Legislative Updates 2021: April 5-9

WEEK 13 IN THE STATEHOUSE

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Deep Dive: Crossover Week
• What happened to S. 2 and Santee Cooper?
• Action Centers

The days in the Statehouse this week were long (crossover week pressure to pass bills out of their originating chamber). There are five weeks left, though there may be some extended work after sine die on May 13 on the budget as South Carolina's economy continues to exceed expectations and revenues grow.

Deep Dive: Crossover Week

April 10 — regardless of the year or day of the week it falls on — is a big day in the SC Statehouse. It is referred to as "crossover day." As set forth in Senate Rule 47 and House Rule 5.12, if a bill has not passed out of one chamber by April 10, it cannot be taken up in the other chamber until the next year without the approval of 2/3 of the present members of the relevant chamber. (There are 46 Senate districts and 124 House districts. Math required.)

What made crossover?

• H. 3524 Liquid petroleum pipelines eminent domain moratorium extension
• H. 4035 Electronic waste recycling sunset extension
• S. 525 Plastics Pyrolysis
• S. 304 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
• H. 4062 Public Service Commission Third Party Experts
• H. 3194 Authorizes the sale of Santee Cooper

What didn't make crossover?

• H. 3120 Trails Tax Credit
• H. 3514, S. 219 PFAS
• S. 2 DHEC breakup
• S. 464 Santee Cooper reform
• H. 3979 Solar HOA

Most of the bills that did not make crossover can continue to move in either the House or Senate where they started but likely won't pass and become law this year — with two potential exceptions: Santee Cooper reform and the breakup up of DHEC. Both of these are so high priority that one or both could: 1) get the 2/3 needed to be taken up by the other chamber and/or 2) be included in the sine die resolution that specifies what issues the Legislature can work on after the chambers adjourn for the year on May 13. There is a third option for Santee Cooper (see below).

What happened on S. 2? On Santee Cooper?

Long story short: nothing.

S. 2: The DHEC Breakup Bill hearing scheduled for April 7 was postponed until April 14 in order to accommodate the long days in the chamber due to crossover week. At the April 14 meeting, the Senators will hear from the agencies impacted, including DHEC and DNR. The meeting will begin 30 minutes after session ends and can be livestreamed here. Read more about this bill here.

S. 464, the Santee Cooper reform bill, was debated on the Senate floor both Wednesday and Thursday of this week, but in the end, the bill was carried over until next week, not making crossover. However, there is a House bill dealing with Santee Cooper, H. 3194, that authorizes the sale of Santee Cooper, that has made crossover to the Senate. The Senate could use this as a vehicle, striking the existing language and amending it with their language, sending it back over to the House for concurrence. But at the moment, this is seen as a longshot.

ACTION CENTERS

H. 3120 Trails Tax Credit Bill ACTION CENTER.
H. 3979 Solar HOA Bill ACTION CENTER.
H. 3514 PFAS Bill ACTION CENTER. Deep Dive on PFAS here. PFAS Lobby Week webinar featuring Upstate Forever's Clean Water Advocate Megan Chase here.

Until next week...

Shelley Robbins
Energy and State Policy Director

ODDS AND ENDS AND ACTIONS:

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