March 26, 2021

This week the SC House of Representatives deliberated the 2021-2022 state budget. I won’t go into great detail today because both members of the House and Senate are awaiting final numbers from the Board of Economic Advisors to know how much money will be in the state coffers due to the pandemic over the last year. They will return in late May/early June to draft a budget once they know how much money has been collected in the General Fund.

Chamber Priorities on the move:

• S.271 Abandoned building tax credit reauthorization has passed the Senate and moved to the floor of the House. It will be taken up once they return after a week of furlough.
• H.3144 SC Workforce Industry Needs Scholarship (SC WINS), scholarships for two year college and technical school students, moved to the floor of the House and will be taken up once they return.
• H.3620 and S.14 Hate Crimes: H.3620 is on the House floor and will be debated when they return after Easter. S.14 had its first hearing in the Senate Judiciary subcommittee this week where they took testimony. We are optimistic the House will move the bill to the Senate before the crossover deadline.
• S.147 COVID Liability Protections was given a favorable report in a House Judiciary subcommittee last week. The bill now goes before the full Judiciary Committee when they return.
• Finally, the Port Bond Bill is in the House Ways and Means Committee. Now that the House version of the budget is complete, we expect the committee’s work on the $550 million bond allocation to begin in earnest when they return from furlough.

As always we will keep you up to date. Have a great weekend.

George Ramsey
Senior Director of Legislative Relations