Prefiled bills ’09: Restructuring bills soldier on

Few buzz-phrases have been more popular in Columbia over the past several years than “government restructuring.” The lastest round of prefiles close the book on what legislators will be looking at immediately.

One of Rep. Jimmy Merrill‘s plans this session is to get rid of the Commission on Higher Education, splitting its duties between the trustees of individual colleges and handing over grants, scholarships and such to the state treasurer. Whether eliminating one level of bureaucracy will help on the face of it, doing anything to streamline student aid would help.

H. 4227: A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-104-63 SO AS TO ABOLISH THE STATE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION AND TO DEVOLVE ITS POWERS AND DUTIES TO THE INDIVIDUAL COLLEGE BOARDS OF TRUSTEES OF THIS STATE, EXCEPT FOR ITS POWERS AND DUTIES CONCERNING SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS, WHICH MUST BE DEVOLVED TO THE OFFICE OF THE STATE TREASURER.

Sometimes bills are never brought up in committee, for one reason or another. Usually it involves the most inside of inside baseball among legislators. Rep. Bill Wylie seeks to make sure if a bill has a large number of sponsors, it has to be brought up within a month by the designated committee.

H. 4251: A HOUSE RESOLUTION TO AMEND RULE 4.4 OF THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, RELATING TO COMMITTEES, SO AS TO REQUIRE A BILL HAVING SIXTY-FIVE OR MORE SPONSORS BE CONSIDERED WITHIN THIRTY DAYS BY THE COMMITTEE TO WHICH IT IS REFERRED AND PROVIDE FOR NOTIFICATION OF THE PRIMARY SPONSOR IF THE BILL IS TABLED OR NOT REPORTED OUT OF COMMITTEE.

Here we go with the term limits. We’ve yet to see a real benefit to term limits that outweighs the problems. Florida had tons of trouble when it instituted term limits, from a large number of inexperienced legislators who had no institutional memory and didn’t know what they were doing, to convenient redistricting. We have elections for a reason. Rep. Nikki Haley is putting up a bill that will knock out anyone with 12 years of service in the General Assembly, or four terms in the House or two terms in the Senate.

H. 4275: A JOINT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 7, ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1895, RELATING TO QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT BEGINNING WITH THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 2012, ANY PERSON WHO HAS SERVED AT LEAST FOUR FULL TERMS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OR WHO HAS SERVED AT LEAST TWELVE YEARS IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN EITHER THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OR THE SENATE, IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AS A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO PHASE THIS PROVISION IN ON A STAGGERED BASIS BASED ON HOUSE SENIORITY; AND TO PROVIDE THAT BEGINNING WITH THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 2012, ANY PERSON WHO HAS SERVED AT LEAST TWO FULL TERMS IN THE SENATE OR WHO HAS SERVED AT LEAST TWELVE YEARS IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN EITHER THE HOUSE OR THE SENATE, IS NOT ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AS A MEMBER OF THE SENATE, AND TO PHASE THIS PROVISION IN ON A STAGGERED BASIS BASED ON SENATE SENIORITY.

Seemingly on the other side of the ledger, we have a proposal from Rep. Lonnie Hosey, who wants to lengthen House terms to four years. That’s been a debate for decades — whether two-year terms make you closer to the electorate or simply more obsessed with elections.

H. 4279: A JOINT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 2, ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1895, RELATING TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT BEGINNING IN 2014, MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MUST BE CHOSEN EVERY FOURTH INSTEAD OF EVERY SECOND YEAR; AND TO AMEND SECTION 8, ARTICLE III, RELATING TO ELECTION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE BE ELECTED EVERY FOURTH INSTEAD OF EVERY SECOND YEAR.