Wednesday, a U.S. district judge suspended a number of measures in Arizona’s new law to combat illegal immigration, which has thrown more gasoline on the fire, as if the issue needed it. We’ve never cared too much about the immigration issue — the people who care will fight it out and we’ll accept what comes down. But this ruling could have an impact on other states considering similar laws.

In her temporary injunction, Bolton delayed the most contentious provisions of the law, including a section that required officers to check a person’s immigration status while enforcing other laws. She also barred enforcement of parts requiring immigrants to carry their papers and banned illegal immigrants from soliciting employment in public places — a move aimed at day laborers that congregate in large numbers in parking lots across Arizona. The judge also blocked officers from making warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.

One of those states, naturally enough, is South Carolina. During the last legislative session, Sen. Larry Grooms sponsored a bill crafted on the Arizona legislation, and is looking to file a bill on the issue for next year.

“I’m not going to sponsor legislation that the court has said is unconstitutional,” he said. “But if we find out there legal problems with what Arizona has enacted, we’ll be able to work around it.”

Grooms said a test vote in the Senate on a budget provision that was similar to the Arizona law garnered more than two-thirds support, a sign that such a measure would pass the Legislature.

In a release Wednesday afternoon, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell appeared absolutely committed to getting illegal immigration legislation passed, which means that it’s likely that it will be at the top of the list for the 2011 agenda. Considering the heat surrounding the issue nationally, it may define parts of next year’s session not devoted to another tough budget battle.

“We see today’s decision as only the first step in an important legal struggle,” McConnell said. “This ruling will not deter me from continuing to work on this issue. I am committed to continuing full steam to have a bill ready for the Senate and for us to pass a stronger Arizona style immigration bill when we return in January.”

We’re continually surprised at the level of political tone-deafness that Rep. Nikki Haley and her supporters exhibit. For example, there was the thing last week where Haley tried to tell the Senate what to do regarding roll call voting. If there’s one thing we know from our time in politics, a two-term House member trying to tell senators what to do in their chamber is not going to fly.

At the first meeting last week, it was clearly an orchestrated event with tea partiers and the S.C. Policy Council trying to make some hay, and senators in the meeting asking questions that she refused to answer.

Depending on whom you ask, a recent standing-room-only showdown over government transparency at the State House was either a serious legislative hearing or a clown show with a candidate for governor showboating in the center ring.

Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell, a gentleman who knows his way around legislation (and hence why we’re against term limits — having amateurs draft bills is never a good idea) declared that he was against her bill because he said it was poorly-written and unconstitutional. But that wouldn’t stop people whom Tom and Ray Magliozzi would call “knuckle-scraping Neanderthals” from opening their mouths and proving how ignorant they are about politics and the legislative process.

“Ms. Haley, that’s not your business,” said chairman Martin. “We don’t tell you how to conduct meetings over in the House; we follow our own procedure, you know that.”

From the back of the room, an elderly man from Manning named Lee Stevenson stood up.

“Hey senator,” he hollered to Martin, “this is everybody’s business.”

A State House security guard charged from the doorway and into Stevenson’s face.

“You need to sit down and keep your comments to yourself,” the guard hissed, jabbing his finger at Stevenson.

In subsequent meetings, barely anyone showed up, because — surprise, surprise — those meetings weren’t organized campaign events for the person who by any intelligent consideration, will finish last in the voting for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. But that doesn’t mean that the Senate doesn’t care about getting important votes on the record. McConnell took a look at the situation and came up with a plan that actually works.

For practical purposes on the Senate floor, voice votes will continue, but each senator present will be individually recorded as voting “yes” or “no” on the issue based on the outcome of the voice vote, unless the senator specifically asks to be recorded otherwise, contrary to the voice vote.

Senators who are not in the Senate chamber when a vote is taken may be recorded in the daily journal as to how they would have voted on that specific issue, had they been there.

The Rule. Committee’s unanimous vote for the Rule 16 change was followed by an identical vote supporting a resolution urging the Senate to put the bill proposing the change in a priority slot on the Senate calendar.

[...]

“What this does is give 100 percent transparency to the business of the Senate,” McConnell declared after the Committee vote.

Rules Committee chairman Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, said the Senate proposal goes beyond what the House passed in terms of transparency.

Did this plan, a good one that works, pass muster with the Lexington representative? As the saying goes, not bloody likely.

But Haley labeled the Senate’s effort to pass off as “transparent” lawmakers’ votes published in the Senate Journal at the end of the day “an embarrassment to the state of South Carolina.”

Well, if she’s so concerned about how the Senate does its business, maybe she should run for Senate, and not for governor.

In a rare move on the part of the Senate, Lt. Gov. André Bauer found himself on the wrong side of the count when a ruling he made was overturned. Late Thursday night and into early Friday morning, Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell and Bauer took turns presiding over the Senate’s marathon session to pass the budget. While Bauer was up, he ruled out of order a $12 fee on license plate registration.

That ruling, which was not welcomed by many on the floor, threw the budget out of balance. Needless to say, there was a feeling that the ruling was made under the wrong assumptions. Also — heavens — needing to go through and re-balance the budget would have been a gigantic clusterfuck if there ever was one. Shortly thereafter, McConnell stepped back in and a motion to reverse the Lieutenant Governor’s decision. It only took a majority vote.

In short order, or what amounted to that during the evening, Bauer was overruled by the Senate by a vote of 28-14. This sort of incident looks like fodder for the gubernatorial campaign, for Bauer and for his opponents. Bauer can roll out and say he was protecting the pocketbooks of South Carolinians, while his opponents can say that even after almost eight years as President of the Senate, he’s still making mistakes on knowing the rules of the chamber and lawmaking in South Carolina. Everybody wins.

As the professor would say on “Futurama,” “Good news everyone!” It looks like the cigarette tax may well get passed this year, for a change. On Wednesday, the Senate passed an increase to 50 cents (from seven cents). Even better, it passed with a two-thirds majority, which bodes well for the bill in the likely event that Gov. Mark Sanford vetoes the measure.

Earlier, the House passed an increase to 30 cents, so there will need to be some horse-trading and a working out of differences between both chambers. Though, because legislators are tired of dealing with this issue, the chances of a compromise are better than they have been in past sessions.

The main reason the bill received so much support was as a result of the Republican leadership compromising to let a Democratic spending plan get through.

Under the amended cigarette tax bill passed by the Senate, $3 million will go for infrastructure development in counties adjoining the high-poverty I-95 corridor, and $1 million will go for agriculture promotion.

Promoted by Sen. John Land, D-Clarendon, with the aid of Finance Committee chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, and Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, the amendment earmarks the $4 million only when it is available and not otherwise obligated, lawmakers said.

The amendment, which was passed by the same 32-12 margin as the overall bill, was further altered by Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, so that the I-95 provision automatically sunsets after five years, though lawmakers could vote to stop the subsidy at any time.

We think Land’s plan makes no sense, and that it’ll be good if it ends sooner rather than later. It’s a tax meant to deal with health care, not sewer pipes. If you want to help infrastructure in the I-95 corridor, find the money somewhere else. This needs to go to health care costs. But, like legislation has to be done, compromise had to happen, and the GOP leadership decided the good outweighed the bad on this bill, which it does.

Hopefully, the House will have a similar mind and get this thing through, then we won’t have to be talking about a cigarette tax next year.

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.

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.

Funnily enough, men from two parties can talk to each other and work out a deal, even in South Carolina. The voter ID/early voting bill, H. 3418, was in such a mess of debate and amendments that it was set on Wednesday for third reading, but allowing for amendments, which is highly unusual. However, cooler heads prevailed.

Before Wednesday’s session, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell and Senate Minority Leader John Land got together to work out a compromise on the legislation to minimize the pain the Senate would have to endure in knocking down amendments before the inevitability of voting the bill through. It’s a tribute to both men that they got it done.

Gubernatorial candidate and Sen. Vince Sheheen was not down with the plan, and still kept several amendments on the desk. Land showed his leadership by saying he empathized with Sheheen but had to object to his amendments. In the end, the bill passed.

McConnell, before the debate, said, “Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, I want to bring some clarity to the debate from yesterday, and the questions that were raised. I subsequently had the opportunity to talk to the senator from Clarendon about the dialogue that he and I had regarding, would amendments be allowed on the third. And, here is what was intended and he will confirm it: yes, we would allow amendments on third that are an exception to the rule. Something that we left out and intended to put in, something that misstated that we should have stated a different way, and clarifications.”

Yes, Virginia, progress can happen in the General Assembly.

TUESDAY
HOUSE
Adopted

• H. 4358, by Rep. Bill Herbkersman, to memorialize Congress for fair treatment of U.S. Navy Seals.

Debate adjourned

• S. 424, by Sen. Lee Bright, relating to the rights of South Carolinians under the Ninth and 10th Amendments.

SENATE
Amended, passed on second reading

• S. 1034, by Sen. Hugh Leatherman, to extend until Nov. 15, 2010 the deadline by which the Taxation Realignment Commission should submit its report and recommendations.

Third reading

• S. 517, by Sen. Tom Davis, to prevent any part of state government from administratively raising a fee or penalty without said increase first being approved by the General Assembly. The provision would expire on Jan. 15, 2011.

WEDNESDAY
HOUSE
Introductions

• S. 517, by Davis, to prevent any part of state government from administratively raising a fee or penalty without said increase first being approved by the General Assembly. The provision would expire on Jan. 15, 2011.

Debate adjourned

• H. 3279, by Rep. Tom Young, to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow the voters to decide as to whether they would support removing the secretary of state from the number of constitutional officers on the ballot.
• S. 424, by Bright, relating to the rights of South Carolinians under the Ninth and 10th Amendments. The bill was amended before debate adjourned.

Rejected

• H. 3279, by T. Young, to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow the voters to decide as to whether they would support removing the secretary of state from the number of constitutional officers on the ballot. The bill failed by one vote.

SENATE
Reported out of committee favorably

• S. 590, by Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, regarding petition candidates.
• S. 900 and S. 901, by Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, to provide permanent security for the governor and lieutenant governor, and provide a specific rule for the chain of command.
• S. 1085, by Leatherman, to increase from three to five percent the amount of revenue deposited into the General Reserve Fund.
• H. 3231, by Rep. Ted Pitts, to have the governor and lieutenant governor elected on the same ticket.

Third reading

• S. 1034, by Leatherman, to extend until Nov. 15, 2010 the deadline by which the Taxation Realignment Commission should submit its report and recommendations.

Debate interrupted

• H. 3418, by Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell, on voter ID.

THURSDAY
HOUSE
Introductions

• H. 4451, by Rep. Dennis Moss, to ban liquor sales statewide not just to include Election Day and Sundays, but Christmas Day and Thanksgiving Day.
• H. 4457, by Rep. Bill Bowers, to prevent private emails of public officials from being subjected to FOIA requests.
• H. 4468, by Rep. Michael Thompson, six words: South Carolina Study Committee Study Committee.
• S. 1034, by Leatherman, to extend until Nov. 15, 2010 the deadline by which the Taxation Realignment Commission should submit its report and recommendations.
• H. 4455, by Rep. Mike Pitts, (OK, we have to print this in its entirety) A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION MEMORIALIZING THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES TO WITHDRAW THE UNITED STATES FROM THE SECURITY AND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP OF NORTH AMERICA AND ANY OTHER ACTIVITY THAT SEEKS TO CREATE A NORTH AMERICAN UNION, AND REQUESTING THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION OF EACH STATE INCLUDING SOUTH CAROLINA TO WORK TO WITHDRAW THE UNITED STATES FROM THE SECURITY AND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP OF NORTH AMERICA AND ANY OTHER ACTIVITY THAT SEEKS TO CREATE A NORTH AMERICAN UNION. (Lordy, can you believe these people? In what weird freako world does the U.S., Canada and Mexico form one government except in scifi books and the fringe of the fringe of American politics?)
• H. 4475, by T. Young, to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow the voters to decide as to whether they would support removing the secretary of state from the number of constitutional officers on the ballot.
• H. 4478, by Harrell, the, for all intents and purposes, House jobs bill.

Debate adjourned

• S. 424, by Bright, relating to the rights of South Carolinians under the Ninth and 10th Amendments. Democrats went to town proposing amendments to the bill, which ran on for some time.

SENATE
Amended, passed on second reading

• S. 590, by Peeler, regarding petition candidates.
• H. 3418, by Harrell, on voter ID.

Second reading

• S. 1, by McConnell, a constitutional amendment generally imposing spending caps and the like.

Third reading

• S. 766, by Sen. Thomas Alexander, banning novelty lighters.

Carried over, as amended

• S. 1085, by Leatherman, to increase from three to five percent the amount of revenue deposited into the General Reserve Fund.
• H. 3396, by Harrell, to increase from three to five percent the amount of revenue deposited into the General Reserve Fund.

QUOTES
Harrell: Ms. Funderburk is recognized for a…oh, I’m sorry. Are you up? Ms. Funderburk is recognized. Are you joining her, Mr. Gunn?
Rep. Anton Gunn: I am.
Harrell: With her wingman, Mr. Gunn.

===

On the resolution suggesting protection of U.S. Navy Seals.
Harrell: Mr. Kennedy, for what purpose do you rise?
You would like to ask me a question?
Rep. Ken Kennedy: Who is introducing the resolution?
Harrell: Mr. Herbkersman introduced it. There’s no one at the podium who wishes to take a question right now.
Kennedy: Are they being abused or something? Why are we introducing it?
Harrell: Mr. Kennedy, you have to…you can adjourn debate….
Kennedy: I adjourn debate until he can tell me why we are introducing it.
The motion was withdrawn.

===

During debate on the state sovereignty bill.
Harrell: Mr. Kennedy, it’s a concurrent resolution. You don’t request debate on it.
Kennedy: Well, how can we…? Let’s stop it.
Harrell: Mr. Kennedy says, “Let’s stop it.” I’m not sure of that motion, Mr. Kennedy.

===

Rep. Walt McLeod: The concept of an armed South Carolina militia is a concept already contained in the Constitution. This amendment – Mr. Bedingfield and I are good friends; sometimes we have a difference of opinion. The amendment speaks about armed South Carolinians. It says absolutely nothing about the militia. We need to be careful about having “armed South Carolinians.”

===

Rep. Bakari Sellers: My question to you is, when will the Republican Party get serious about anything other than themselves?
McLeod: I don’t think I want to answer that one, but I compliment you for trying.

===

Kennedy: Are you aware that what they are trying to do is arm every South Carolinian? Get every South Carolinian with a gun, so that when a job does come open, they can battle over it. Do you see that coming?
McLeod: I know I have a shotgun, which I use for hunting purposes. I’m really not interested in being denominated as an “armed South Carolinian.”

===

Kennedy: Wouldn’t you think the people who are watching this over television out there, in South Carolina, watching this debate, wouldn’t you think that they think we are nuts up here?
McLeod: I would think it would create an unfavorable impression.
Kennedy: Nuts.
McLeod: I don’t think I would agree with that word, but perhaps close to it.
Kennedy: Why won’t you use the word, “nuts?” It’s in the dictionary. Nuts. Wouldn’t you think that we are nuts up here?

===

Sen. Phil Leventis: Here we are, in a budget crisis, and we cannot get accounting out of the Department of Corrections, and the Governor is the only one who can take action to change this, and the Governor is quiet. This governor can’t be about accountability, he can’t be about transparency, because he is protecting his agency heads – this one in particular at the Department of Corrections – from any accounting or transparency with this legislature.

===

Thompson: Did you know that sometimes, I feel like putting a sign outside the House chamber that says, “Go sell crazy elsewhere – we’re all full.”

===

Sellers: Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that we make Devan Downey the governor of South Carolina.
Harrell: Mr. Sellers asks unanimous consent that we make Devan Downey the next Republican governor from South Carolina.
Mr. Sellers objects.

Thursday’s brokered end to the battle over the Voter ID/early voting bill in the Senate showed a brief glimpse of a change in the atmosphere of the General Assembly this year. If one thing has been at the forefront, it’s been Republican red meat bills and Democratic obstruction. There ends up being a lot of talking from the left side of either chamber, and when a enough legislators finally have enough of the mess, debate is adjourned with the hope of fixing the problem later.

The same thing was going on in the Senate, which had just come out of filibustering over the state sovereignty resolution. Then came H. 3418, the bill chief sponsored by Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell that passed the lower chamber last year. The Democrats, who get cheeky in their role in opposition, showed up with 1,001 amendments to the bill. Take that into account — you have to have so much commitment to fucking with the majority party that you have staff go through and write hundreds of amendments.

Fortunately, Sens. Chip Campsen and Gerald Malloy came together and worked out the kinks to get the bill passed. It’s what legislation is about, and that’s compromise to reach an equitable solution. Republicans get voter ID, Democrats get more on early voting.

In a statement, Senate Minority Leader John Land said, “This is a good compromise that protects the voter’s access to the polls and the integrity of our elections. Democrats’ priority from the beginning of this debate was to ensure that all registered voters would have uninterrupted access to the polls. I believe this plan keeps the polls open to all citizens and goes a long way to making voting more efficient in our state.”

In The State, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell had a similar opinion. “It’s something everybody can look at,” He said. “It is a bipartisan effort.”

Before the bill made it through, Sen. Larry Martin said to the AP, “The integrity of the voting process is one of the most important rights of citizenship that we have, and when that in any way is jeopardized, it stands to suffer.”

TUESDAY
HOUSE
Introductions

• H. 4351, by Rep. Kenneth Hodges, to make it the policy of the state to promote microbusinesses — companies with five or fewer employees.
• H. 4352, by Hodges, to establish a study committee to promote and provide funds for the creation and growth of small businesses.

SENATE
Introductions

• S. 1058, by Sen. Larry Martin, to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to abolish the office of lieutenant governor, and to make the necessary changes involving the incapacity or removal of the governor, and the order of succession.
• H. 4253, by Rep. Tim Scott, a concurrent resolution to urge the Department of Commerce to start a business recruitment initiative that emphasized South Carolina’s right-to-work status.
• H. 4299, by Rep. Dan Cooper, to allow spending flexibility among public schools in a number of areas.

Enrolled for ratification

• H. 3488, by Rep. James Smith, to develop a committee to address veterans’ issues.

Amended and adopted

• S. 424, by Sen. Lee Bright, relating to the rights of South Carolinians under the Ninth and 10th Amendments.

WEDNESDAY
HOUSE
Introductions

• H. 4373, by Rep. Dwight Loftis, to set up a state Department of Energy and provide for a director to be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, and eliminating the State Energy Office.
• H. 4385, by Rep. Michael Thompson, to reform the board of trustees for the University of South Carolina.
• H. 4386, by Thompson, to set term limits for public university boards of trustees.

Objection to recall

• H. 3952, by Rep. Chris Hart, to place a six-month moratorium on foreclosures and accrual of interest on certain mortgages. Hart asked to recall the bill from the Judiciary Committee, but Rep. Jim Harrison objected.

Sent to the Senate

• H. 3543, by Rep. Joan Brady, implementing a dating violence policy to help local school districts to develop their own policies and to create reporting requirements.

Debate adjourned

• H. 3280, by Rep. Tom Young, to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow the voters to decide as to whether they would support removing the superintendent of education from the number of constitutional officers on the ballot. The bill is scheduled to be taken up again on Jan. 26.

Reported out of committee favorably

• H. 4318, by T. Young, a concurrent resolution to show the objection of the General Assembly to the Federal government’s abandoning of Yucca Mountain as the default storage location for nuclear waste.

SENATE
Introductions

• H. 4303, by Rep. Kenny Bingham, immediate reforms to the Employment Security Commission, including parameters for disqualifying some applicants and upgrading technology.

Reported out of committee favorably

• S. 1034, by Sen. Hugh Leatherman, to extend until Nov. 15, 2010 the deadline by which the Taxation Realignment Commission should submit its report and recommendations.

Motion for special order

• H. 3418, by Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell, to require voters show a picture ID when voting. Martin moved to have the bill placed as special order, which failed 26-17.

• S. 391, by Sen. Greg Ryberg, to reform the Employment Security Commission. Sen. Nikki Setzler moved to place the bill as special order, which failed 18-23.

THURSDAY
HOUSE
Introductions

• S. 424, by Bright, relating to the rights of South Carolinians under the Ninth and 10th Amendments.
• H. 4410, by Rep. Alan Clemmons, to establish term limits for members of the House and Senate.

Recalled and sent back to committee

• H. 4385, by Thompson, to reform the board of trustees for the University of South Carolina. It was recalled from Judiciary and sent to Education and Public Works.
• H. 4351 and H. 4352, by Hodges, to make it the policy of the state to promote microbusinesses — companies with five or fewer employees; and to establish a study committee to promote and provide funds for the creation and growth of small businesses. Both bills were recalled from Ways and Means and sent to Labor, Commerce and Industry.

Adopted and sent to the Senate

• H. 4318, by T. Young, a concurrent resolution to show the objection of the General Assembly to the Federal government’s abandoning of Yucca Mountain as the default storage location for nuclear waste.

Reported out of committee favorably

• S. 424, by Bright, relating to the rights of South Carolinians under the Ninth and 10th Amendments.

SENATE
Introductions

• S. 1093, by Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, to rescind the current resolution setting a date and time for judicial elections.
• S. 1085 and S. 1086, by Leatherman, to increase from three to five percent the amount of revenue deposited into the General Reserve Fund, and other reforms pertaining to the move; a constitutional amendment doing the same.
• H. 3543, by Brady, implementing a dating violence policy to help local school districts to develop their own policies and to create reporting requirements.
• H. 4318, by T. Young, a concurrent resolution to show the objection of the General Assembly to the Federal government’s abandoning of Yucca Mountain as the default storage location for nuclear waste.

Carried over

• S. 1034, by Leatherman, to extend until Nov. 15, 2010 the deadline by which the Taxation Realignment Commission should submit its report and recommendations. Ryberg made the motion to carry over.
• S. 517, by Sen. Tom Davis, to prevent any part of state government from administratively raising a fee or penalty without said increase first being approved by the General Assembly. The provision would expire on Jan. 15, 2011. The bill was amended, and carried over per a motion by Leatherman.

QUOTES
Regarding letting House Minority Leader Harry Ott talk first on “This Week in the House.”
Bingham: Let him go ahead first, I don’t mind having the last word.

===

On the vote inviting the national commander of the American Legion.
Harrell: The resolution is inviting the national commander of the American Legion to speak to the body. We’re in a roll call vote on it. In other words, it’s a vote of whether or not you’re going to attend.
Ott: And we’re going to hold you to it if you vote yes.
(Laughter)

===

During the debate on the state sovereignty bill.
Sen. Phil Leventis: I’ve probably fired more bullets than you have. Why? Because I used to shoot them at 100 a second. Not for many seconds, but that’s how fast the gun shoots on the plane that I flew for about 20 years. And even though I did it maybe once a week, you know. So, we’ll leave that statement unchallenged that I fired more shells than y’all have, and then the next time we get up, you can assure me why I’m wrong about that.

===

During the discussion of the suit against the Judicial Merit Selection Commission.
Sen. Robert Ford: You know our colleagues in Charleston, our constituents. I mean, they’re always ready to fight.
McConnell: Now, Charleston can create crises around here.