SC Legislative Update
By Ben Homeyer
Activity Updates
The House and Senate both stated in the past week that they have no plans to come back in to session early to take up legislation related to masks or covid. The House which was scheduled to meet this week and next cancelled those plans after a meeting of the House Republican Caucus. They issued a statement that all ARPA funds and anything related to covid would wait until January when they officially return. The Senate had been planning to come in October 12th to take up ARPA dollars as well as discuss redistricting but that too was put on hold by the Senate President this week via a statement.
The Be Pro Be Proud truck has been making the rounds this past week and getting a lot of exposure. It was with Greenville Tech, clover high school and several other locations. They are getting great reception from kids looking to get in the skilled trades.
CRMCA in both South and North Carolina met with NRMCA members earlier this week to discuss the possibility of PACE funding. PACE stands for property assessed clean energy programs. It would require legislation to be put in place but could provide potential funding sources for items such as ICF and other energy savings measures. This is a on-going process in both states.
Covid Update
The state is finding itself involved in several lawsuits related to covid. A federal judge this week put forth an injunction against the mask ban for schools. Many school districts immediately put a mask mandate in place following the judge’s order. Governor McMaster and AG Wilson have vowed to fight the order.
The number of cases has fallen from the avg high of over 4,000 two weeks ago to roughly 2,000 a day as of this week. Death rates however are staying at roughly 100 per day. When the last newsletter was sent out less than 10,000 deaths were in the state. As of yesterday, we are just under 11,000 deaths statewide. Booster shots for those that are over 65 or immuno-compromised are available across the state.
