What's coming up in the State House?
Well, folks, if you live in the Midlands, it's almost time to run for cover, lock up your daughters and barricade the doors and windows.Yep, you guessed it, the General Assembly will be coming back to town ... and along with them, five months of dramatic oratory, increased spending and, of course, lots of public displays of affection between the Legislature and the Governor.
To help give our readers a bit of a sneak preview of what our House members have in mind for the upcoming session, we decided to take a look at some of the bills they've prefiled. Here's some that caught our eye:
H4307 by Rep. Rutherford (D-Richland) to penalize those who drive recklessly in the vicinity of emergency vehicles which are either en route to a call or on site, with emergency lights.
WE THINK: Those who stupidly or recklessly endanger our public safety officials deserve what they get.
WE RECOMMEND: Pass this bill.
H4311 by Rep. Hagood (R-Charleston) to give Purple Heart recipients their license tags for free.
WE THINK: What the hell? These heroes should NEVER have been charged for those tags in the first place. All hail Hagood!
WE RECOMMEND: Pass this bill - and anyone votes against it should be publicly flogged for high treason - and we'll buy the rope!
H4323 by Rep. Crawford (R-Florence) to add advanced age as an aggravating factor that would qualify a murderer for the death penalty.
WE THINK: Hell yeah - prey on the elderly in this state, and die. Period.
WE RECOMMEND: Pass this bill ... and make it retroactive. Kill all those creeps, and fast.
H4334 by Rep's Neal (D-Richland) and Harrell (R-Charleston) to require that criminal background checks be a condition of EMT certification
WE THINK: This wasn't already a qualification? Wwooowwww ...
WE RECOMMEND: Pass this bill.
... and our favorite bill is from one of our favorite legislators, Laurens County state Representative Mike Pitts, HR 4329:
A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 12-36-2120, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO SALES TAX EXEMPTIONS, ENACTING THE "SECOND AMENDMENT RECOGNITION ACT" BY ESTABLISHING THE SECOND AMENDMENT WEEKEND, EXEMPTING FROM SALES TAX THE GROSS PROCEEDS OF THE SALE OR SALES PRICE OF FIREARMS SOLD ON SECOND AMENDMENT WEEKEND AND TO DESIGNATE THE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING EACH YEAR AS SECOND AMENDMENT WEEKEND.
We think this bill is a great idea which pays well-deserved tribute to our constitutional liberties. Those who think armed citizens no longer have relevancy need only look at the long struggle to shut down Islamic extremists in Afghanistan and Iraq.
If you're a legislator with at least half a brain, you should do what you can to pass this bill. If you're one of those with less than half a brain, just do what we tell you and vote to make this bill law so we can pay tribute to this important part of our Bill of Rights.
If you go to http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/pref08h1.htm, you can see what they've already put on the table. While only about five percent of bills pass, you can bet the early ones fare much better, so these bills might be next summer's laws.
Hey, but that's just me.
H4311: As to Ben Hagood's bill for Purple Heart Vets, if not already in place, this should be extended to Gold Star Mothers, disabled vets and all veterans, complete with specific "vanity plates" to recognize the sacrifices. I know that your cousin had something like this in the works, one would hope, that if it meets opposition, Mr. Hagood would have a rally on Memorial Day outing the scalawags and carpetbaggers that don't appreciate the service and sacrifices of our veterans. We do not charge for the special plates for POWs or Medal of Honor Recipients.
H4307: Deserves some manditory jail time
All most of those clowns accomplish is convincing some 20 year old girl that if she has sex with them they can get her a better job.
If they can't do they always go politico on a girl and knock down her door.
More booze, condoms and food is sold during the legislative session in Columbia than any other time by far.
The Governor is right about those clowns and crooks.