COLUMN: Legislative Happenings - Voter ID compromise means win-win

The Senate was bogged down with filibusters on the Voter ID bill, which passed the House last year. Long hours of debate and over 1,000 amendments made the week extremely prolonged. But the deliberate body, as the Senate is known, came up with a compromise that was acceptable to everyone.

The bill will be phased in over two years and become effective Jan. 2, 2012, and requires new requirements for a picture ID in order for a person to vote in South Carolina. Part of the bill states that if a voter goes to a poll and his ID does not match what is on the rolls, he may be given a provisional ballot to sign, giving him two days after the election to give proof of his ID for the county to approve or disapprove for the final count.

The State Election Commission must begin issuing voter registration cards with a photo by July 1, 2011, if state funds are available. It establishes a new 15-day early voting period before the elections, but keeps walk-in absentee voting for 30 days before to the election and mail-in absentee voting beginning 45 days before the election.

The new arrangement carries an educational, public-outreach component to help currently registered voters for whom obtaining a photo identification may be difficult. The compromise was a win-win for both sides of the aisle.

I have introduced a bill relating to evidence that may be admitted in condemnation actions. It provides that evidence of the most recent assessed valuation of the property prior to the taking be compared to the assessed valuation of the property after the taking. It also will provide that in determining an award in a takings lawsuit, the judge may consider evidence of the most recent assessed valuation of the property prior to the taking compared to the assessed valuation of the property after the taking.

There is no recent news on the compromise that was formed between the various parties on the point-of-sale legislation. The original bill would exempt the value of property above a 15 percent increase over the prior tax year’s value when a property undergoes an assessable transfer of interest. The capped tax value would be in place until next reassessment, instead of full market value, as in current law.

At reassessment, the capped value could increase up to 15 percent. Properties that underwent assessable transfer prior to 2009 would remain at fair market value. Only properties sold after Dec. 31, 2008, are subject to the bill’s provisions, which sunset after property tax year 2014. We have hopes that all parties will come together on this most controversial piece of legislation.

— McGill can be reached at his home address, 601 Longstreet St., Kingstree, SC 29556, or at his legislative office, P.O. Box 142, Columbia, SC 29202. Call him at (843) 355-7217 in Kingstree or (803) 212-6132 in Columbia, or e-mail him at yanceymcgill@scsenate.org.