SC Senate Majority Leader supports roll call votes
State Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler said this morning he will push for a rules change when the Senate meets next to require legislators to cast more recorded votes, even if it means slowing down the Senate.
The issue has been pushed by Gov. Mark Sanford and is supported by some House members and Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell. House Speaker Bobby Harrell has questioned the need for it and the cost of such a change.
Rep. Nikki Haley of Lexington unsuccessfully pushed a bill during the last session to require roll call voting for all legislation dealing with spending matters. She said she is introducing such legislation again.
Peeler said he will file a companion bill in the Senate as well as urge a rules change on the first day of the session.
“We will not fix South Carolina’s economy until legislators can be held accountable for their votes on government spending,” Peeler said in a statement released today. “Roll call voting will shine a light on the entire system, creating the transparency needed by legislators and deserved by taxpayers.”
According to a study released in August by the S.C. Policy Council, the vast majority of votes taken in the Legislature last year on bills that passed occurred without individual lawmakers recording how they were voting. Instead, most legislation passed on voice votes, making it difficult to determine which lawmaker supported which issue, according to the study.
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the study, require roll-call votes on final passage of all bills. Tennessee requires roll calls on all appropriation bills, according to the study, while North Carolina requires roll calls on all revenue bills up for second or final reading.
House and Senate leaders at the time took issue with the study’s conclusions. According to a House tally, it took 1,102 roll-call votes over the past two years, including bills that didn’t pass.
South Carolina requires roll calls on elections by lawmakers, vetoes by the governor, contested bills in the House, amendments to the state’s Constitution and any time 10 or more House members or five or more senators request a roll-call vote.
By Tim Smith
The Greenville News
October 2, 2008
