It's pre-filing time in the House
It’s pre-filing time again – that wonderful time of the year where legislators flock to the State House to file the first of thousands, of pieces of legislation that will be sponsored over the next year, hoping to have their ideas become among the four or five percent of bills that make it through the legislative process, across the Governor’s desk and into state law.
We looked through the list of over one hundred bills that were pre-filed by House members. After wading through a list, a quarter or so of which seem to have been sponsored by Rep. Herb Kirsh from Clover, we found some good ideas, and some bad ones as well.
Here were several bills that stood out as good ones:
Bill 3020, by York County Rep. Carl Gullick – this bill would allow prosecutors the same number of jury strikes as are allowed to the defense in criminal cases.
Bill 3028, by York County Rep. Herb Kirsh – this bill would allow the court to order those who bring frivolous charges to pay legal defense costs.
Bill 3047, by Lexington County Rep. Nikki Haley – this is the much-talked about Roll Call voting bill. We’re so in love with this legislation that we sleep with a copy of it every night.
Bill 3064, by Richland County Rep. Chris Hart – this bill requires nursing homes to carry at least $100K in liability insurance (we can’t imagine any that wouldn’t carry far more than this amount).
Bill 3067, by Horry County Rep. Alan Clemmons – this bill would require candidates to file with one party, instead of using multiple-line filings to confuse voters and win third-party votes.
Bill 3075, by Dorchester County Rep. Annette Young – this bill would work to prevent a major problem in fast-growing areas, knowing as “zoning shopping”, where developers annex into property into a municipality to get more favorable zoning. If the county zoning is for lower density, then that zoning requirement must remain in effect for five years after annexation.
Bill 3090, by York County Rep. Herb Kirsh – this bill would address the “bundling” of campaign contributions by requiring a single campaign contribution cap to apply to business entities which are under shared control.
While most of the bills represent well-intentioned efforts to enact good ideas into law, we found one bill that left us scratching our heads – Rep. Gary Simrill’s bill to name the Marsh Tacky the official state horse (Bill 3044). We know this was an effort that was once spearheaded by former Senator Catherine Ceips, but it didn’t make sense to us any more now than it did back then. Perhaps Kirsh’s bill on frivolous prosecution needs to be amended to protect taxpayers from having to pick up the tab for frivolous legislation.
Several of these bills address issues near and dear to the Blogland, so please stay tuned as we focus on those bills. But good government doesn’t happen by leaving all the work up to legislators – it only happens when it’s a team effort between legislators and active, concerned citizens. We encourage our readers to find bills that represent issues of concern, as well as issues which aren’t being addressed, and make your voices heard with your legislators.
We looked through the list of over one hundred bills that were pre-filed by House members. After wading through a list, a quarter or so of which seem to have been sponsored by Rep. Herb Kirsh from Clover, we found some good ideas, and some bad ones as well.
Here were several bills that stood out as good ones:
Bill 3020, by York County Rep. Carl Gullick – this bill would allow prosecutors the same number of jury strikes as are allowed to the defense in criminal cases.
Bill 3028, by York County Rep. Herb Kirsh – this bill would allow the court to order those who bring frivolous charges to pay legal defense costs.
Bill 3047, by Lexington County Rep. Nikki Haley – this is the much-talked about Roll Call voting bill. We’re so in love with this legislation that we sleep with a copy of it every night.
Bill 3064, by Richland County Rep. Chris Hart – this bill requires nursing homes to carry at least $100K in liability insurance (we can’t imagine any that wouldn’t carry far more than this amount).
Bill 3067, by Horry County Rep. Alan Clemmons – this bill would require candidates to file with one party, instead of using multiple-line filings to confuse voters and win third-party votes.
Bill 3075, by Dorchester County Rep. Annette Young – this bill would work to prevent a major problem in fast-growing areas, knowing as “zoning shopping”, where developers annex into property into a municipality to get more favorable zoning. If the county zoning is for lower density, then that zoning requirement must remain in effect for five years after annexation.
Bill 3090, by York County Rep. Herb Kirsh – this bill would address the “bundling” of campaign contributions by requiring a single campaign contribution cap to apply to business entities which are under shared control.
While most of the bills represent well-intentioned efforts to enact good ideas into law, we found one bill that left us scratching our heads – Rep. Gary Simrill’s bill to name the Marsh Tacky the official state horse (Bill 3044). We know this was an effort that was once spearheaded by former Senator Catherine Ceips, but it didn’t make sense to us any more now than it did back then. Perhaps Kirsh’s bill on frivolous prosecution needs to be amended to protect taxpayers from having to pick up the tab for frivolous legislation.
Several of these bills address issues near and dear to the Blogland, so please stay tuned as we focus on those bills. But good government doesn’t happen by leaving all the work up to legislators – it only happens when it’s a team effort between legislators and active, concerned citizens. We encourage our readers to find bills that represent issues of concern, as well as issues which aren’t being addressed, and make your voices heard with your legislators.
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