South Carolina wraps up 2024 legislative session. Here are six key takeaways
The South Carolina legislature concluded the 2024 session last week. Some widely discussed bills passed through both chambers by the May 9 deadline while several others failed. At least one is in limbo before it can reach Gov. Henry McMaster’s desk.
McMaster signed the permitless “constitutional” firearm carry bill into law on March 7, and the “Help Not Harm” bill banning medical care for transgender youth is headed to the governor’s desk after the House approved Senate amendments to the bill.
Senate Bill 1046, the “judicial reform” measure could become law if a joint conference committee approves it in the coming months, while medical marijuana and an insurance bill related to liquor liability failed to make it that far.
Here are six takeaways from the state General Assembly’s 2024 session.
Permitless “constitutional” firearm carry
McMaster signed H.3594, making permitless firearm carry legal for those 18 and older legally allowed to carry a gun. The new law, dubbed “constitutional carry,” bounced between both chambers of the General Assembly before the finalized version was signed into law.
Days earlier, a joint committee of the House and Senate ultimately decided on the final version of the bill on the morning of March 5. The House approved the committee’s report later that afternoon, and the Senate approved the bill the next day.
The law allows anyone 18 and older, legally eligible to carry a firearm, to do so, openly or concealed, without the need for a permit or registration. It further loosened firearm restrictions after the 2021 Open Carry law allowed a concealed weapons permit (CWP) holder to openly carry handguns.
While CWPs are no longer required under the new permitless carry law, they can still have reciprocity for concealed carry in other states.
With the new law, South Carolina became the 29th state to legalize permitless carry.
Medical care for transgender youth banned
A House bill outlawing medical care for transgender youth is headed to McMaster to sign into law. On Thursday, the last day of the legislative session, the House agreed to accept the Senate’s amendments to the law.
The bill eliminates puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapy, and gender-reassignment surgery for those under 18. The bill does make exceptions for people being treated with hormone therapy or puberty blockers that have conditions like precocious puberty or endometriosis.
The Senate's most significant change was an amendment requiring public school principals and vice principals to inform parents if a student reported identifying as a different gender from their assigned sex or using different pronouns.
Opponents of the provision said it was a forced outing and could be dangerous for a child.
Supporters of the bill argued that parents have a right to know if their child is identifying as transgender and said the bill’s goal is to protect children.
If signed into law by the governor, South Carolina would join 25 other states outlawing medical care for transgender youth, according to Human Rights Campaign.
'Judicial reform' bill could become law
The future of S.1046, a bill that would revise the commission that selects judges in the state, remains in limbo as it was referred to a joint conference committee before the legislative session adjourned.
South Carolina and Virginia are the only two states where the legislature appoints judges. Once a judicial merit selection commission screens and approves candidates, they are voted on by the legislature.
However, the two chambers were not able to reconcile their respective versions of the bill, so it is headed to a joint conference committee consisting of three members of the House and three members of the Senate.
Judges appointed by the commission serve six-year terms, except for Supreme Court appointees who serve 10-year terms. The bill looks to establish non-successive terms for commission members. This would, in theory, limit judges from repeatedly appearing before the same lawyer-legislators on the commission.
Currently, the 10-member panel has five Senate appointees and five House appointees. Of those appointees, three are from the Senate and three are from the House. All are practicing attorneys. Each chamber also appoints two members of the general public.
In the conference committee, if two of the three legislators from each body approve a version of the bill, there will still be an opportunity for the Senate and House to agree on the conference report. If they do agree, it will proceed to the governor’s desk.
Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston, is one of the three House members appointed to the committee. Although the legislature adjourned this year’s session “sine die” at 5 p.m. Thursday, Stavrinakis told the Greenville News that if the conference committee comes to an agreed-upon version, both chambers have several opportunities to approve the bill before the end of June.
Insurance bill related to liquor liability fails
House Bill 5066, which would regulate insurance companies and premiums, was one measure that did not reach the conference committee stage. It passed the House in late March but died in committee in the Senate.
Stavrinakis, a co-sponsor of the bill, said it was intended to prevent “blatant” price gouging by insurance companies, especially among bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. He said that some insurance companies charge the businesses “exorbitant” premiums. Some entertainment venues have spoken out against the rising costs of coverage, which has caused some Upstate drinking establishments to shutter.
“The essence of the bill was to create a system that rates risk like we do for automobiles, homes, every other kind of insurance,” Stavrinakis said. “If you think about your automobile policy, people who get in accidents and get tickets pay more money than people that don't. Homeowners claim the same thing, people who make claims pay more money than people who don't.”
Rep. Jason Elliot, R-Greenville, the lead sponsor of the bill, said he hopes the bill can "start over" next legislative session.
"It's a real issue. It's one that's affecting the economic viability of businesses, and it affects jobs," Elliott said.
Medical marijuana killed for a second year in a row
In February, South Carolina’s Senate passed a bill to allow marijuana for medical use 24-19. However, the bill died in a House committee.
Last year, the bill was killed due to a technicality over where the measure must start because it would generate revenue.
Sen. Tom Davis, a Republican representing Beaufort County, has pushed the bill for almost a decade, adamant that it would not be for recreational use.
‘Health czar’ bill squashed
A bill that would have dissolved several departments and combined them into one agency was killed by the South Carolina’s Freedom Caucus in the last minutes of the legislative session.
The bill, introduced in the Senate earlier this year, would have created an Executive Office of Health and Policy by combining the newly created Department of Public Health with five departments.
Last year, South Carolina passed a bill dividing the South Carolina Department of Health and Environment Control (DHEC) into two separate agencies. Effective in July, the two new agencies will be the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) and South Carolina Public Health (DPH.)
The Executive Office of Health Policy bill would have eliminated the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Mental Health, and Department of Aging and combined them in the Department of Health.
It passed the Senate and made its way out of a House committee but did not pass the House at the last minute. Critics of the bill dubbed the bill the “Health Czar bill.”
“We need medical freedom bills, not more Fauci’s,” said Rep. Adam Morgan, the Republican chairman of the South Carolina Freedom Caucus, on X, formerly Twitter, Thursday night. Morgan, also a candidate for the 4th District Congressional seat, was referring to Anthony Fauci, the nation's former chief medical advisor to the president.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: South Carolina 2024 legislative session ends; here are key takeaways
