 15 or 20 of them, who jump in the back of a truck, work and you pay them cash. That’s over with,” Scott explained.

Senator Chip Campsen of Isle of Palms is also sponsoring the bill and attended the public hearing where he and Sen. Scott hope to get the word out about trying to do something about the problem. A problem some say the federal government has swept under the rug.

The bill, which was introduced in April, and passed in the State Senate and is now sitting in the House Judiciary Committee.

A good education gives our children a better chance to succeed in today’s competitive global economy. The state of South Carolina has gotten it right when it comes to helping families save for college.Let’s face it, the government has never really been a model of efficiency, nor a place to look for new and innovative ideas. Well, we would like to tout a very nice exception to that trend: South Carolina’s 529 college savings program.

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Have you read The Campsen Chronicles: On The Road with Chip Campsen by Michael S. Smith II.  If not, just click the photo above.

Campsen, 48, has served District 43, which includes parts of Berkeley and Charleston counties, in the Senate since 2005 and in the House from 1997 to 2002.

The Republican from the Isle of Palms is a member of the following Senate committees: Agriculture and Natural Resources; Fish, Game and Forestry; Invitations; Judi?ciary; Rules; and Transportation.

Campsen, an attorney, is also a businessman. He graduated from Fur?man University and the University of South Carolina. He has his captain’s license and is vice president of Fort Sumter Tours Inc. He also works as a commercial real estate broker.

Read the rest of this entry »