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As the second
year of the 117th General Assembly comes to a close, in my estimation we
had a successful year, although we did face some disappointments.
Specifically, I was glad we were able to pass a tough immigration bill,
change the PACT test used for evaluating our students, and pass a budget
that truly gave top priority to public education. I was disappointed we
were not able to increase the cigarette tax, pass tougher pay day lending
regulation, or pass a surface water removal bill. I certainly plan to
continue the fight on these issues as well as working on a better way to
distribute education dollars in order to keep fast growing school
districts, like the four in York County, from falling behind in the
quality of the education provided. Below is a snapshot of what happened
this year on some key issues.
THE BUDGET. Money was tight in the budget this year and many agencies had
to be cut. This tight budget forced the General Assembly to set priorities
in our spending. Below are some of the highlights. Public Education was
given $94,500,000.00 in new money, which represents a base student cost of
$2,578 per student. One of the Education Programs I consider a priority is
the four year old kindergarten program, known as "The Public School
Child Development Education Pilot Program," and it was funded at the
level of $15,700,000.00. Also, the Department of Parks, Recreation, and
Tourism, which is the largest revenue producing industry in the state,
received $10,000,000.00 in new money for destination specific tourist
advertising grants. In the area of higher education, LIFE, HOPE, and
Palmetto Fellows Scholarships were fully funded. Also, in this lean year
for available funds, the Senior Citizens were not forgotten with
$2,900,000.00 being appropriated for the "Home and Community Based
Services Program" which provides services for citizens such as
"Meals on Wheels." The General Assembly was able to provide
state employees a 1% pay raise. While this does not keep up with
inflation, state employees got the additional benefit of not seeing their
health insurance costs go up.
CRITICAL NEEDS NURSING INITIATIVE ACT. The nursing shortage in South
Carolina has been very apparent in York County for many years. The General
Assembly, this year appropriated $1,000,000.00 to scholarships for
students who demonstrate the ability to provide care to patients with
critical needs.
SURFACE WATER PERMITTING ACT. For two years, I have pushed for passage of
this bill in the General Assembly that would require all major users of
water (more than 3,000,000 gallons a day) in South Carolina to obtain a
permit requiring their participation in a regulatory process of this water
use. This year an amended version of the Bill did receive approval by the
Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, but it stalled on the
floor of the Senate. Next year I intend to continue the fight for approval
of this legislation. While the Bill failed on the floor of the Senate, I
must note that the Attorney General's Office has been aggressive in
pursuing a lawsuit against North Carolina with the Federal Supreme Court
seeking to halt North Carolina's attempt to establish an Inter Basin
Transfer of Water from the Catawba River to the Concord/Kannapolis area. I
am grateful to Attorney General Henry McMaster for taking up this cause.
Many municipalities and county governments have contributed large sums of
money to this effort. Seeing the support of these local governmental
entities, the General Assembly appropriated $1,400,000.00 in this year's
budget for this effort.
PAYDAY LENDING. More formally known as "Deferred Presentment
Transactions," this industry provides short term loans of relatively
small amounts of money to individual who find it difficult to get credit
any where else. Unfortunately, because of weak regulation, many of these
individuals get into a cycle of debt from which they can not escape. This
year in the Senate we passed tough regulations that would limit how much a
person can borrow based on their income, limit a person to only one loan
at a time, and require a seven day waiting period between loans.
Unfortunately this bill never got out of committee in the House. I intend
to continue to push to toughen the regulations in South Carolina next
year.
IDENTIFICATION THEFT. The "Financial Identity Fraud and Identify
Theft Protection Act" became law in South Carolina to stem the flow
of stealing ID information used to access bank accounts and other private
information. Highlights of the Bill include: giving the consumer the
ability to access their credit records; providing guidelines for proper
disposal of personal identification information; and, establishing a data
base through SLED where victims of ID Theft can validate claims of
identity theft.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION REFORM ACT. The primary application of this law
requires all employers, public and private, to verify the legal status of
all new people they hire. The new law also covers issues like ID Theft
related to illegal immigration, verification of legal status before an
employee can receive benefits, and it requires courts to consider
immigration status before considering bail. This Bill sends a clear
message that South Carolina is not going to be a safe haven for illegal
immigration.
CIGARETTE TAX. After years of effort, an increase in the Cigarette Tax was
passed in both the House and Senate. I am confident that much progress was
made toward eventually increasing the Cigarette Tax even though the
Governor's Veto was sustained blocking the tax for another year. The
Senate's Bill included a fifty cent per pack tax increase, which was
expected to generate an additional $159,000,000.00 in state revenue.
$5,000,000.00 was to have been spent for a smoking prevention and
cessation programs with the remaining 154,000,000.00 being used to provide
additional Medicaid funds as well as providing health insurance premium
assistance for the needy. We'll try again next year.
DNA DATABASE. As passed by the Senate, this legislation provides that a
person must give a DNA sample following a lawful custodial arrest or a
direct indictment for a felony offense; an offense that is punishable by a
sentence of five year or more; or eavesdropping, peeping, or stalking. The
sample must be included in the State DNA Database, and the State Law
Enforcement Agency must coordinate with other agencies to prevent
duplications.
DUI LAW REVISIONS. The General Assembly approved legislation that revises
South Carolina's Driving under the Influence Laws. This legislation
enhances penalties for the DUI and Driving With an Unlawful Alcohol
Concentration (DWUAC) offenses. Fines and potential imprisonment are
increased, particularly for those who have large amounts of alcohol in
their systems or are repeat offenders, and provisions included under which
individuals convicted of DUI or DWUAC offenses are required to complete
successfully a drug and alcohol treatment plan. DWUAC is added to the list
of offenses that are not eligible for pre-trial intervention. These are
only a few of the revisions. With these changes it is now felt DUI laws
have teeth in South Carolina.
EDUCATION ACCOUNTABILITY ACT REVISIONS. The most notable part of this
legislation is the elimination of the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test
(PACT). The name of the new test is not specified. To facilitate the
reporting of strand level information and the reporting of student scores
prior to the beginning of the next school year, multiple choice items must
be administered as close to the end of the school year as possible and the
writing assessment must administered earlier in the school year. The new
test will be administered in 2009. Other revisions to the EAA include:
academic plans are eliminated for students in grades three through eight
demonstrating the lack of skills to perform at their current grade level;
report cards are streamlined and performance levels for both Students and
School Districts are brought in line with other states and the federal
"No Child Left Behind." While our accountability standards will
remain some of the toughest in the country, this bill should help our
teachers by providing timely and useful information on where each student
needs to improve.
FOUNDATIONS OF AMERICAN LAW AND GOVERNMENT DISPLAY. This legislation
provides that each municipality, county, school district or other
political subdivision of this State, are authorized, if they choose, to
post the Foundations of American Law and Government display in a visible,
public location in the public buildings of this state and its political
subdivisions. The display includes: The Ten Commandments; The Magna Carta;
The Mayflower Compact, 1620; The Declaration of Independence; "The
Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key; The Bill of Rights; The
Preamble to the South Carolina Constitution; The Nineteenth Amendment to
the U. S. Constitution; The national motto, "In God We Trust";
The Image of Lady Justice; The Lord's Prayer; The Emancipation
Proclamation, 1863; and, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a
Dream" speech.
CATAWBA RIVER. You will be pleased to know the portion of the Catawba
River between the City of Rock Hill's Boat Launch and Highway 901 has
received the Scenic River designation from the Department of Natural
Resources.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTING. Changes in the law were made in 2005 to
require all candidates for public office to report their financial
activity on the internet. This procedure has been under design and
construction, and now has been implemented. You may now go to the website
www.ethics.sc.gov and access all reports by way of the internet. You may
find it interesting to see how a candidate receives contributions, and
then spends those contributions to promote his or her candidacy.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Sen. Wes Hayes, Dist. #15
Gressette Building Room 205
P.O. Box 142
Columbia, South Carolina 29202
Phone in Columbia 803-212-6410
Phone in Rock Hill 324-2400
email: set@scsenate.org
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