Transparency bill gains momentum

The battle to put into law a roll call voting bill in the General Assembly is expected to heat up as legislators return to Columbia this week. In the House, a bill championed by Rep. Nikki Haley and Rep. Nathan Ballentine, and in the Senate by Majority Leader Sen. Harvey Peeler and Sen. Shane Massey, will undergo a thorough vetting.

Up to this point, roll call votes have been available, but it needed a legislator to call for the vote to put it on the record.

“Last year when Rep. Haley originally filed the bill, many of us knew it would be an uphill battle for various reasons,” Ballentine said. “This summer she drafted the bill (and also a rule) again, and presently there are approximately 30 sponsors on the bill and we are all hopeful for the passage of that bill (instead of that rule change or another rule change).”

Part of the reason the bill has been stuck is that there is a perception that the bill is an attack on the General Assembly by Gov. Mark Sanford.

When Gov. Sanford made a trip across the state touting the proposal, Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell said in a press release, “I have always supported more transparency and responsibility in government. More transparency is good for our state, and more roll call voting in the General Assembly would be a good idea, but we must be fighting for true transparency and not just pandering to voters and grabbing for headlines.”

He continued, “Demanding that we should spend taxpayer money to take a roll call vote on a resolution congratulating a state championship high school team is not true transparency, it’s pandering.”

In deference to the Speaker, an analysis of House journals reveals that roll call voting often takes place in the House. Ballentine suggests, though, making sure the votes are recorded is paramount.

“You’re right that any official can request a roll-call vote, with several others needed to support that request, but the current procedure is one of ‘self-governance’ instead of one that says our individual votes should be known every time, not just when someone wants them to be known,” he said.

In general, roll call votes in the Senate do not happen as often, but Peeler is leading the charge supporting supporting the proposal.

“Transparency is clearly needed in South Carolina,” he said in December. “More roll call votes will shine a bright light on the General Assembly, holding us accountable for the tax dollars we spend and letting our constituents know exactly who is wasting their hard-earned money.”

Massey explained, though, that it won’t be easy to get a roll call bill through the Legislature.

“I think its going to be difficult for a bill to be passed in the Legislature,” he said. “I do think, however, that we will make significant strides in our rules on transparency. Probably, the rules that we pass on the first day hopefully will address many of our transparency issues.”