Lawmakers at work on panels in offseason
Filed Under Cleary, Rankin, Top News
By Zane Wilson - The Sun News
From broadband Internet access to government taking of property, some local lawmakers are busy with issues in committee meetings even though the legislative session doesn’t start until Jan. 7.
The legislative sessions meet January to June on a two-year cycle. This year’s session was the first of the two-year cycle, so bills that were not passed are still alive until next year’s session ends.
Public hearings on immigation and spending caps, both of which are likely to be hotly debated in the next session, were held in several locations across the state, though not in Horry or Georgetown counties.
Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, is on a panel that is studying a proposal to bring broadband Internet service to areas that aren’t currently served.
No other state has attempted such service in the way that South Carolina is looking to do it, Rankin said. The possibility is open with a spectrum that S.C. Educational Television has owned for many years, but has not used.
If the public TV-radio organization does not use it, it must give up the spectrum in 2011, so lawmakers are looking at ways to use it, Rankin said.
“It’s a great opportunity to leverage a state asset, which is this spectrum, and create a first-ever in the country rollout, bringing broadband to areas where it is not available right now,” he said. “From the rural standpoint, it’s an opportunity to catch them up.”
The plan includes providing the service with a public-private partnership, possibly by leasing the spectrum, but among the unresolved issues are how to balance the private sector’s interests.
Commercial providers don’t want free broadband offered to areas they already serve or could serve, Rankin said.
He said the committee is working with a House bill and hopes to have something ready for passage this year, so it can be in place before S.C. ETV has to give up the spectrum.
In the meantime, Sen. Ray Cleary, R-Murrells Inlet, has been working on a judicial selection study committee that is considering whether to change the way judges are chosen and another panel that is looking at criminal justice issues.
Legislators elect judges after they are screened and nominated by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission. The commission includes House and Senate members as well as some from the private sector.
The study committee is also looking at how to increase the number of black judges and any other improvements that can be made to the process, Cleary said.
He said what he has heard so far has not persuaded him that judges should be elected by voters in general elections. He said he fears the influence of large donors in the races.
It isn’t the same as electing lawmakers - when one or two of lesser quality can’t have enough influence to wreak havoc - but a lower-quality judge can affect people’s lives, Cleary said.
As for the calls for more black judges, he said one issue is that only 8.5 percent of lawyers are black, far lower than their proportion in the general population, which was 29.5 percent in the 2000 census.
The criminal justice panel is considering laws that would expand the DNA database, aimed at solving crimes sooner, and adding to the list of officers who are allowed to check on prisoners who are on parole or probation.
Only probation and parole officers are allowed to check on them, Cleary said, and the committee is reviewing a bill that would allow any police officer to monitor the location and activities of people who are on parole or probation.
Cleary, a dentist, was also assigned to a committee studying limits on certain types of medical malpractice liability, but he could not attend Wednesday’s meeting because he had a patient with a longstanding appointment, he said.
“That’s the only one I’ve missed,” he said. But he does not believe the bill will pass this year, he said.
Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, was assigned to a House-Senate committee to study revisions in the law that allows government agencies to take private property for public use, with fair compensation that can be awarded by a jury.
Edge said he could not attend Wednesday’s committee meeting but was not sure what the panel could accomplish. Lawmakers are trying to resolve a bill that limits agencies’ ability to condemn private property for public use.
Most of the bill’s provisions are agreed on by everyone, and something is likely to pass in the upcoming session, Edge said.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/story/245560.html
Comments
One Response to “Lawmakers at work on panels in offseason”
Leave a Reply
Read with interest article on Sun News today regarding Senator Rankin’s proposal to take another look at recent legislation that established property assessments based on “point of sale.” Certainly will be a big shock for those who have escrow accounts with mortgage holders come October ‘08. This legislation is similar to California’s Proposition 13 but is absent the 1% circuit breaker. Property tax in that state can not exceed 1% of the point of sale value. This amendment, if considered, would help mitigate the negative backlash of recently passed legislation.