Speaker Jay Lucas Sets Date to Step Down

As you recall earlier this year Speaker Jay Lucas of Hartsville announced that he would not seek re-election this year. Yesterday, he announced that he would step down as Speaker of the House on Thursday, May 12 at 5:00 p.m., also known as Sine Die, which is the last day of regular session. He also announced that there will be a transition period as the House will elect current Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith as the next Speaker of the House on April 28. This means they will also elect a new Ways and Means Chairman as well and Bruce Bannister of Greenville is expected to be elected as the new Chairman of the budget committee.

State Elections Law Bill

With budget deliberations set to begin on the Senate floor next week, the Senate debated the State Elections Law Bill, H.4919. On Wednesday, the Senate unanimously passed the Bill. The new election law allows for two weeks of early voting and mailing-in of absentee votes and increases penalties for fraud. In a controversial move, the Senate amended the Bill to give the Senate advice and consent to all of the Governor’s selections for the director and all of the board members of the State Election Commission. The Governor and Speaker of the House both sent out press releases saying that the changes will likely kill the Bill for the year and blamed the Senate. It now heads back to the House where its future remains uncertain.

SC WINS Bill

SC WINS H.31444, a Chamber priority, received a favorable report this week in the Senate Education Committee. The Bill would make permanent the SC Workforce Industry Needs Scholarships. The Bill allows for students in the Technical College system to receive lottery tuition assistance in critical workforce areas. The Bill now moves to the Senate floor.

The next few weeks will be very busy as there are three weeks remaining in the 2022 Legislative Session. As always, we will keep you updated on the latest developments.