The 2021 Legislative Session begins in Columbia
On Tuesday, the General Assembly returned to Columbia for the beginning of the 2021-2022 legislative session. With this being the first year of a two-year session, there were no bills on the calendar when they began this week. Bills must begin in the committee process so there wasn’t a lot of floor debate – mostly housekeeping items and welcoming new members to the House and Senate.
However, on Wednesday night Governor Henry McMaster gave his annual “State of the State” address where he outlined his agenda and advocated for a state budget that addresses a number of our major policy priorities including:
Small Business Grants
The Governor asked the General Assembly to allocate money for a new state small business grant program. You may recall the General Assembly appropriated $40 million of CARES Act funding last year (instead of the $100 million we asked for) and it was exhausted quickly by grants to more than 2,250 businesses across our state. We thank Governor McMaster for understanding the deep needs of our smaller businesses during this time and directing $123 million to a new grant program for our smaller businesses. We strongly support this item.
School Funding
Increasing teacher pay to the national average was a major Chamber agenda item last year. Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic stalled those plans, but we applaud the Governor for lifting the suspension of step increases for teachers and any increases in education funding during this difficult budget year.
Business Liability Reform
Last night, Governor McMaster pushed the General Assembly to pass reasonable liability protections for businesses acting in good faith who follow local, state and/or federal guidelines to prevent COVID-19 exposure. You will recall this was a priority last year in our GrowSC agenda as well as a major 2021 Chamber agenda priority.
Education and Workforce
We were thrilled to learn more about the additional state financial aid for Pell Grant recipients for any in-state public college, as well as special allocations for our independent schools and HBCUs. It is imperative that we break down the barriers standing in the way of people getting the high-quality, skills-based credentials they need to get jobs and compete in our economy.
We also thank the Governor for funding high-demand skills training. Getting skills-based certificates to those who need them will further break down barriers to employment, allow our businesses to get the workers they need to grow and allow our state’s prosperity to be shared by all of our neighbors.
Broadband
Expanding broadband is the rural electrification of the 21st Century, and the pandemic dramatically exposed the haves and have-nots when it came to essentials such as distance learning and telemedicine. The General Assembly and the Governor took strong steps last year towards expanding access and continued the efforts this year with another $30 million to give access to everyone.
Reform the South Carolina Retirement System
We applaud the Governor for asking the General Assembly to reform the state’s retirement system last night. We must eliminate the unfunded liability by closing the state pension system to new employees and moving to a defined contribution plan. This has continued to be a Chamber priority for the last several years.
We urge the General Assembly to heed the Governor’s proposals on these items and we look forward to working with the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee in making these priorities a reality in the 2021-2022 state budget.
For a copy of the governor’s executive budget, along with his letter to the General Assembly and a detailed explanation of each allocation, click here.
