Turtles??

Martial Arts??

We’re not talking about a teenage movie; we’re talking bills your state leaders approved today after the debate on the much discussed “Voter ID” bill (H.3418).

In a day filled with emotions, a colleague speaking from the podium asked another member “You wanna fight?” The comment actually broke the tension that had built up in the room after almost TEN HOURS of debate today on a variety of issues, mainly the voting process in our state.

It also capped a day where we passed a Mixed Martial Arts bill (H.3042) and a bill to limit the number of turtles that can be transported out of state (H3121).

On what is usually a light day, this Thursday started with the usual 115+ members in attendance but ended up with less than 70 representatives voting on a handful of bills. That number of representatives (less than 70) is dangerously close to not meeting the required “quorum” needed for us to conduct business.

It takes 63 members present to conduct business in our body and it’s debatable if we dipped below that during some parts of the evening…especially during some early evening quorum calls (something I have never seen in 5 years). Quorum calls are usually only done when we return from lunch every day and are really just formalities. Tonight? It wasn’t formalities; it was one of the only remaining strategies the minority party had left to use.

In fact, before one of the tallies on quorum call, the Speaker reminded the body that if a quorum wasn’t present, House Rule 3.9 would be invoked. What’s that? It’s commonly referred to as “lock down” and it requires the Sergeant of Arms to close the State House building and bring all the Representatives that are not presently in the chamber back to Columbia. (By the way, it’s never been used in my 5 years but the mere threat does get people’s attention).

How’d we get to that point?

Well, the day started off on the right foot with some lunchtime “bipartisanship”. The House Republican and Democrat Caucuses provided Chickfila sandwiches for all members since we were going to “work through lunch” but after lunch, it was all downhill, fast.

“Fast” is relative in politics but I can tell you it did “speed up” when cloture was invoked on the Voter ID debate. Cloture is when debate is limited on the bill. No more amendments can be put up on the desk after cloture is invoked. Those amendments that are on the desk are also only allowed to be debated 3 minutes for and 3 minutes against. Then, after all amendments, the entire body shares up to 1 hour for and 1 hour against the bill.

That cloture vote didn’t go over well in the chamber. By now, you’ve read about the walkout of several members near the end of the Voter ID debate. That walkout left only 79 representatives (out of 124) to decide the bill’s fate (of course, many would agree the fate was never in doubt). In the end the bill passed (65-14) and now voters will need a SC photo ID, passport, or military ID when they go to the polls.

After the Voter ID bill, we pushed on to clear the calendar and took up “Fusion Voting” (H3067). Long story short, with a vote of 61-7, candidates will no longer be listed on the ballot by more than one party. An amendment to the bill also passed that will remove the “straight party” voting option at the ballot box. It’s still unsure what party this helps or hurts, but I supported it because I believe in the idea of voting for the person; not the party. Also, since school board elections are non-partisan, voters who have pulled “straight ticket” have not participated in those non-partisan elections.

So if you’re keeping score at home ….today we changed voting laws, helped bring mixed-martial arts to our state, and protected turtles from leaving.

Weren’t those the items you’ve been telling your representative will move our state forward?

Watching TV tonight, I couldn’t believe what I just heard.

This “stimulus package” of one TRILLION dollars (spelling it out saves me time instead of using TWELVE ZEROS in the figure) is more than if you spent one MILLION dollars EVERY DAY since JESUS WAS BORN!

Watch the clip above and you’ll get some other perspectives on what “a trillion” looks like.

Unbelieveable.

Another light week in chamber but that is sure to change next week.

The majority of our time this week dealt with the passage of House Resolution 3352 (“Spending Flexibility Bill for School Districts”). Bottom line – it passed. Sure there was much hub-bub over an amendment that would allow only districts that spent 65% of their funds IN THE CLASSROOM to be eligible for the flexibility allowed in the bill; but that amendment (#5) was set aside in favor of a compromise. A “softer/gentler” amendment later passed that broadened the definition of IN THE CLASSROOM. Basically, it’s a feel-good amendment because apparently almost all districts (if not all) qualify under that new definition. As we do sometimes, we pass something that doesn’t do much (anything) but let’s us “feel good”.

This week, our body had another colleague experience a death in the family. Rep. Jerry Govan’s (D-Orangeburg) sister lost her battle with cancer. We recognized her from the floor and heard remarks from Rep. Govan about cancer taking three members of his family.

The “main action” this week was again in our committees. The House Ways and Means committee approved $1 billion dollars of spending on Thursday as part of the “stimulus package” that Congress passed and the President signed into law last week.

Also Thursday, current Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Goode faced hours of review in front of a House/Senate Judicial Screening Committee. You may recall that, last week, Goode was up for re-election (amid much controversy) and we’ll soon finally vote on this matter in the next few weeks.

Closer to home this past week:

My 2009 Constituent Survey is now on-line and available for you to share your suggestions and ideas about how we can move our state forward.

Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter was the most recent visitor to the “must visit stop” for SC politicos, Ms. Kelly Payne’s Dutch Fork High School Civics Class.

Also, I joined other Lexington/Richland School District Five Representatives in the filing of House Resolutions. H3503 (McLeod, Huggins, Ballentine) recognizing the 2008 Class AAA State Cheerleading Champions at Chapin High School ; H3580 (Huggins, Ballentine, McLeod) recognizing Mrs. Loretta Price for her years of service to the Chapin community (member Chapin Hall of Fame, Chamber of Commerce, etc.) Mrs. Price will be recognized at Chapin High School’s Black History Month ceremony February 27th.

Outside the world of politics, former Dutch Fork High School (and Coastal Carolina) golf sensation, Dustin Johnson , won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. This was Dustin’s 2nd win on the PGA Tour (with both wins coming in the last four months). Way to go, Dustin!

Constituents who stopped by the office this week were: Janet Sternernberg, Bonnie King, Patricia Cummings-Lecque, and Irmo Town Councilmember, Hardy King.

Ahead next week? Look for extended floor debates on Election Laws and Abortion/Ultrasound. Also, community members are invited to join me for a “Meet Your Representative” conversation this Tuesday night, 7pm, at the Northwest YMCA on Kennerly Road.

There was a little more “excitement” this week on the House Floor as bills are finally finding their way out of subcommittees, and full committees, and getting onto the House Calendar for debate.

For those that might want some extensive detail on bills/committee actions, click here for a Weekly Legislative Update straight from House Staff. (NOTE: THESE SUMMARIES ARE PREPARED BY THE STAFF OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND ARE NOT THE EXPRESSION OF THE LEGISLATION’S SPONSOR(S) OR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. THEY ARE STRICTLY FOR THE INTERNAL USE AND BENEFIT OF MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND ARE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED BY A COURT OF LAW AS AN EXPRESSION OF LEGISLATIVE INTENT).

Most the action occurred this Wednesday and it started at high-noon with judicial elections. You may (or may not) know that in South Carolina, the General Assembly elects our judges. This year there was only one contested race and the vote was very close. Only two votes separated the two judges (83-81).

From the House Journal

***

Total number of Senators voting 45
Total number of Representatives voting 119
Grand Total 164
Necessary to a choice 83
Of which Mr. Seals received 83
Of which Ms. Wetmore received 81

Whereupon, the PRESIDENT announced that the Honorable William Henry Seals, Jr., had been elected to the position of Judge, Circuit Court, At-Large, Seat 6 for the term prescribed by law.

***

Before that, there were some fireworks when a “heckler” spoke out from the balcony against one of the judges who was elected (without opposition). The heckler was removed by our Sergeant at Arms staff.

And then, the story that has seen a lot of press this week , we had a judge (unopposed) not get re-elected. Instead of being re-elected, he was “carried over” and we’ll vote at a later date whether to allow him to continue to serve or not. [Read more...]

It was a long day of debate in the chamber today on Payday Lending and, thanks to Representative Gary Simrill (R-York), government spending won’t have a chance to grow $400,000.

Oh…and thanks to a recorded vote (at his request), the House fixed what could have potentially been just another example of unaccountable spending that isn’t currently required to have a roll-call vote because of holes in the House Rule passed earlier this year.

With over 40 amendments on the desk, there were several recorded votes taken today that can all be tracked in the House Journal; however, on amendment #37, a voice vote was taken. Representative Nikki Haley (R-Lexington) asked for a roll-call but apparently not quickly enough.

Remember, the House Rule we passed earlier this year is just a start towards full transparency; but it doesn’t get us where our state needs to be. You see, the rule didn’t cover amendments like this one. Sure, the rule covers “tax increases” and important sounding things like that BUT it’s amendments like these or bills like these that end up taking our budget from $5 billion to $7 billion and often times no one’s on record for that spending approval.

From the House Journal today…

Rep. Sellers proposed the following Amendment No. 37 (COUNCILMS7205ZW09), which was adopted:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/ SECTION __. Chapter 39, Title 34 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

Rep. SELLERS explained the amendment.
The amendment was then adopted.

Seems pretty innocuous, right? Payday lenders will give a dime on every loan they do to the Department of Consumer Affairs for Financial Literacy (10 cents on roughly 4,000,000 payday loans). Sounds harmless enough. But, a short time later when some cleanup of that amendment was going on, Rep. Simrill (who years ago had been labeled “Roll Call Simrill” by many in the House for his repetitive requests to record votes) pointed out to the chamber that this small amendment would actually lead to our state government spending $400,000.

In times we’re in, do we really need to see government spending grow? Obviously, we don’t even have enough revenues to cover what current programs we have now. Sure, the revenue for this spending wouldn’t come from tax dollars BUT….here’s where we as elected officials have to look down the road instead of just at the next election cycle.

What do you think would happen once our state got these programs up and running based off the revenue coming in and THEN the revenue started declining? That’s right….we’d see cuts to the program/employees and/or your tax dollars later being needed to fund a program put in place because of a simple voice vote on the 37th amendment on a bill late one February afternoon.

Don’t get me wrong. This wasn’t a case of officials intentionally trying to hide our votes. Not at all. But what this does is show how no one (outside of Representative Haley) thought enough to ask for the roll-call. You see, until the BILL (prefiled by Rep. Haley along with 20+ cosponsors) is debated and becomes a LAW, there are several items we will vote on everyday that will be done by voice vote. Those items will still require a member to have to ask for our votes to be recorded, then have to have the Speaker recongize that request, and then need nine colleagues to support that request to record our votes.

Luckily for us – and our state spending – we had a chance to put our votes on record.

When Simrilll brought this information to light and then was able to get a roll-call vote, here’s how the “voice vote” (taken just moments earlier that led to passage of the amendment) quickly turned into a recorded vote that caused the amendment to fail.

From the House Journal…

Rep. SELLERS proposed the following Amendment No. 41 (COUNCILNBD11268ZW09), which was rejected:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:
/ SECTION __. Chapter 39, Title 34 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

Total–60
So, the amendment was rejected.

So…you be the judge. Has the On-the-record (Transparency) HOUSE RULE we passed earlier this year done enough? Or, do you see that the House and Senate need the bill, H.3047, to become state law (which would provide more transparency and keep us from running into this situation again)?

I hope you’ll take 30 seconds to help these kids in our community!

Hello,

Some of you may not know that Irmo Little League has a special program for children with disabilities. The program is called our Challenger Series. We play the games usually on the Tee Ball field closest to the parking lot. Our friends at Kellogg’s are sponsoring a contest to make over 50 Baseball Fields in America this year and YOU can help!

Just follow this link and VOTE for the field at Irmo Little League (Columbia, SC). Please feel free to pass this on to ALL your friends and relatives.

Thank You!!

Glenn Landry
President
Irmo Little League

If you have events you’d like me to share on the website, please contact me directly through NathansNews and I’ll be happy to see how I can help pass along the news. Hopefully, you’re a frequent NathansNews reader or either following me on Twitter or Facebook . I try to stay in touch as much as possible and these mediums help me hear from you and learn more about you – the people I represent in Columbia.

STATE HOUSE

January hasn’t seen much work on the House floor but committees and subcommittees are meeting every week and moving legislation through the process. For a quick primer on “What Does the Legislature Do?” simply click on that link.

One rule (not bill/law) that has already passed very early this year dealt with something NathansNews readers have been reading about since last session : On-The-Record Voting (or transparency). It took a lot to get to this point and while we’re still not where we need to be yet; but we are seeing progress and a little more accountability than the past. We need a state LAW though and several of us continue to work towards this much needed reform.

With the economy and falling revenues looming large, we’ll soon see full debate on the House floor with the state’s budget. In fact, on Monday (Feb. 9) the State Board of Economic Advisors will release updated figures and we may see some scrambling in Ways and Means committees before the budget is presented to the full House in March.

Coming as soon as this week will be floor debates on PayDay Lending, Ultrasound/Abortion and Election/Voting Reforms. If you’d like to know more about those bills or stay informed more than once-a-month, be sure you’re following The Weekly Rewind here on NathansNews every week.

Personally, my next push will be for Campaign Finance Disclosure Reform . Just another common-sense reform that provides another level of transparency in state government. Just like voice-votes, the way disclosures are reported today leaves room for improvement. My bill will require 48-hour reporting during the “black out period” two weeks before elections and will also require local candidates/officials (Countywide, School Board, etc) to disclosure their contributions/expenditures on-line like the rest of us.

Check back to NathansNews before March so you can let me know your thoughts on issues important to you with my annual Constituent Survey. This year, it will be available only online.

Speaking of constituents, this month I’ve decided to share the constituents of House District 71 that have taken their time to come visit with me at the State House. These meetings help me better do the job I was sent to do – represent People; Not Politics. Thanks to everyone who has visited this month: Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, Dutch Fork Elementary Third Graders, Sharon Dorn, Rosalind Funk, Robbie Koon DeFreese, Chief Mark Keel, Colonel Kenny Lancaster, Captain Zack Wise, Sara Moore (freshman, Ben Lippen), Carolyn Abrams, Traci Richard, Ben Thompson, and LaWandra Kelly.

YOUR MONEY

I could write all night about this topic. Rather than rehash how we got to this point, I’ll simply say that it appears this year’s budget will be $1.5 BILLION less than last year’s. Personally, I don’t have a problem with less spending but I do know that there will be needed programs that will be squeezed.

It’s my hope that my colleagues will remember these times and work towards avoiding or lessening drastic reductions in the future.

On a related note, I’m appreciative of the South Carolina Association of Taxpayers for recognizing me again as a Friend of the Taxpayer (Feb. 18). This marks the fourth time (in four years) that I have been recognized for my fiscal conservatism and stewardship of your tax dollars. [Read more...]