We are 9 weeks into the legislative session. The focus has been on enhancing several bills prior to them moving to the Floor of the House for debate. March 14 begins one of the busiest and most important weeks in the South Carolina House: The State Budget. The full House Ways and Means committee held a budget briefing where the budget was explained and broken down in further detail. You can see the budget briefing online here. The theme of this year’s budget is 4 R’s: improving our roads, increasing our reserves, tax relief, and raises for teachers, state law enforcement, and state employees. I will work long and hard to ensure that the House budget allocates appropriate dollars to fund core state functions and improvements while ensuring South Carolinians have more money back in their pockets.
Critical Race Theory:
The Education Committee once again met to review several bills (325, 4343, 4392, 4605, and 4799) that go to address the issue of Critical Race Theory. They took hours of testimony on Tuesday, resulting in a very long committee meeting. The work is long, but I feel confident that the committee is one step closer to finalizing legislation that addresses this issue and sending it to the Floor.
More Legislation:
Passed - H. 3509: The House passed a bill that extends the Department of Social Services protections for children in foster care to the age of 21 to make the transition into adulthood more supported and smooth.
Passed - H. 4601: I voted in favor of a bill that deems ambulance services an essential service in South Carolina. This ensures that when emergency strikes, each county is prepared to provide services necessary to possibly save a life. It unanimously passed the House and is on to the Senate.
