OPED: House works to ensure tax dollars are spent wisely

This legislative week was marked by debate concerning Concurrent Resolution S. 424, which would affirm the rights of South Carolina based on the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. While debate of this resolution took up most of the time spent on the floor of the House, members also introduced a number of bills this week that demonstrate a continued commitment to responsible government addressing the needs of South Carolinians.

The highlight of last week was when I was honored by the Greater Darlington Chamber of Commerce as the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. This was quite a surprise and humbling experience for me. I sincerely appreciated the recognition.

Ensuring that funds are allocated wisely continues to be our focus. To that end, several bills were introduced which, if passed, would improve the process by which budgets are made.

The first of these was H. 4439, which would improve budget accountability by extending the scope of the Tax Re-Alignment Commission to include all taxes imposed by the state and to extend the time allotted for the study. Also introduced was H. 4440, which would prohibit the Budget and Control Board from making across-the-board cuts but instead require targeted cuts, with a two-thirds super-majority vote of both the House and Senate needed to make across the board cuts. Finally, H. 4441 was introduced, which would prevent any supplemental appropriation bill from being put into effect until the state had built up a 10 percent reserve fund of its budget.

Businesses and non-profits at the local level are the core of our state's economy. As a result, members are crafting legislation that empowers local businesses. One example of this is H.4428, which would help small business by prohibiting a municipality or county from making its final deadline for payment of a business license fee any earlier than Oct. 15 of the applicable year.

Several measures that would improve accountability in the courts and in the health care system were introduced. Examples of these are H. 4450, which would improve accountability of the courts to the citizens of South Carolina by making municipal court judges and magistrates responsible for keeping their own dockets, and H. 4453, which would improve doctor accountability to the patient by increasing disclosure requirements for those receiving medical licenses in the state to include things like previous licenses held in other states and previous malpractice suits.

The House also sent several bills to the Senate, most notably H. 3803, which makes several improvements to the operation of the probate courts, and H. 3778 and H. 3871, both of which improve the public health and safety by improving reporting, tracking and analysis of data concerning infectious diseases.

I have been asked by Supreme Court Justice Jean Toal to serve on a task force to study and find solutions for elder citizens in court situations.

Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. I appreciate your interest in working together to make Darlington and Chesterfield Counties a better place to live and work. Please continue to stay in touch with me so that I may be an effective representative for you. If you have a comment or opinion concerning the issues in this report, or if I may be of assistance to you at any time, please call your legislative office in Columbia (803) 734-3097 or my home (843) 393-2079.