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Week Ending 16 January 2010 -The second half of the two year Session began with the House considering the Resolution to censure Gov. Sanford. Though some expected a drawn out debate on the subject, the Resolution was overwhelmingly passed by the House after twenty minutes of debate. I voted in the majority for the Resolution.
The House also considered several pieces of legislation of note including two that would have made the Secretary of State and Secretary of Education cabinet level positions appointed by the Governor. Currently, both positions are elected by the voters and the changes would have to be approved by the voters through a referendum. Unfortunately, the Bill regarding the Secretary of State was voted down and the Bill regarding the Superintendent of Education was tabled.
Another piece of important legislation was a Bill passed for third reading that directs the Employment Security Commission to disqualify applicants for drug use, etc. This Bill is a precursor to a major reform of the ESC expected later this year.

Week Ending 20 June 2009 - The General Assembly was called back into Session last Tuesday to consider ten bills that were vetoed by Gov. Sanford. These bills included payday lending restrictions, oversight of the Charleston port, procurement laws that favor South Carolina businesses and products, and sexual predator laws among others. All vetoes were overridden which came as no surprise given the current relationship between the Executive and Legislative branches. For more detail please refer to the House Journal at www.scstatehouse.gov/sess118_2009-2010/hj09/20090616.htm

The day progressed as expected until the end when Rep. Harry Ott, the Minority Party Leader, introduced a Resolution condemning a private citizen of South Carolina who posted to his website a less than flattering remark about Michelle Obama. The Resolution also pledged our devotion and support to the efforts of Mrs. Obama. Rep. Ott requested the support of the entire House.

Unfortunately for the citizen in question, his remarks made national news and the Democrats seized an opportunity to grab a headline. Some of us on the conservative side of the aisle decided that it was not the place of the South Carolina House to censor a private citizen’s free speech or pledge support to the Democrat’s agenda. By using the House rules, five of us freshman Republicans were able to derail their Resolution attempt twice, much to the anger of the Democratic Black Caucus. We certainly did not agree with the post on the website, but what was said pales in comparison to the Democrats total disregard for First Amendment rights. The First Amendment exists to protect speech, especially speech that we do not agree with.

All in all, this year ended with many reform bills languishing in committee. Hopefully, we will not have such a budgetary crisis to deal with next year and will be able to concentrate on making South Carolina a state with less government and more freedom.

The House will reconvene next January.

Week Ending 23 May 2009 - The first half of the Session ended in a bang with scores of bills remaining in committee including many aimed at reforming state government and a pending lawsuit filed by the Governor.

Obviously, a large part of the debate was focused on the budget crisis and the Federal stabilization funds. The Republican controlled House did not take advantage of the chance to make needed reforms at the state agencies slated to receive the stablization funds.

The most egregious example of special interest getting in the way of principle happened in the Senate. Earlier this year, the House passed a bill that would require women who come in for an abortion and view an ultrasound of the baby to wait 24 hours before having the abortion. This bill was sent to the Senate. During debate yesterday, the Senate had a chance to pass the legislation on their side but chose to adjourn debate. However, they did have time to pass out the bill dealing with Payday Lenders. Seven Republican Senators joined with Democrats to adjourn debate on the 24 hour wait bill. In reality, they adjourned debate on the lives of innocent babies.

At the end of the day, the House did pass some legislation of merit. Some bills managed to make it out of the Senate and were sent to the Governor. I will update this Journal with those bills that actually made it into law.

Week Ending 16 May 2009 - This was an interesting week. First, I am the primary sponsor on a bill that would require police officers who are investigating traffic accidents to offer a sobriety test to drivers where a death occurred in the accident. Current law gives the officer discretion. This bill is an attempt to address some of the concerns voiced by citizens about a certain traffic accident in Travelers Rest where a car entered a house and killed an occupant.

The other major issue was the debate over the Senate's version of the state budget. The House received the budget on Tuesday and the vote was taken that afternoon. Some of us attempted to delay the vote by 24 hours so that we could understand what had been changed but we were voted down.

On a more minor note, an attempt was made to fast track a bill that would open the door for more toll roads in this state. Enough of us objected to the bill so that it was moved to next week so that we could hear debate on the subject.

Beyond then normal voting on legislation, the General Assembly held a joint session to elect judges on Wednesday. Greenville had a solid candidate in the race for Supreme Court but he did not have the votes and withdrew. Some legislators, including myself, feel that the screening process for judges is flawed and an attempt was made to recommit the supreme court slate back to the Judicial Screening Committee but that attempt was voted down.

Week Ending 9 May 2009 - Furlough

Week Ending 2 May 2009 - This week brought two important bills to the floor for debate.

The first was the creation of the TRAC Commission whose purpose is to take a comphrehensive look at the tax code and produce a recommendation on how to streamline the code. This bill passed. Since the Senate has already passed their version, it will go to the Governor for signature. This is a victory for those of us who want to reform the tax system.

The second bill was to move the oversight of the Employment Security Commission to the Governor. This bill failed and was sent back to committee. This was a failure for those of us who want more accountibility and oversight of state agencies.

Week Ending 18 April 2009 - We have been on furlough for 2 weeks now watching from the sidelines as the Senate debates the budget. I did keep myself occupied at the Tea Party which was a pleasure to see.

Week Ending 4 April 2009 - The major vote this week was the cigarette tax bill. The orginal and final version raised the tax by 50 cents per pack with the money being used for Medicare, smoking cessation programs, programs to help lower the insurances costs for small businesses and a program to promote South Carolina agricultural products.

Several amendments were put up including one to rebate the tax money back to the taxpayers (which I voted for but failed) and one to lower the tax to 30 cents per pack (which I voted for but failed). I ultimately voted against the bill for several reasons including the fact that it is always a bad idea to raise taxes during a recession (especially since the Federal government just raised the tax by 60 cents per pack). Also, the 50 cents per pack increase places us above our neighboring States which will cause cigarette sales to drop in the border counties along with lottery tickets sales (which decreases the flow of money into the educational system).

Week Ending 28 March 2009 - We went back into Session after a week furlough only to learn that we would be taking another 2 weeks off in April due to the budget situation. There was little debate this week on any issues of substance this week but I anticipate that next week will be eventful.

I did attend a bi-partisan press conference to announce the Education Opportunity Act that will be winding its way through the House. Sponsored by Sen. Robert Ford (D) and Rep. Eric Bedingfield (R), the bill will attempt to bring quality education choices to those areas of the state where students are suffering.

Week Ending 21 March 2009 - Furlough - I did have the opportunity to speak to the government class at Blue Ridge High School. They asked some really good questions on a wide range of issues. I was impressed.

Week Ending 14 March 2009 - The primary bill that was debated this week was the BUDGET. And did we debate. Tuesday, we were in Session from 10am until 3:30am Wednesday morning.

But first, let me explain why I missed the debate on Monday. On Saturday March 7, I woke up to find my son throwing up blood. Montgomery is a hemophiliac and this was cause for great concern. We rushed him to the ER and they gave him a transfusion. His hemoglobin was down to 40%. He stayed in the hospital til Tuesday which is when I went down to Columbia.

Montgomery is doing much better and I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers.

However, since I was not there on Monday, I did not have any opportunity to vote against us taking the "stabilization" funds from Washington. I did put a statement in the House Journal that I did oppose it.

Just so people know, the "stabilization" funds are just a small part of the total "stimulus" package coming to the state. The House only had to make a decision about $700 million of it. The total package from Washington is around $7 billion. The budget was passed with the stabilization funds in it. Though I did vote against various sections of the budget, I did vote for the final version to go to the Senate. Since the House voted overwhelmingly to take the stabilizations funds, I am hoping that the Senate will reject it.

Week Ending 7 March 2009 - Very little happened this week in anticipation of the budget debate coming next week. I was able to gather signatures from the entire Freshman class of House members, both Democrat and Republican, to co- sponsor the bill to create the Office of State Inspector General.

Week Ending 28 February 2009 - The primary bill that was debated this week was one to prevent voter fraud. The bill (H3418) requires a voter to present a picture ID issued by the state or federal government to be able to vote.

We were in Session from 10:00am until 8:10pm. Due to a family need, I left Session around 7:40pm. Note that the Black Caucus staged a walk-out in protest of the voter fraud bill at around 3:00pm and did not return.

Given the opportunity of having so few Democrats in the building, the Republicans pushed on with the calender.