SC Legislative Update 5/29/20

By Ben Homeyer

The final AccelerateSC meeting occurred today with the presentation of a 50 page report with 42 recommendations (from increasing consumer confidence to testing to guidelines.)  At the bottom you will see a big spreadsheet about expenditures.  The full report is attached here – accelerateSC final plan

• The chair discussed liability protection as a major need
• Tourism spending is currently down 87%
• DHEC has a number of rapid response teams that can do both testing and contact tracing
  • Contact tracing needs to be doubled
• A state Stockpile of PPE needs to be established
• Local Governments are expecting shortfalls in their budget
• Law Enforcement is hoping to have regional detention facilities built so they can isolate infected inmates
• $250K for a state broadband mapping plan
• $80 million in infrastructure improvements
• $20 million for hotspots for households that are underserved
• The state, its agencies, local government, universities etc have actually spent $282,149,925 (appendix A) on covid related expenses.
• The state, its agencies, local government, universities etc are projected to spend an additional $632,962,886 (appendix B) on covid related expenses.

Also released was the latest Exec. Order it encompasses the orders that were still out there.  School closure, transportation wavers, first responder provisions, law enforcement, and some general provisions.  2020-05-27 eFILED Executive Order No. 2020-38 – State of Emergency to Facilitate Coordinated COVID-19 Pandemic Response