The House of Representatives took up the last week a series of bills drawing upon the work of the special House Utility Ratepayer Protection Committee which was appointed by the Speaker of the House following the announcement from Santee Cooper and SCANA’s South Carolina Electric and Gas that construction on the V.C. Summer nuclear reactors in Fairfield County were being abandoned after billions of dollars in fees had been collected from South Carolina’s ratepayers under the Baseload Review Act to support the failed nuclear power project.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4376, a bill providing REFORM FOR SOUTH CAROLINA’S PUBLIC SERVICE AUTHORITY which governs the operations of the state-owned electric utility Santee Cooper. Terms of service are ended for the current PSA Board of Directors and a schedule is established for the appointment of their successors. All new board members must meet a set of qualifications to ensure that they possess certain levels of educational attainment and a background that affords expertise in: energy issues; water and wastewater issues; finance, economics, and statistics; accounting; engineering; or law. In making appointments to the authority, the Governor shall ensure that race, color, gender, national origin, and other demographic factors are considered to ensure the geographic and political balance of the appointments, and shall strive to ensure that the membership of the authority will represent, to the greatest extent possible, all segments of the population of the state. Members of the General Assembly and their immediate family may not be appointed to the Public Service Authority while serving as legislators and for four years after their service. The legislation creates a Rate Reduction and Stabilization Fund which must be used each year to stabilize or lower Public Service Authority electric rates and charges until the impacts of the PSA’s interest in the failed V.C. Summer nuclear generating units are fully mitigated. All settlement money relating to the abandoned nuclear project that the PSA receives from the Toshiba Corporation must be deposited in the Rate Reduction and Stabilization Fund and the fund much receive each year’s PSA surplus funds until harms are mitigated. The legislation creates a nine-member Santee Cooper Evaluation and Recommendation Committee composed of key legislative leaders, or their designees, the Governor, or his designee, and two gubernatorial appointments from the state at large. This committee is charged with making a comprehensive examination and producing recommendations on such issues as: the manner in which the General Assembly may best protect ratepayers and taxpayers in regard to Santee Cooper; alternative governance structures for Santee Cooper; whether Santee Cooper should be subject to oversight by the Public Service Commission or Joint Bond Review Committee; an evaluation of the electric cooperative structure, including the role of the Central Electric Power Cooperative; a valuation of Santee Cooper’s assets and an assessment of its debt; and, whether selling Santee Cooper is in the best interests of South Carolina taxpayers, the ratepayers of Santee Cooper, and the Ratepayers of the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina.
The House amended and gave second reading approval to H.4421, a bill facilitating the more expansive use of SOLAR POWER AND OTHER DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES by customers of investor-owned electric utilities. The legislation makes revisions to build upon the successful deployment of solar generating capacity through the South Carolina Distributed Resource Act to continue enabling market-driven, private investment in distributed energy resources across the state by reducing regulatory and administrative burdens to customer installation and utilization of onsite distributed energy resources. The legislation authorizes the development of solar power generation and other distributed energy resources above the cap that has been set at 2% of the previous five-year average of the electrical utility’s South Carolina retail peak demand. The legislation establishes new provisions governing the net metering that involves customer-generators being billed for power supplied by the electrical utility and receiving net excess generation credits when their generators produce excess power that is exported to the electrical utility’s grid. No electrical utility shall seek to recover through a general rate case or another proceeding the lost revenues associated with the energy-saving measures that reduce a customer’s consumption of grid-delivered electricity. The legislation discontinues existing arrangements where all of an electrical utility’s customers are subsidizing solar power programs, regardless of whether they are participating in the programs, by providing that nonparticipants in net energy metering programs are not required to subsidize the costs of customer-generators. A temporary Renewable Energy Development Joint Study Committee is created to examine: ratemaking methodologies, cost allocations, and rate designs for all retail electric customers in South Carolina; strategies for ensuring the fairest allocation of system costs and benefits related to renewable energy resources and Act 236 of 2014 between consumers, including consumers who either do or do not utilize distributed energy resources; strategies to build upon the successful deployment of renewable energy generating capacity through the South Carolina Distributed Resource Act and to continue enabling market-driven, private investment in distributed energy resources across the state by reducing regulatory and administrative burdens to customer installation and utilization of onsite distributed energy resources; the current status of the progress and implementation of Act 236 of 2014 and strategies to enhance the act’s progress and success; and job retention and growth in the renewable energy industry. Composed of legislators and gubernatorial appointees representing government agencies, electric utilities, private sector businesses, and advocacy groups, the study committee must report its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by January 8, 2019. The Office of Regulatory Staff, with guidance and feedback from electrical utilities and other interested parties, is charged with investigating and recommending to the Public Service Commission revised ratemaking methodologies, cost allocations, and rate designs for all retail customers by December 31, 2019. The proposed revisions should seek to ensure a fair allocation of system costs and benefits between consumers, including customers who utilize distributed energy resources and consumers who do not utilize distributed energy resources. Proposed revisions are to emphasize the achievement of rate design goals to: provide accurate pricing for electricity consumed and electricity generated by utility customers; use cost-causation principles with the need to encourage customers to utilize privately-funded distributed energy resources in a manner that furthers the long-term goal of lowering overall utility costs; provide a structure that can accommodate a variety of utility customer choices while ensuring that utilities are adequately compensated for the services they provide; provide a meaningful opportunity for customers to achieve bill savings by altering behavior or making investments in technologies or products that reduce electricity consumption from the grid; provide that utility customers retain flexibility to use differing technologies as they become available; provide that the structure is durable enough to apply to all utility customers of a given class, including those customers within the class utilizing distributed energy resources to reduce their consumption of electricity from the grid; provide that the structure is sufficiently understandable by the utility customers to whom it will apply; provide that, using a long-term view of quantifiable costs and benefits associated with customer-utilized distributed energy resources, cost-shifting between utility customers with distributed energy resources and utility customers without distributed energy resources is minimized to the extent possible; account for the impacts of distributed energy resources in utility load forecasting for purposes of distribution system and generation resource planning to ensure that allocated costs reflect the costs and benefits of customer-sited distributed energy resources on the grid; and, manage the introduction of new customer loads that are capable of automation, including electric vehicle charging, battery storage, and smart appliances, in a manner that helps reduce customer contribution to system peaks and improve customer load factors.
The House concurred in Senate amendments to H.4729, LIQUOR SALES legislation which follows a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling that found limitations placed on the issuance of retail liquor licenses to be unconstitutional, and enrolled the bill for ratification. Through this legislation, the General Assembly affirms its police power to regulate the business of retail liquor sales in the interest of the public’s health, safety, and welfare. The legislation specifies that this police power includes regulating the number and localities of retail dealer licenses that a person may be issued in order to prevent monopolies and avoid problems associated with indiscriminate price cutting, excessive advertising of alcoholic products, and concentration of retail liquor stores in close proximity. The legislation provides for the limitation that has restricted someone from holding no more than three retail dealer licenses to be increased gradually over the course of four years. A new maximum of six total licenses is established for an individual by allowing a licensee to be issued up to an additional three retail dealer licenses which must be for retail locations in counties with populations in excess of two hundred fifty thousand residents. An individual may operate no more than five retail dealer licensed stores within any one of these populous counties. The legislation prohibits someone from having any interest, through business relationships, legal arrangements, or family connections, in any retail liquor stores licensed in this state that are in addition to the maximum total of six stores allowed under these retail dealer license provisions. The legislation includes authority for a licensed wholesaler to deliver new alcoholic liquor in certain size bottles directly to those licensed to sell alcoholic liquors for on-premises consumption, in such places as bars and restaurants, for a limited period following the product’s introduction.
The House concurred in Senate amendments to H.3591, a bill REAUTHORIZING SOUTH CAROLINA FIRST STEPS TO SCHOOL READINESS and making revisions and updates to this program for providing enhanced early childhood development, education, and family support services to enable children to reach school ready to achieve academic success. The legislation extends the program’s sunset date by providing that the First Steps to School Readiness Act is reauthorized until June 30, 2025. The legislation makes provisions for First Steps to be reviewed by a joint House and Senate committee if the program has not already been subjected to a periodic review by the House and Senate Legislative Oversight Committees. The legislation enhances accountability and reporting requirements for evaluating program cost and effectiveness, including additional requirements for documenting progress toward improving kindergarten readiness and a requirement for the Office of South Carolina First Steps to publish each local partnership’s comprehensive plan and annual report on the office’s website. Under the legislation, the salary of the Executive Director of the South Carolina Office of First Steps becomes subject to the authority of the Agency Head Salary Commission. The legislation was enrolled for ratification.
The House concurred in Senate amendments to H.4654, a bill REVISING FINGERPRINTING REQUIREMENTS FOR INSURANCE PRODUCER LICENSURE including provisions that allow these criminal background screening requirements to be satisfied without submitting a new set of fingerprints when a set of fingerprints is already on file, such as when a license is being renewed. Screening requirements are revised to specify that licensure is not allowed for someone who has been convicted of a misdemeanor involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or other financial- or insurance-related crime within five years. The legislation was enrolled for ratification.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3208, a bill establishing CRIMINAL OFFENSES OF FURTHERING TERRORISM. The legislation establishes the felony offense of furthering terrorism that applies to someone who makes significant plans or takes actions toward the commission of an act of violence with the intent to commit an act of terrorism. A violator is subject to imprisonment for up to thirty years. The legislation also establishes a felony offense that applies to someone who provides material or financial support of an act of terrorism or who conceals the actions or plans of another to carry out an act of terrorism. A violator is subject to imprisonment for up to twenty years. The legislation authorizes the seizure and forfeiture of real and personal property used in connection with these offenses.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4701, the “B.P. ACT” which makes revisions relating to current bullying prohibition policies adopted by school districts, so as to provide procedures for responding to and remediating allegations of bullying, and to require an appeals procedure. The bill adds additional requirements for investigating, reporting, and remedying bullying. Among the new requirements are the following: when bullying is reported to a school, the principal or superintendent designee must investigate the incident, maintain written documentation of the allegations and investigations, and report findings to the district superintendent; parents or guardians of both the bully and the student being bullied must be notified of the incident; the school must provide information regarding actions being taken to protect the aggrieved student, prevent future occurrences, and the findings of the investigation; and the school must develop procedures for remediation that identify the specific nature of the incident and outline a graduated series of consequences for the student who committed the bullying. Alternative discipline measures that may be used to address bullying behavior include parent/guardian meetings, reflective activities, mediation, counseling, anger management, skills building, community service, and in-school detention. The policy must include ways to remediate the incident of bullying to counter negative impacts and reduce the risk of future occurrences.
The House appointed a conference committee to address its differences with the Senate on H.3789, the “SOUTH CAROLINA YOUTH CHALLENGE ACADEMY AND SOUTH CAROLINA JOBS CHALLENGE PROGRAM EXPUNGEMENT ACT”.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate on H.4009, the “MOTORSPORTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX INVESTMENT ACT”, which establishes an exemption from state and local sales taxes for building materials, supplies, fixtures, and equipment used in motorsports entertainment complex construction, repair, improvements, or expansions. The tax exemption applies to a proposed capital investment of at least ten million dollars on any motorsport entertainment complex in this state within a five-year period.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4304, a bill facilitating OFFSHORE WIND-RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES undertaken by an electrical utilities. The legislation authorizes the South Carolina Public Service Commission to adopt procedures that encourage electrical utilities, subject to the jurisdiction of the commission, to invest in offshore wind-resource development activities if the commission determines that adopting these procedures would be in the best interest of South Carolina ratepayers in terms of reduced electric rates, economic development benefits for state residents, and environmental impacts. Any wind-resource structure installed must not be visible by the human eye from land.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4093, the “EMPLOYMENT FIRST INITIATIVE ACT”. The legislation directs all of South Carolina’s state agencies and political subdivisions to consider adopting a policy that encourages competitive integrated employment for individuals with disabilities. To further those employment goals, state agencies and local governments are encouraged to coordinate their efforts, adopt rules and promulgate regulations for implementation, and share data and information across systems in order to track the progress of the initiative. A seventeen-member South Carolina Employment First Oversight Commission is created to coordinate the implementation of the initiative and make annual progress reports to the Governor and members of the General Assembly.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3775, a bill AFFORDING THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ADOPTED GREATER ACCESS TO MEDICAL INFORMATION AND OTHER RECORDS. The legislation establishes a protocol that allows a person twenty-one years of age or older who was born in the state of South Carolina and who has had his original certificate of birth sealed due to an adoption to, upon written request to the state registrar, receive a copy of his original birth certificate and any evidence of the adoption held with the original record if the biological parent has completed a form consenting to the release of the original birth certificate. The form also must allow for the biological parent to indicate contact preference and to consent to release of medical history. The contact preference form and medical history form are private communications from the biological parent to the adoptee named on the sealed birth certificate. The copy of the original birth certificate must be in a form that clearly indicates it is not a certified copy and that it may not be used for legal purposes.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4815, a bill updating and revising the practice act for SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS AND AUDIOLOGISTS to better facilitate that needs for these professional services are met.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.4913, a bill designating the second Saturday of November of each year as “PENN CENTER HERITAGE DAY” in South Carolina to promote and preserve Penn Center’s true history and culture through its commitment to education, community development, and social justice.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.3177, a bill that DISCONTINUES THE PRACTICE OF RECOGNIZING NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN GROUPS, which are distinct from recognized tribes, in this state. Groups that have already received recognition retain their status.
The House approved and sent the Senate to H.5090, legislation authorizing the use of WILD TURKEY PARTS, not simply feathers, in arts and crafts sold by American Indian artists. These provisions do not authorize the sale of wild turkey meat.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3622, a bill EXPANDING THE SCOPE OF PRACTICE OF PODIATRISTS that provides authorization for podiatrists to treat not only the foot but also the ankle. The practice of podiatry includes the administration of local anesthesia, defined as localized infiltration only, and in conjunction with the practice of podiatry. The legislation provides that surgery of the ankle and soft tissue structures governing the ankle must be performed in an accredited hospital or ambulatory surgical center. A podiatrist who performs osseous (boney) surgical procedures of the ankle and related soft tissue structures governing the ankle must be board-certified or board-qualified by the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgery, must have graduated from a three-year residency program in podiatric medicine and reconstructive rear foot and ankle (RRA) surgery accredited by the Council on Podiatric Medical Education or its successor organization at the time of graduation, and shall satisfy all requirements for credentials as outlined by the facility. In addition to granting or denying privileges, the governing body of each hospital or ambulatory surgical center may suspend, revoke, or modify these privileges. An applicant or individual who has privileges shall comply with applicable medical staff bylaws, rules, and regulations, including the policies and procedures governing the qualifications of applicants and the scope and delineation of privileges. With respect to the practice of podiatry in health facilities throughout this State, medical staff governing documents shall include and provide for the right to pursue and practice full clinical and surgical privileges for holders of a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM) degree within the scope of his licensure. These rights and privileges only may be limited or restricted on the basis of the demonstrated competence of an individual practitioner. A health facility is not required to offer a specific health service not otherwise offered by it. If a health service is offered, the facility shall not discriminate among people holding Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathy, or Doctor of Podiatric Medicine degrees who are authorized by law to provide these health services.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.4698. In order to attract needed professionals, this bill provides an EXEMPTION FOR LICENSED PHYSICIANS EMPLOYED WITH THE DISABILITY DETERMINATION SERVICES UNIT of the State Agency of Vocational Rehabilitation from additional examination requirements with the State Board of Medical Examiners.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.4935, a joint resolution creating a temporary “SOUTH CAROLINA PALLIATIVE CARE AND QUALITY OF LIFE STUDY COMMITTEE” to consult with and advise the Division on Aging in an assessment of this state’s palliative care initiatives which involve improving the quality of life of patients and their families facing the issues associated with chronic life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and assessment, reduced hospital readmissions and treatment of pain and other conditions associated with chronic illness, including physical, psychosocial, and spiritual. The legislation provides for the committee’s membership and requires a report of its findings and recommendations to be submitted to the General Assembly and the Governor by December 31, 2019.
The House gave second reading approval to H.4799, a bill providing authorization for South Carolina to join the PHYSICAL THERAPY LICENSURE COMPACT to facilitate interstate practice of physical therapy with the goal of improving public access to physical therapy services.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.4486, a bill providing authorization for South Carolina to join the EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL LICENSURE INTERSTATE COMPACT which allows for reciprocal recognition of licenses among member states.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.5027, a bill which provides that suspension of a person’s driver’s license for failure to pay a traffic ticket shall not constitute a conviction of an offense that would result in the person being considered an HABITUAL OFFENDER.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4403, a bill establishing an ADDITIONAL METHOD OF POSTING NOTICE OF TRESPASSING on a property. As an alternative to the posting of ‘No Trespassing’ signs, the legislation establishes a procedure that allows trespassing notice to be posted on tracts of land by marking immovable, permanent objects along the boundary lines with purple paint.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3896, a bill AUTHORIZING COUNTY ORDINANCES REQUIRING THAT PROPERTY BE KEPT CLEAN and free of rubbish. The legislation provides authorization for a county to provide by ordinance that the owner of a lot or property in the county, whether residential or commercial, shall keep that lot or property clean and free of rubbish, debris, and other unhealthy conditions that constitute a public nuisance. Exemptions are provided that address agricultural, historically significant, and archaeologically significant properties and properties with material remains of past human life.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4466, a bill addressing LOCAL GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF THE OPERATION OF CERTAIN RENTAL VEHICLES such as golf carts and mopeds. The legislation provides authorization for counties and municipalities to adopt ordinances that regulate the operation of certain vehicles upon the public streets and highways within its jurisdiction when the vehicles are offered to the public for rental on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Ordinances are limited to the use of safety devices and the geographic area, distance, identification of the vehicles, and specified public roadways on which these rented or leased vehicles may operate.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.5046, a bill establishing a one-month GRACE PERIOD FOR RENEWING REAL ESTATE LICENSES and paying renewal fees without incurring a late fee or engaging in the unlicensed practice of real estate.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3846, a bill that revises EXCEPTIONS FROM HOMEBUILDER AND RESIDENTIAL CONTRACTOR LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS to exempt an owner of residential property who makes certain comparatively minor home improvements and repairs so long as the owner does the work himself. A residential property owner is exempt from building permit application requirements for these improvements if he performs the work himself. The legislation also specifies that a licensed residential builder may also obtain licensure as a residential specialty contractor.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4715. The legislation revises procedures relating to assessments and payments of property taxes on boats and certification of watercraft to provide for an ANNUAL RENEWAL FOR WATERCRAFT CERTIFICATES rather than the current three-year renewal period. Fees are adjusted accordingly from $30 for three years to $10 each year.
The House approved and enrolled for ratification S.1014, a bill addressing the powers and duties of a REGIONAL HEALTH SERVICES DISTRICT’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS to provide that the state interest shall prevail if a conflict exists between the antitrust laws of the state or the United States.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4021, a bill addressing PERISHABLE PREPARED FOOD MANUFACTURING SALES TAX EXEMPTIONS. The legislation makes provision for state sales tax exemptions that apply to certain fuel and electricity used in perishable prepared food manufacturing and certain clothing worn at perishable prepared food manufacturing facilities.
The House approved and sent the Senate to H.5152, a bill revising requirements for the IDENTIFICATION TAGS PLACED ON COTTON BALES STORED IN A WAREHOUSE OPERATED UNDER THE STATE WAREHOUSE SYSTEM. The legislation provides that the system may utilize the Permanent Bale Identification (PBI) number and tag of another gin if the tag meets the requirements. However, if the PBI tag does not meet the requirements, a sticker maybe affixed to the PBI tag or bale of cotton adjacent to the PBI tag that meets these requirements.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4971, a bill REDUCING CATCH LIMITS FOR RED DRUM FISH from 3 to 2 in any one day with a maximum of six in one day established for any one boat. As part of the effort to address the decline in the Red Drum population, the legislation also includes prohibitions on gigging for this fish.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.4618, a bill revising provisions for DEALER LICENSE PLATES. The legislation reduces the minimum number, from twenty to fifteen, of motor vehicle sales a dealer must make before he may be issued a dealer plate and the number of motor vehicles he must sell before he may be issued additional dealer plates. The bill also reduces the number, from twenty to fifteen, of motor vehicles that must be sold by a dealer participating in a manufacturer program to obtain additional plates.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4973, a bill revising provisions governing the issuance by the Department of Motor Vehicles of SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES FOR CERTAIN RETIRED PUBLIC OFFICIALS. The legislation allows a former member of the General Assembly to be issued a second special license plate. The legislation includes provisions that disallow these special plates for someone who has been convicted of a crime involving dishonesty or moral turpitude, or another crime punishable by imprisonment for at least one year.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4412, a bill that implements recommendations arising from the House Legislative Oversight Committee’s study of the Department of Health and Environmental Control. The legislation addresses the department’s authority to regulate TANNING ESTABLISHMENTS and includes specific authorization that the department may in its discretion inspect a source of nonionizing radiation which is used in a commercial establishment for the tanning of human skin to protect public health and safety.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4851, a bill that implements recommendations arising from the House Legislative Oversight Committee’s study of the DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY which codify budget provisos and make revisions regarding the use of certain department proceeds.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.5063, a bill that implements recommendations arising from the House Legislative Oversight Committee’s study of the Department of Agriculture. The legislation eliminates outdated references to the department’s role in regulating HOME-BASED FOOD PRODUCTION OPERATIONS which are now supervised by the Department of Health and Environmental Control.
The House approved S.1038 and enrolled the bill for ratification. The legislation provides that, for any county which began the REIMPOSITION OF A CAPITAL PROJECTS SALES TAX on April 1, 2013, and reimposed the tax at the 2016 General Election, the reimposed tax that commenced on April 1, 2013, is extended until April 30, 2020, and the commencement of the tax that was reimposed at the 2016 General Election is delayed until May 1, 2020, and expires on April 30, 2027.
The House rejected H.4836, a bill directing the timely REPAIR OF PUBLIC ROADS AND HIGHWAYS RUNNING ATOP DAMS THAT FAILED DURING THE OCTOBER 2015 FLOODS.
The House voted to continue H.5045, a bill REVISING PROVISIONS FOR SOLAR POWER AND OTHER DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES and net-metering provisions for the electrical power they generate which were approved by the General Assembly in Act 236 of 2014.
Dr. Robert "Bobby" Ridgeway III represents House District 64 in the South Carolina General Assembly. The district includes most of Clarendon County and parts of Sumter County.
