The State Capitol Report
By Rep. Robert Q. Williams, SC House District #62
The House of Representatives and the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.3726, the
• Retirement System Funding and Administration Act, and enrolled the legislation for ratification. This bill implements recommendations of the joint legislative committee formed to study the unfunded liability facing the state retirement systems and propose changes that could allow the state’s pensions to remain viable by continuing to deliver benefits to retirees without undermining the state’s finances.
• H.3726 decouples employer and employee contribution rates into pension systems by eliminating the required differential between the two rates which is currently set at 2.9 percent for the largest pension plan, the South Carolina Retirement System which serves most state government employees, teachers, various local government employees, and others, and 5 percent for the Police Officers Retirement System. The legislation provides for a 2% increase in the employer contribution rates for these systems effective July 1, 2017, so that the SCRS employer contribution rate will increase from the current 11.56 percent to 13.56 percent and the PORS employer contribution rate will increase from the current 14.24 percent to 16.24 percent. Each year thereafter, a 1 percent increase is scheduled for these employer contribution rates until Fiscal Year 2022-2023.
• H.3726 implements recommendations for improving governance of the retirement systems and simplifying lines of authority which draw upon findings of South Carolina’s Legislative Audit Council and the private firm that conducted the independent audit of the state’s pension systems. The legislation provides greater definition for the role of the Executive Director of the Public Employee Benefit Authority, who is designated by PEBA’s Board of Directors and serves at the pleasure of the board. PEBA’s organizational structure is clarified such that all employees are hired by and report to the Executive Director.
• The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3930, a bill providing authorization to carry a handgun in public without a permit, either openly or concealed, implementing what is often called “Constitutional carry” or “permitless carry” in South Carolina. In making its revisions, the legislation retains most of the current provisions relating to concealable weapons, including: the issuance of concealable weapons permits by the State Law Enforcement Division; the posting of notification that allows a business owner to prohibit concealable weapons on the premises; the homeowner permission required for carrying a concealable weapon into a private residence; and a list of places where concealable weapons are not allowed such as schools, daycare facilities, hospitals, courthouses, and the meeting places of government bodies.
• The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3566, a bill establishing conditions upon which school first responders may posses firearms on school premises while rendering aid in crisis situations. The legislation makes provisions for the Law Enforcement Training Council to develop guidelines for a one week training program offered by the Criminal Justice Academy to the emergency medical service personnel and firefighters who serve as school first responders which provides certification that, along with a valid concealed weapons permit, allows them to possess firearms on school premises while they are responding to a campus shooting or other emergencies.
• The House approved S.354 and enrolled the bill for ratification. The legislation makes provisions for Department of Mental Health Crisis Stabilization Unit facilities where individuals entering hospital emergency rooms suffering from mental illness or substance abuse issues may be transferred to begin receiving appropriate care. This bill makes provisions for a crisis stabilization unit facility operated or authorized by the Department of Mental Health which provides a short term residential program offering psychiatric stabilization services, detoxification services, and brief, intensive crisis services twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
• The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate to H.3823, a bill requiring healthcare professionals to report the exposure of infants to alcohol or drugs. The legislation adds physicians, nurses, and medical or allied health professionals to the list of those who are required to report instances of suspected child abuse or neglect by mandating a report to the Department of Social Services whenever they encounter a child, birth to one year, who is diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome or a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or a child, birth to one year, who is medically affected by the prenatal substance exposure to a controlled or illegal substance, or withdrawal from alcohol or a controlled or illegal substance.
•The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3865, the “South Carolina Pregnancy Accommodations Act.” The legislation enhances state laws that combat pregnancy discrimination, promote public health, and ensure full and equal participation for women in the labor force by requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees for medical needs arising from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, including accommodations for lactation, that allow employees to remain on the job.
•The House approved and sent the Senate H.3809, bill facilitating access to a year’s supply of contraceptive drugs, such as birth control pills, patches, and rings, that can be obtained all at one time rather than through periodic refills over the course of a year.
•The House amended, approved, and sent the Senate H.3824, a bill establishing requirements for healthcare practitioners to review a patient’s controlled substance prescription history. The legislation establishes a protocol for conducting a review a patient’s controlled substance prescription history, as maintained in the prescription-monitoring program, before a practitioner issues a prescription for a Schedule II controlled substance.
If I may be of assistance please feel free to call your legislative office in Columbia (803-734-3142), or my home (843-395-9408).