A Busy Day In The South Carolina Senate

Education Funding Flexibility

Due to extreme cuts in education funding, local school districts have been crying out for more flexibility. Today the Senate Finance Subcommittee on K-12 education, Chaired by Senator Harvey Peeler (R-Gaffney), passed out H.3352. This bill gives school districts the freedom to delay contract renewals, furlough teachers to avoid layoffs, postpone certain assessment tests and shift money around to soften budget cuts.

Fee Increase Moratorium

Under a plan being pushed by a number of Republican State Senators, a South Carolina state agency or department will first have to seek permission from the General Assembly before increasing any fee, fine, or penalty.

During this tough economic time when the General Assembly is cutting funds from basic state services, many agencies will be looking at passing the burden on to South Carolina’s taxpayers with fee increases. Senator Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) is pushing a tough plan to stop that from happening. His bill, S.517, passed out of the Finance Subcommittee on Sales & Income Taxation today. It now heads to the full Finance Committee.

Federal Stimulus Resolution

About five minutes ago the full Senate Finance Committee passed Senator Leatherman’s S.577, requesting the federal stimulus funds should Governor Sanford not accept the funds within the 45-day window.

Landfill Moratorium

At this time, the landfill moratorium bill is still being debated in a Medical Affairs subcommittee. I’ll send out a quick note if it passes this evening.

Twitter   No, we didn’t pass a Twitter bill today, but I do send quick Twitter alerts as soon as big action happens in the Senate. It’s the easiest way to stay up-to-date on everything as it happens. You can visit www.twitter.com/scsenategop or pick up the feed at www.scsenategop.com. As a matter a fact, I’ll be sending out a tweet as soon as there is movement on the landfill bill.

Source: us.mc526.mail.yahoo.com