​South Carolina Legislation News

SC Senate Advances Major Tax Cut Legislation
A top priority this legislative session is to advance tax reform.  Legislation continues to move quickly in both bodies. Last week, the House unanimously passed H.4880, cutting and simplifying the individual income tax rate – lowering it from 7% to 6% and reducing the number of brackets from 5 to 3.  Yesterday, a Senate Finance subcommittee advanced S.1087, lowering the individual income tax rate to 5.7%, reducing manufacturing property taxes from 9% to effectively 6%, and sending tax rebates totaling one billion dollars back to taxpayers.  
 
Legislative Update
•  State Election Laws (H.4919): Last Wednesday, the House unanimously passed a bill that would modify the state’s election laws by allowing for two 
    weeks of early voting, shifting from requiring absentee ballots to be completed in-person to allowing the mailing in of absentee ballots, and amending 
    the law to increase the penalty for voter fraud from a misdemeanor to a felony. Under the legislation, no excuse is required to vote early but voters 
    would need a reason as to why they could not vote in person when requesting a mail-in ballot. The bill now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
•  DHEC Restructuring (S.2): The Senate Medical Affairs Committee advanced a proposal that would divide the Department of Health and Environmental 
    Control into two separate cabinet-level agencies: the Department of Public and Behavioral Health & the Department of Environmental Services. Sen. 
    Harvey Peeler (R-Cherokee), the bill’s sponsor, called the proposal “…the most significant piece of government restructuring in a generation.” The bill 
    now heads to the Senate floor.
•  Open Enrollment (S.544): A Senate Education subcommittee continued debate on a proposal that would allow for open enrollment in public and charter 
    schools across district lines, an option that many school districts across the state already allow but is not uniform statewide. Under the proposal, schools 
    would be allowed to deny open enrollment requests if there is a proven lack of capacity in which all preference for enrollment goes to students who are 
    residents of the district. So far the bill has received support from public education groups, but questions remain over transportation and the impact on 
    districts with rapidly growing populations.