Last week was the 7th week of the 2022 legislative session.\u00a0 There are 11 legislative weeks remaining before the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on May 12, 2022.\u00a0 Here are the highlights from last week\u2019s action in the Senate:<\/p>\n
Hands Free<\/strong><\/u> \u2013 The Senate passed S. 248<\/a>, a bill that would prevent drivers from holding a cell phone while driving.\u00a0 The bill is patterned after a law passed in Georgia a few years ago.\u00a0 For violations, a first offense would carry a fine of $100 and second and subsequent offenses would carry a fine of $200 and 2 points on the driver\u2019s license.\u00a0 The House of Representatives will now consider the bill.<\/p>\n No more Carolina Squat?<\/strong><\/u> \u2013 The Senate passed S. 908<\/a>, a bill that would prohibit a person from driving a vehicle where the front fender is raised four inches or more above the rear fender.\u00a0 The House will now consider the bill.<\/p>\n Vaccine Mandates<\/strong><\/u> \u2013 I mentioned last week that a Senate Finance subcommittee amended H.3126<\/a>\u00a0to prevent governmental employers from requiring vaccines, impose financial penalties on private employers that have vaccine mandates, allow employees affected by vaccine mandates to receive unemployment benefits, and prohibit restaurants, businesses, and hospitals from denying services to unvaccinated citizens.\u00a0 The Senate Finance Committee sent the bill to the full Senate, but there was significant opposition.\u00a0 I am not sure yet if the full Senate will consider the legislation.<\/p>\n Convention of States<\/strong><\/u> \u2013 The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted H. 3205<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>a resolution that would call for a convention of states, pursuant to Article V of the United States Constitution, to pursue fiscal restraint, term limits, and constraints on federal power.\u00a0 34 states would have to join in the call for a convention to materialize.\u00a0 Any amendments proposed at a convention would require ratification by 38 states to become effective.\u00a0 I will let you know if\/when the Senate acts on the resolution.<\/p>\n SCDOT ROAD PROJECTS<\/strong><\/u>\u00a0– 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\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n How is the gas tax being used?<\/strong><\/u>\u00a0– SCDOT\u2019s 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\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n WANT TO SEE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN ACTION?<\/strong><\/u>\u00a0– The Senate meets in statewide session on Tuesdays at 2:00, Wednesdays at 12:00, and Thursdays at 11:00. Committees and subcommittees meet Tuesday mornings, Wednesday mornings, and Thursday mornings. You can watch live coverage of the Senate, House of Representatives, and committees\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n OUR SENATE DISTRICT<\/strong>\u00a0<\/u>\u2013 Senate District 25 consists of all of Edgefield County and parts of Aiken, Lexington, McCormick, and Saluda Counties. If you\u2019d like to see the district map, go\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Beginning with the 2024 election, Senate District 25 will include all of Edgefield and McCormick Counties and parts of Aiken, Lexington, and Saluda Counties.\u00a0 You can see the new district, effective in 2024, here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n VOTING RECORD<\/strong><\/u>\u00a0\u2013 If\u00a0\u00a0 you\u2019d like to see how I\u2019ve voted on issues, go\u00a0here<\/strong><\/a>. You can always check to see how I vote by going to my website,\u00a0www.senatormassey.com<\/a>, and clicking on the \u201cVoting Record\u201d tab.<\/p>\n SPEAKING WITH GROUPS<\/strong><\/u>\u00a0\u2013 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.<\/p>\n EMAIL UPDATES<\/strong><\/u>\u00a0 \u2013 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\u00a0 email to them and encourage them to sign up for the updates at\u00a0www.senatormassey.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/p>\n Senator Shane Massey<\/p>\n Address:<\/strong> Email:<\/strong> Cellphone:<\/strong> To stay up-to-date on all the latest happening in Columbia, please visit www.senatormassey.com<\/a> for more posts, news, and video updates. Also, fell free to\u00a0\u201cfriend\u201d me on Facebook <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week was the 7th week of the 2022 legislative session.\u00a0 There are 11 legislative weeks remaining before the General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on May 12, 2022.\u00a0 Here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[231],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/senatormassey.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Constituent<\/strong>\u00a0Interests<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nP.O. Box 551
\nEdgefield, SC \u00a029824<\/p>\n
\nshanemassey@scsenate.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
\n(803) 480-0419<\/p>\nP.S.\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n(@senatormassey<\/a>) and follow me on Twitter (@shanemassey<\/a>) for more!<\/p>\n