A bill to give South Carolinians the chance to vote on a state constitutional amendment to ban card check cleared its last hurdle on Wednesday, as the House and Senate both approved H. 3305 with more than a two-thirds majority. Card check is a process that allows easier organizing by unions, and is a departure from the norm of a secret ballot. The amendment is meant to head off the Employee Free Choice Act, a union-backed bill making its way through Congress. Still, if a majority of agreed, under the EFCA a secret ballot vote was still A-OK.

“I don’t necessarily take any pride in the fact that we let Boeing in because we trampled on the rights of workers to organize,” said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter in the Free Times. “I’m glad Boeing is here, but I quite frankly would like South Carolina workers to have the opportunity to negotiate contracts that will pay them a livable wage and with health benefits similar to what the Boeing workers [in Washington] got.”

Republican leadership in the General Assembly dispute such allegations, saying that making sure card check doesn’t make it to the Palmetto State protects our state’s workers. Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler said, “Boeing’s decision to expand its facility near Charleston serves as a reminder why we must protect our tough right-to-work laws. We are sending a strong message to the world: We want your business, and we’re committed to getting it.” Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell added, “I don’t know of anything more basic to the essence of our nation than the right to a secret ballot election.”

The bill was one of the priorities of conservatives in the General Assembly this year, after it was put on the on-deck circle in the first half of the 2009-2010 session. Following the vote, Sen. Larry Martin took to the Internet to explain what went down.

An AP story from Monday presents an interesting idea. A poll was done of 500 black voters in each state of South Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri and Indiana. Two-thirds of those responding said they were closely watching electoral politics this year and between 3/4 and 4/5 of all respondents said they intend to vote this year. The collective sigh you just heard was from Democratic strategists who are considering that November may not end up as bad as anticipated.

In South Carolina, like the South in general, politics are racially-charged. You can run whatever naive line of thinking you want, but in the states of the old Confederacy, the Democratic party is very black and the Republican Party is very white. That’s just the way it is. Hence, unprecedented black turnout in North Carolina and Virginia in 2008 helped President Barack Obama win those states — something a Democrat hasn’t done in decades.

The last time Dems did anything worthwhile around here, 12 years ago, a well-coordinated and motivated black electorate got to the polls and made it a good year for the donkeys in the Palmetto State. We’re still thinking it will be a big year for Republicans, in this state and nationally, but if there is any truth to this poll, the races in the general election could be a lot better than anticipated.

The second edition of “Happy Hour” occurred this week, sponsored by Ragley Public Affairs (thanks for the drinks, J-Dub). The guest for the evening was former The State vice president and editorial page editor Brad Warthen. Then we decided to show up, doing our best to string along a rum and Diet Coke for about 15 minutes.

MEETINGS
HOUSE
Room 403 — 9 a.m. — Full Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee
Room 410 — 9 a.m. — Full Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee
Room 516 — 9 a.m. — Judiciary Criminal Laws Subcommittee

SENATE
Room 308 — 9 a.m. — Medical Affairs Subcommittee on S.1031
Room 105 — 9 a.m. — Judiciary Subcommittee on S.1172, S.1183, S.1184, S.1185 & S.1188
Room 209 — 9:30 a.m. — Judiciary Subcommittee on S.987, S.1010 and S.980
Room 407 — 9:30 a.m. — Banking & Insurance Subcommittee on S.1224 & H.4198
Room 207 — 10 a.m. — Judiciary Subcommittee on S.292, S.314, S.962, S.972, S.1104 & S.1167
Room 308 — 10 a.m. — Medical Affairs Committee

RECEPTIONS
MEMBERS, STAFF, &c.
8-10 a.m. — Breakfast, by the Behavioral Health Services Association in Room 112 of the Blatt Building

If you looked at the general feeling regarding the state cigarette tax, there seems to be enough people of all stripes to vote for raising it. It’s the lowest in the country, and just about everybody with two brain cells to rub together have figured out that bringing it close to the national average just might be a good idea.

However, the devil is in the details, so one way or another a cigarette tax bill that could actually do something gets cut down in committee and the entire effort fails. There’s disagreements about what the money should go to, whether there should be an equivalent tax cut elsewhere, and the like. Wednesday, there was a rally at the State House to urge legislators to pass a bill this year.

Courtesy of the South Carolina Radio Network, Sen. Thomas Alexander spoke to the assembled crowd.

Maybe it’s just us, but this year seems to be one of those years that legislators are fed up with banging their heads against a wall and are committed to finding the right compromise to get some oft-debated issues resolved. Hopefully, this will be one of them.

MEETINGS
HOUSE
Room 305 — 8:30 a.m. — Legislative Career & Tech Group/Rep. Mike Gambrell
Room 427 — 8:30 a.m. — 3-M Subcommittee I, Health and Environmental Affairs
Room 403 — 9 a.m. — L.C.I. Insurance Subcommittee
Room 516 — 9 a.m. — Judiciary General Laws Subcommittee
Room 321 — 9:30 a.m. — Legislative Group/Rep. Bakari Sellers
Room 403 — 9:30 a.m. — L.C.I. Public Utility Subcommittee
Room 516 — 1 hour after the House adjourns — Judiciary Election Laws Subcommittee

SENATE
Room 408 — 9 a.m. — Joint Transportation Review Committee
Room 105 — 9 a.m. — Judiciary Subcommittee on H.4302
Room 207 — 9 a.m. — Finance Subcommittee on Health & Human Services
Room 308 — 9:30 a.m. — Agriculture Subcommittee on S.903, S.1051, S.1192 & S.1204
Room 307 — 10 a.m. — L.C.I. Subcommittee on S.1148, S.1149, R.4100, R.4102, R.4103 and S.1097
Room 105 — 10 a.m. — Public Education Budget Hearings
Room 209 — 10 a.m. — Judiciary Subcommittee on S.1075
Room 207 — 11 a.m. — Finance Subcommittee on Corrections & Public Safety
Room 307 — 11 a.m. — Fish, Game & Forestry Subcommittee on S.1153 & S.1253
Room 308 — 11 a.m. — Judiciary Subcommittee on S.1154
Room 209 — 1 p.m. — Medical Affairs Subcommittee on S.1137

RECEPTIONS
MEMBERS ONLY
8-10 a.m. — Breakfast, by the S.C. Aviation Association in Room 112 of the Blatt Building
Noon-2 p.m. — Lunch, by the S.C. Public Defender Association in Room 112 of the Blatt Building
7-9 p.m. — Dinner, by the Foundation for the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics at the Marriott
MEMBERS, STAFF, &c.
6-8 p.m. — Reception, by the American Legislative Exchange Council at the Clarion Town House Hotel

MEETINGS
HOUSE
Room 305 — 11 a.m. — Minority Caucus
Room 112 — 11 a.m. — Majority Caucus
Room 112 — (upon adjournment) — Minority Caucus
Room 427 — 4:45 p.m. — Legislative Black Caucus

SENATE
Room 207 — 2 p.m. — Finance Subcommittee on Sales & Income Tax
Room 209 — 2 p.m. — Finance Subcommittee on Retirement
Room 105 — 2 p.m. — Judiciary Committee
Room 308 — 3 p.m. — Finance Committee

RECEPTIONS
MEMBERS ONLY
6-8 p.m. — Reception, by the S.C. Centers of Economic Excellence, Health Sciences S.C. and the S.C. Research Authority, at the Columbia Hilton.
MEMBERS, STAFF, &c.
7-9 p.m. — Reception, by the S.C. Realtors, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

They say you shouldn’t talk politics at the bar. But, when every waking moment is spent dealing with politics — and a number of slumbering ones (don’t even say you haven’t had a dream about legislation or a campaign), it’s impossible not to talk shop.

Several years ago, we thought of doing something called “Drunk Pundit.” The idea would be that we’d be outside a bar, or on a back deck, dressed in a suit and a fedora, and talk some random bullshit about a leading topic of the day. A friend of ours came up with the idea after a few nights of going out to bars and noticing we could pull together a brilliant Lewis Black-esque takedown. Needless to say, that idea never came to fruition.

Then there was the plan with this site to go to a random local bar with an elected official/consultant/lobbyist and do something similar, but that didn’t go as planned, either. Fortunately, consultant and Senate Republican Caucus political director Wesley Donehue had a similar idea, and this one worked.

The idea, called, “Happy Hour,” includes a point-counterpoint idea. The first one featured Donehue and Senate Democratic Caucus director Phil Bailey at Flying Saucer in the Vista.

MEETINGS
HOUSE
Room 403 — 9 a.m. — L.C.I. Real Estate Subcommittee
Room 515-A — 9 a.m. — Judiciary Constitutional Laws Subcommittee
Room 516 — 9 a.m. — Judiciary Criminal Laws Subcommittee
Room 112 — Noon — Dutch Fork Elementary School
Room 433 — 1:30 p.m. — Committee to Screen Candidates for Boards of Trustees of Colleges and Universities

SENATE
Room 308 — 9 a.m. — Judiciary Subcommittee on S. 1067 & S. 1147
Room 105 — 9 a.m. — Judiciary Subcommittee on S. 1154
Room 207 — 9:30 a.m. — Medical Affairs Subcommittee on S. 1078, S. 1137, H. 3603 & H. 3170
Room 209 — 9:30 a.m. — Finance Subcommittee on Property Tax
Room 105 — Upon adjournment of the Senate and the House — Sentencing Reform Commission
Room 308 — 15 minutes after the Senate adjourns — Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee

RECEPTIONS
MEMBERS ONLY
8-10 a.m. — Breakfast, by the S.C. Nursery and Landscape Association and S.C. Greenhouse Growers Association in Room 112 of the Blatt Building

It was a rough day in the House on Wednesday, when debate about the warrantless search bill, S. 191, chief sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell and championed in the House by Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell, came to the floor and was debated for well on three hours. We’re big proponents of civil liberties, but this bill definitely seems to be needed.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that people convicted of a crime are likely to commit future crimes.

The bill allows warrantless searches for people on probation and parole, including juveniles, and the vehicles they own and drive. It would not allow the searches in their homes.

Officers would have to verify the person is on probation or parole before they search them. Offenders convicted of misdemeanors that carry jail sentences less than a year would not be subjected to the warrantless searches.

The state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services would have to review records of who is searched for any patterns of abuse.

A solid number of representatives approved the bill, which passed 81-26. It should receive easy passage on third reading and sail through the Senate when the upper chamber takes up the House’s changes. Unless something changes between now and the Senate vote, the bill is in position to be signed into law this year.

Upon the passage, Harrell said in a statement, “If a convicted criminal does get probation, that offender should still be subject to searches during this period. These offenders are serving out their remaining sentence in the public in lieu of jail; therefore these searches are completely warranted. Also, if a repeat offender is charged with a new crime, our judges should be able to consider that fact and have the authority to deny dangerous suspects bail.”

The bill is on the calendar for Thursday for third reading.