Capitol Information Affiliates, LLC Volume XXVII Issue 1 January15,2016
Sad Week at the State House
W&M Pushes Hard on Budget
SenatorO’Dell Passes Away
Senator O’Dell passed away last week and was eulogized by members of the Senate Tuesday. Senator Leatherman led the Senate in their mourning calling him a “tireless servant.”
Auto Closing Fees
The Senate Judiciary Committee met and carried over S.911, a bill to amend the code relating to closing fees on motor vehicle sales contracts. Chairman Larry Martin said the bill dealt with “a matter of fair play.” He said they needed to include in an amendment regarding the overhead cost associated with the sale of a vehicle.
Senator Hutto said they need to read the Supreme Court case and carry the bill over until next week. Hutto said the bill was retroactive in pending cases and added, “This bill should be for the protection of the consumer. I suggest doing away with the closing fee. We need to be transparent to the consumer.” He added that the closing fee stayed in place, it needed to be posted on the dealership website and on the facility wall. He also suggested they look at one or two models on closing fees.
Senator Malloy pointed out the bill has 27 sponsors and said, “We need to understand the competitive advantages and disadvantages between the states.”
Martin said North Carolina requires that closing fees be disclosed in their advertisements. He said the dealers thought they were following the law and he did not want to over regulate business.
Senator Massey said he agreed with Hutto’s proposal on how to deal with the bill. He added there were many concerns about how the Supreme Court handled the case. Martin said they were dealing with the process – not the Supreme Court decision. Senator Rankin said he would like to see the list of dealers currently involved in cases.
Senator Kimpson said he has problems with anything that is of a retroactive nature. “We want clarity for the dealer and consumer,” said Kimpson.
Martin told the committee to read the case and they would talk about the retroactive nature of the bill. “This could be an injustice to other businesses in South Carolina,” said Martin.
The committee plans to meet next week on the bill.
W&M Higher Ed
The House Ways & Means Higher Education & Technical Schools Budget Subcommittee met Tuesday to begin reviewing budget requests by the Commission on Higher Education (CHE).
After opening remarks from Chairman Merrill, Representative Cobb-Hunter stated that it was the committee’s job to monitor, assess, and get to the “the truth” of higher education funding. She pointed out that receiving informational/supporting documents on the day of a meeting is NOT helpful, and encouraged others in the room to submit materials in a timely manner so that they could be reviewed properly. She stated that an overarching goal is effective governance and would like to see a Board of Regents created. If such board is not formed, she said the CHE needs to be given some “teeth.”
Tim Hofferth, Chairman of the CHE, began his presentation by stating that he shares many of the same concerns as the subcommittee. He reported that the new slate of commissioners sought to define their “call to action.” The current statutes were reviewed to determine what duties were defined by law, and a SWOT analysis was applied to identify what was being done and what was not. The agency budget was then reviewed. The majority of funds are pass-through dollars, leaving the CHE only $153,000 to address needed changes. Provisions are also being developed to ensure some continuity on the board. After studying the agency operations, statutes, and budget, three recommendations were made to the Ad Hoc Committee: $2.1 million to address SWOT items and priorities, affirmation of the CHE by General Assembly and set up regular meetings with General Assembly to present deliverables and receive guidance.
Hofferth also identified issues of concern: students “on the last rung of the ladder” being priced out of higher education, noting a significantincrease in higher ed costs over the past several years, deferred maintenance on facilities statewide, CHE needs resources to enforce their roles, and to have the necessary tools to make informed decisions on financial/capital investment matters, the business community and K-12 need to be at the table, policies and procedures need to be developed and implemented for commission members, and training should be provided for new/incoming commissioners.
Representative Lowe asked what the taxpayers would get for the requested $2.1 million dollars. Hofferth replied that the return would be “expediential and nearly incalculable” and explained the need for accountants and additional staff to help tackle the SWOT items. Dossiers need to be developed for all higher ed institutions, to include analysis of their operational budgets. He stated the in-depth information acquired to assist in financial oversight could earn the taxpayers that $2.1 million back in one year. Hofferth went on to say that in the approval of programs the ability to give good feedback helps facilitate making the best decisions and improvements. Lowe then asked what else the money would go toward, other than program dollars and capital projects. Hofferth answered that those are the big ones, but involvement with financial allocation of resources is also key. Taxpayers believe that CHE is/should be doing this. Lowe then questioned if CHE had a team in place that could address the issues if they gave them the money – do you have the tools to change or address anything? Hofferth explained that they can say “no” on resource allocation, but cannot stop the end run-around back to the General Assembly by some institutions, saying the state needs to invest in tools to help gather all the pertinent information.
Merrill stated that Hofferth had addressed many of the problems and concerns the committee has, stating a need to compare “apples to apples” when it comes to institutions and their budgets. A more standard format needs to be applied so that comparisons can be easily made. Many of those institutions want to get CHE out of their issues, so it becomes very frustrating for the subcommittee. He went on to say that CHE is perceived as the final say on the vetting of higher ed, and he “greatly awaits” the recommendations on tightening the statutes and a dollar amount to do those things that are meritorious. There has to be some agreement on what the board (CHE) does. Cobb-Hunter said they may need to call
CHE back, explaining the need for more time to study materials presented. She was appreciative of the SWOT analysis, but also questioned the practice of institutions using an “end-run” back to legislature for funds, especially when JRBC approval is needed for a construction project. She expressed concern about giving CHE additional funds when they weren’t doing everything required of them by law, by their own admission. Cobb-Hunter suggested utilizing the 33 institutions of higher learning to offset costs, and evaluating the executive and administrative departments of each for “fluff
Gary Glenn, Interim Director of CHE, then offered brief remarks. Important points by Glenn was that the agency were given very clear orders from commissioners to make changes, he is working to operationalize the policies, CHE has not had the respect of the General Assembly in the past, and (we) need it now, along with your commitment to help turn things around, per a SWOT analysis – they have identified statutes that are confusing, outdated, and/or impediments to operation, budget analysis for institutions: get them, act on them, and make recommendations – especially on capital improvements and CPIP year 2 – Institutions identify need for buildings and must evaluate and prioritize those requests: this is good for South Carolina. He is very passionate about CPIP and its possibilities, noting there is really not that much deferred maintenance.
Cobb–Hunter stated she was very interested in recommendations the CHE had on the CPIP program, and the program itself. Glenn replied that CPIP has approved projects, but only one institution is ready to execute.
W&M Local Government
Tim Winslow, local government spokesperson, spoke before subcommittee – the counties believe that the current statute serves the needs of the people. For counties with greater wealth - private taxes, fees, and local options generate money. Counties with weaker tax base rely more on state shared funding.Some counties’ reserves are becoming depleted and they will have to raise taxes and fees. There was conversation of counties sharing resources but counties have to share equally to be multijurisdictional. The local government fund can be 10-12 percent of the total budget for some counties. The local government fund is at the 1999 level and they requested an inflationary increase above the 1999 level. He said “he could ask for a $46 million increase, representing 46 counties at$10 a person, property tax reduction.” He stated that the General Assembly should consider some kind of property tax reduction.
Representative Yow spoke of Chesterfield and Lancaster Counties and their shortfall of money because of the large quantity of state and federal lands that they cannot tax.
The subcommittee then heard from Melissa Carter on how the flood has strained counties and municipalities – they’re requesting an annualization of $12.5 million. Flood assessment is ongoing – FEMA will not take a look at it until counties and cities go through all of their private insurance.They are starting to get an idea of what they will pay. They requested a “pot of money” set aside for those communities that need assistance for flood relief. They will know exact figure in two months.
The subcommittee went back to Tim Winslow to talk about provisos and then adjourned.
A New Matthews in Town
Senator Margie BrightMatthews took the Senate floor Wednesday on a point of personal interest about her journey to the Senate.
Kimpson and Malloy Points of Personal Interest
Senator Kimpson took the Senate floor Wednesday on a point of personal interest on guns and gun violence. He said he has five bills on these issues.
Senator Malloy then took the floor on a point of personal interest on his two bills. His first bill extends the time period to get a background check. He said the people who died in Charleston would still be alive if the time period had been extended. “This is not a matter of the 2nd Amendment. Common sense will prevail. This loophole needs to be closed,” said Malloy.
Cleary Point of Personal Interest
Senator Cleary took the Senate floor Wednesday on a point of personal interest regarding the roads and road funding. The working committee is met upon adjournment Thursday and Cleary said their #1 priority is to get roads repaired in South Carolina.
Investigational Drugs and the CON
The Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee, chaired by Senator Cleary, met Wednesday and gave a favorable report to S.929 to allow people to enter a trial of investigational drugs, biological products or devices to combat their terminal illness. Currently 24 states have passed this legislation. The bill gives terminally ill patients the right to access drugs that have passed phase one testing.
H.3250 regarding certificate of need was given a favorable as amended report. Senator Davis pointed out that staffs at the FTC and DOJ have conducted studies about CON laws and that CON laws create barriers to expansion, drives up cost and provides a lower quality of service. Cleary amended the bill to
change MRI terminology, requires them to be registered, takes DHEC out of decision process, allows only an affected person can appeal staff decision, freestanding/mobile technology put cap at $1million, DHEC can retain fees, sets cap for capital projects at $1million for equipment, delete health planning committee, application process can be available online, time clock on applications begins when application is deemed complete by DHEC, administrative law court must rule within 18 months, severability clause, effective date is approval of government. The sunshine provision and equipment caps were the biggest change.
Cleary thinks the FTC has lots of things right and doesn’t think competition is key to healthcare. He believes the process can be streamlined to build new hospitals and instead of the overwhelming review process, he wants to reduce delay – that’s all in the streamline process. He also said 6 years ago, they took out methadone clinics from CON process which was a mistake and will be debated heavily on floor.
Mopeds
The House of Representatives amended and gave second reading to H.3440regarding mopeds. Under the adopted committee amendment, all mopeds would have to be registered. You have to have a driver’s license or a moped license to drive and you must be able to provide insurance. You can’t have a moped if you have a suspended driver’s license.
Representative Walt McLeod moved to adjourn debate Thursday morning on the bill. By a vote of 52-43, the motion failed and the bill was given third reading.
Lourie Point of Personal Interest
Medicaid
Senator Lourie took the Senate floor Thursday to discuss how we are denying constituents healthcare. He said 31 states had extended Medicaid and asked why not South Carolina? He said as this was his last year in the Senate, he would speak about this issue quite often.
Larry Martin Point of Personal Interest
Judicial Selections
Senator Larry Martin took the Senate floor Thursday to discuss judicial selections. He wanted to assure members of the Senate that the selection committee did not ask candidates about a particular case. “This did not happen. The interview was about philosophy and their views,” said Martin.
Grooms Point of Personal Interest
SC Prayer Caucus
Senator Grooms took the Senate floor Thursday to discuss the new South Carolina Prayer Caucus. He said Senator Pinckney’s death had an impact on him. “The purpose of this caucus is to pray for our state, our nation and for each other,” said Grooms.
Lee Bright Point of Personal Interest
Registration of Refugee
Senator Lee Bright took the Senate floor Thursday on a point of personal interest regarding the registration of refugees. He filed a bill which was referred to the General Committee.
Peeler Point of Personal Interest
Registration of Refugees
Senator Peeler took the Senate floor Thursday on a point of personal interest on S.928, refugee registration. He spoke about his faith in God and said we are at war with people who want to kill us. He attempted to recall the bill from committee but his motion
failed. Senator Hutto asked why the bill should not go through the committee process. After a brief discussion, Peeler and Hutto agreed to disagree.
Scott Point of Personal Interest
Flood
Senator Scott took the Senate floor Thursday on a point of personal privilege on the state’s flooding. He said he filed a bill to ask local government to work with the Department of Transportation and DHEC to look at the dams and bridges.
S.928 Discussion
Senator Peeler attempted to recall S.928 Thursday. Senator Hutto spoke against the recall saying they wanted to have a subcommittee meeting on the issue. Senator Sheheen agreed with Hutto saying he was not afraid. Senator Jackson said he respected the process. Peeler replied, “I respect you. I am not trying to hijack the process. I feel this matter should be addressed right now.” Senator Bryant spoke in favor of the recall as did Senator Bright. The motion failed.
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