Capitol Report

Rep. Robert Q. Williams
S.C. House District 62

The House of Representatives and the Senate adopted the conference committee report on S.16, legislation that relates to emergency refills of prescriptions by pharmacists, and the bill was enrolled for ratification. Current law provides authority for pharmacists to dispense an emergency prescription refill of up to a 10-day supply of a medication once within a 12-month period.
The bill increases the maximum amount of a medication that may be dispensed for an emergency prescription refill to a 14-day supply. If the qualifying medication is packaged in a way that it is not possible to dispense a 14-day supply, the pharmacist may dispense up to a 30-day supply.
The House returned S.635 to the Senate with amendments. The legislation authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue “DRIVERS FOR A CURE” license plates to support medical research that combats cancer. Proceeds from the plates must be distributed evenly between the Medical University of South Carolina Hollings Cancer Center and the Duke Cancer Institute. The legislation also authorizes the issuance of Air Medal plates to those who have been awarded the medal in the course of their military service.
The House amended, approved and sent the Senate H.4663, legislation allowing pharmacists to administer flu vaccines to children under 12 in accordance with a protocol issued by the Board of Medical Examiners upon recommendation of the Joint Pharmacist Administered Vaccines Committee. The legislation builds upon current provisions that authorize pharmacists to administer the influenza vaccine, without a physician’s order, to those who are at least 12 years old.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4724, a joint resolution establishing a temporary committee to study certain issues affecting veterans that is charged with examining the prevalence and root causes of veteran homelessness in South Carolina.
The committee’s study must address such issues as: the approximate number of homeless veterans in the state; how many of South Carolina’s veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); the availability of services for the state’s most economically disadvantaged veterans; and, reasons why traditional Veterans Affairs Services are not alleviating homelessness, particularly with regard to job placement services.
The committee is composed of: three members of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate; three members of the House of Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House; and, the Secretary of the South Carolina Department of Veterans’ Affairs or his designee. The legislation requires the committee to submit its report to both houses of the General Assembly and to the governor by the end of 2021 and provides for the committee to dissolve after this deadline.
The House approved and sent the Senate H.4694, a bill easing school bus travel restrictions. The legislation revises the blanket prohibition that makes it unlawful for a school bus to pass another school bus by establishing an exception which provides that a school bus may pass another school bus on a multilane highway. The legislation also eliminates a provision that sets maximum speed limits for school buses.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4669, a bill that narrows the exemption from electronically filing death certificates by removing from the exemption physicians who certify fewer that 12 deaths per year and funeral homes that perform fewer than 12 funerals per year. By subjecting these individuals to requirements for the electronic filing of death certificates, only those who act, without compensation, as a funeral director on behalf of a deceased family member or friend remain covered by the exemption from electronic filing.
The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.4937, a bill revising provisions for charitable raffles. The legislation makes revisions to provisions authorizing raffles conducted by nonprofit organizations that include: allowing charitable raffles to continue by eliminating the upcoming sunset date when these provisions are set to expire; increasing prize amounts; consolidating reporting requirements; authorizing a nonprofit organization to compensate members for services rendered in a fundraising event that may include raffle costs related to entertainment, such as the costs of a disc jockey, band, auctioneers, support staff, waiters, bartenders, and wait staff utilized to conduct the fundraising event; and removing a prohibition so that raffle funds may be used for the provision of athletic facilities and equipment.
The House amended, approved and sent the Senate H.4710, a bill to strengthen provisions enacted last year as updates to the Youth Access to Tobacco Prevention Act and public school tobacco-free campus policies that take vaping into account. The legislation also applies Clean Indoor Air Act restrictions to vaping.

Author: Stephan Drew

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