The last two weeks at the State House have been consumed with the budget and S. 244, The South Carolina Justice Act. At the time of this update those two items will continue to dominate time here in Columbia. 

The House passed the budget out after midnight on Tuesday the 11th. They spent all of Monday closing out sections that had no amendments. On Tuesday they gaveled in at 10:00 am and began the long and continuous debate dealing with over 150 amendments, most of which were introduced by the Freedom Caucus. Many amendments were withdrawn or ruled out of order and all but a few were tabled. As we previously reported, of the $14.6 billion spending plan, they kept the $200 million for bridge modernization, $50 million for Hurricane Helene Relief, $90+ million for airport renovations $81 million to get sites shovel read at Commerce, and $9 million for road safety enhancements. The Senate is now having their budget hearings and will begin floor debate the week of April 21st. The House is on furlough the week of March 17-21st and will also furlough the week of April 14-18th.

S.244 is still a work in progress. The final path forward is still unclear at this point as both sides are working behind closed doors to come up with a compromise. Majority Leader Shane Massey held a press conference after the session adjourned Thursday in which he said a deal is forthcoming and is hopefully that Tuesday will be the day.  It is vital that everyone continue to reach out to members of the Senate and tell them to support tort reform and the business community in South Carolina. The press conference on tort that took place March 4th had over 600 business folks and owners attend.  It was a large success.  Please share stories of your own business and how lawsuits have effected them. 

Finally, the City of Greer is considering using concrete instead of asphalt for road projects in new subdivisions in the area. We have been told that a member of Greer City Council is interested in the switch. It might be worth the effort for those that do work in that area to make contact with anyone you know on City Council as well as contacts you have with the City of Greer. The debate is over whether upfront cost of concrete is better than using asphalt in road construction.