SC lawmakers back in session

The South Carolina legislature went back into session at noon Tuesday with an agenda that could have a big effect on your life, from jobs to roads to how much you pay in taxes. 

"I think creating jobs is going to be the biggest thing," says Brooke Holladay of Columbia. 

House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston says the legislature's priorities include tax reform, fixing the state retirement system's $13 billion shortfall and government restructuring. But he says all of those relate directly back to the overall main goal. 

"Growing South Carolina's economy, creating jobs, that's the most important thing we have to be about in the General Assembly," he says. Tax reform will help create jobs, for example, by making the state more attractive to new business and industry and by helping the ones already here. 

At least one of the bills prefiled back in December could be dead already. Sen. Ralph Anderson, D-Greenville, is sponsoring a bill to make motorcycle helmet use mandatory in the state. Right now, helmets are required only for riders under the age of 21. 

He says what prompted his bill was the increase last year in motorcycle deaths. "Many of the parents throughout South Carolina were writing to me suggesting strongly that we come up with a helmet law that may prevent people from getting killed," he says. 

The motorcycle riders' group ABATE (A Brotherhood Against Totalitarian Enactments) has been meeting at the Statehouse for the first day of the session for years, but this bill gave them something specific to lobby against.

Matt Vacher, of Bonneau in Berkeley County, lobbied in the late 70s and 1980 for the current law, which allows riders 21 and over to have the option of wearing a helmet. 

He says of the current bill, "The last thing we need is a government telling us what we have to do to protect ourselves from ourselves." 

The reason the bill may be dead already is simple: Gov. Nikki Haley greeted the ABATE members before the session by reminding them that she is a member of the group. 

"Tell those guys up in the legislature, 'Don't waste your time because the governor's going to veto it if it comes to her desk,'" she said to loud cheers. She says she wants motorcycle riders to wear helmets and be safe, but she doesn't think the government should force them to do it. 

The first day of the session also included a look back at a law they passed last year--the Voter ID law that requires a photo ID to vote. The U.S. Department of Justice is blocking the law, saying it's unconstitutional because it would deprive some people of their right to vote. 

South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said Tuesday, "We intend to file a suit against the DOJ in D.C. District Court within the next week or two." He says South Carolina's law is just like Georgia's and Indiana's, which have been approved. 

Sen. Kevin Bryant, R-Anderson, says, "When I'm not here I'm a pharmacist, and if you come in my store and you refill a narcotic prescription, I have to take and look at a picture ID to verify that you're getting your prescription." 

But after the Republican news conference to announce that the state would be fighting the federal government over the law, Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, told reporters those arguments don't fly, because voting is a constitutional right; buying a narcotic is not. 

He also says there are important differences between South Carolina's law and Georgia's. "Had Republicans in South Carolina simply chosen to implement Georgia's law in South Carolina, it could have been pre-cleared," he says. 

Lawmakers say another priority for the year is repairing state roads and bridges. The state DOT says the state's gas tax, one of the lowest in the nation, doesn't produce enough revenue to keep up with the state's road and bridge maintenance needs. 

The legislature does have some money to work with this year: a surplus of $913 million from tax collections being better than expected. Deciding how to spend that will be one of the biggest issues they deal with.