COLUMBIA, S.C.—Thursday was the crossover deadline at the South Carolina Statehouse and some of the bills that have gotten a lot of attention appear dead for the year. A bill that hasn’t passed either the House or Senate before the deadline needs a two-thirds vote to even come up for debate, making it unlikely to pass this year.
The biggest issue, fixing South Carolina roads, is still alive because the House passed a plan months ago. The House bill would raise the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon, going up two cents a year for five years. That bill is now on the Senate calendar but is facing stiff opposition.Still alive:
–a fix for the state pension system
–a bill to allow anyone who can legally buy a gun to carry it without needing a permit, known as “Constitutional carry”
–allowing police to mail a ticket to the registered owner of a vehicle that illegally passes a stopped school bus. Now, police can mail a ticket only to the driver, but in most cases the driver can’t be identified
–additional protections for highway workers by creating a new offense of “endangerment of a highway worker”
–new money to repair crumbling buildings in rural school districtsLikely dead:
–medical cannabis. Bills to allow the use of marijuana for some medical conditions haven’t made it out of committee. Co-sponsor Rep. Josiah Magnuson, R-Campobello, says, “I’m disappointed that medical cannabis did not make the crossover deadline, but there were some problems in the drafting of the bill that several people brought up, and we’re looking forward to a really good bill next year and I think we’ll be able to provide access to care for South Carolina citizens who really need it.”
–Personhood Act, which says life begins at fertilization and therefore all abortions are banned
–requiring seatbelts on all new school buses. Rep. Rita Allison, R-Lyman, chair of the House Education and Public Works Committee, says, “There’s a lot of research that we have going on and a lot of pros and cons concerning seatbelts and the harness type and that kind of thing, so we wanted to give it more time for us to do that research and there was no need to meet the crossover date because the implementation of it is not until 2020.”
