Last week was the 7 th week of the 2024 legislative session. There are 11 weeks remaining before the legislature adjourns on May 9, 2024.
Here are the highlights from last week’s Senate action:
TRAINING FOR CHILD CARE CENTER CAREGIVERS – The Senate passed S. 862 2023-2024 Bill 862: DSS – Childcare Center Caregiver, a bill that would reduce the training requirements for child care center caregivers. The bill is intended to increase the pool of workers available to work in child care centers and expand the child care options statewide. The bill will now go to the House.
ALLOCATION OF STATE INCOME TAX – The Senate passed S. 298 2023-2024 Bill 298: Allocation and apportionment, a bill that would clarify methods for allocation and apportionment of state income tax obligations. The bill will now go to the House.
REORGANIZATION OF HEALTH CARE AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES – The Senate passed S. 915 2023-2024 Bill 915: Executive Office of Health Policy, a bill that would complete the implementation last year’s government restructuring effort. The goal is to ensure citizens are better served by government and also to ensure the legislature – and the public – can hold the right people accountable. The House will now consider the bill.
FAMILY LEAVE INSURANCE – The Senate passed S. 944 2023-2024 Bill 944: Paid Family Leave Insurance Act, a bill that would establish guidelines for paid family leave insurance policies. The House of Representatives will now consider the bill.
USE OF STATE SCHOLARSHIPS – The Senate passed 974 2023-2024 Bill 974: Accredited institutions, a bill that would allow students who earn state scholarships to use those scholarship funds at nonprofit, private schools that are accredited by Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges. The effect of this change would be to allow students to use scholarships to attend The American College of Building Arts in Charleston and the Pittsburg Institute of Aeronautics in Myrtle Beach. The bill will now go to the House.
PAY FOR INMATE LABOR – The Senate passed S. 1001 2023-2024 Bill 1001: Inmate Labor, a bill that would require prison inmates be paid minimum wage for labor those inmates perform. This bill is in response to a court order that required inmates to be paid at a higher rate because of ambiguous language in a prior statute. The House will now consider the bill.
TELECOMMUNICATION DEVICES IN PRISONS – The Senate passed H. 4002 2023-2024 Bill 4002: Department of Corrections , a bill that would make it a crime for an inmate to possess a telecommunication device. The bill is in response to a number of issues where inmates have used contraband cell phones to conduct criminal activity outside the prisons. The bill will now go back to the House to consider Senate amendments.
READ TO SUCCEED – The Senate adopted a revised S. 418 2023-2024 Bill 418: Read to Succeed Endorsements, a bill that would update the Read to Succeed program that is designed to ensure students are reading on grade level by 3rd grade. The program, which was passed in 2014, has been criticized by teachers and has had a negligible impact on literacy scores. However, the updates are based on an extremely successful literacy program that Mississippi has used for the last several years. Teachers and education leaders are excited about the possibilities for this new law. As I told several senators last week, this may very well be the most impactful legislation the General Assembly passes this year. The bill will now return to the House to consider the Senate’s amendments.
LAST WEEK’S MEETINGS
On Monday night, I held a town hall meeting in Ridge Spring. We had a good crowd and talked about many issues affecting South Carolina.
Wednesday was FFA day at the State House. I enjoyed meeting with students from Saluda High School, Ridge Spring Monetta High School, and Midland Valley High School.
CONSTITUENT INTERESTS
FOSTER CARE REVIEW BOARD – Two weeks ago I asked for volunteers who might be interested in serving on our local Foster Care Review Boards. You really came through! I’ve had several emails from people who have expressed interest in serving, and that response has been sufficient to fill the current vacancies. Because of this response, I will use this email to notify you about future service opportunities, as well. Thank you for stepping up!
SCDOT ROAD PROJECTS – SCDOT has an interactive map to allow citizens to see the road and bridge projects going on around the state. You can see that map here.
How is the gas tax being used? – SCDOT’s website allows you to view a detailed revenue statement and project list that is funded by the Infrastructure Maintenance Trust Fund (IMTF). SCDOT updates this site monthly as the revenue comes in. You can see that report here.
WANT TO SEE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN ACTION? – The Senate meets in statewide session on Tuesdays at 12:00, Wednesdays at 1:00, and Thursdays at 11:00. Committees and subcommittees meet Tuesday afternoons, Wednesday mornings, and Thursday mornings. You can watch live coverage of the Senate, House of Representatives, and committees here.
OUR SENATE DISTRICT – Following the 2020 Census, the legislature redrew House and Senate districts. The new Senate districts will go into effect with the 2024 general election. Our district, Senate District 25, consists of all of Edgefield and McCormick Counties and parts of Aiken, Lexington, and Saluda Counties. If you’d like to see the district map, go here South Carolina Full Judiciary Plan. Senate District 25 is, appropriately, the peach-colored district along the western, middle part of the state. You can zoom in to see precincts and street names.
VOTING RECORD – If you’d like to see how I’ve voted on issues, go here. You can always check to see how I vote by going to my website, www.senatormassey.com, and clicking on the “Voting Record” tab.
SPEAKING WITH GROUPS – Several groups, clubs, and classes around our Senate district have invited me to attend their meetings and provide legislative updates. If you would like for me to come speak with your group, please let me know.
EMAIL UPDATES – If you know of people in or around District 25 who do not receive my updates but would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me. You can also forward this email to them and encourage them to sign up for the updates at www.senatormassey.com.