Last week was the 14th week of the 2023 legislative session. There are 4 legislative weeks remaining before the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on May 11, 2023. Here are the highlights from last week’ Senate action:
REVOLVING DOOR OF CRIME – In South Carolina, people who are arrested for criminal activity have a constitutional right to a bond unless the offense is one for which the person could receive life in prison. With that in mind, many legislators have heard from South Carolinians who are concerned about a revolving door in our criminal justice system. Here’s how it goes: a person is arrested and is released on bond to await trial. While out on bond, that person is arrested for
another criminal offense, receives another bond, and is released again. Sometimes, while out on
the second bond, the person is arrested for yet another crime and receives yet another bond.
To address this unacceptable revolving door, last week the Senate passed H. 3532 2023-2024 Bill 3532: Bond Reform, a bill that would require that bond be revoked for a person who commits a violent crime or a felony involving a weapon while that person is out on bond for a separate offense. That person would then have to go before a circuit judge for any future bond hearings. The bill will now go back to the House of Representatives and, hopefully, on to Governor McMaster soon.
AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN ACT FUNDS – I mentioned a few weeks ago that the Senate passed S. 604 2023-2024 Bill 604: American Rescue Plan, a resolution that would spend $587 million in remaining ARPA funds for local water and sewer infrastructure projects. The House made some changes to that resolution and sent it back to the Senate. Last week the Senate amended the resolution again. I am hopeful the House and Senate will work out those differences in the next couple weeks.
APPRENTICESHIP OPPORTUNITIES – The Senate passed H.3605 2023-2024 Bill 3605: LLR Procedures , a bill that would create a framework for licensed professions to offer apprenticeship opportunities that would, in turn, allow the apprentices to seek licensure based on the apprenticeship. It would, in effect, provide a way to pursue those licenses without the academic education that is often required. The bill would also create a more simplified process for filing and investigating complaints against license holders. The bill will now go back to the House.
2023-2024 BUDGET – This week the Senate will debate H. 4300 FY 2023-2024 and H. 4301 2023-2024 Bill 4301: Contingency Reserve Fund resolutions that would set out the state budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. You can see a
spreadsheet of the entire budget here – SFC – SCD FY24 – SFC_04.06.23_Adopted w Technical Corrections.xlsx. The proposed budget would spend approximately $11.5 billion in general fund revenue (income taxes, sales taxes, corporate taxes), which is nearly $1.2 billion more than last year. The additional “surplus” resulted from economic growth despite the income tax cuts the legislature passed last year. The total budget – general fund, federal funds (primarily for education and Medicaid), and other funds (fines, fees, college tuition, etc) – would total approximately $37.3 billion. I expect the debate will take the full week. If you have specific questions about the budget, let me know.