Sincerely,

Tom Young

The House of Representatives is in session for 2012. I hope that you find the following information helpful and informative:

As reported last week, May 1 is the “Cross Over Deadline” in the General Assembly.  This means that for any bill that is still pending to have a chance to pass this year, the bill has to receive third reading in either the House or the Senate on or before May 1 at 5:00 p.m. and then go to the other body for consideration. If passage of the bill on third reading does not meet that deadline, then the bill has to have a 2/3s majority agree just to consider the bill.  Because of the “Cross Over Deadline,” the House had a very busy week last week considering more than 60 separate bills.  The highlights are below:

Last Week’s Legislative Session
Freedom of Information Act Changes:  On Thursday, by a vote of 101 to 1, the House gave second reading to a bill revising the FOIA.  The bill should receive third reading this Tuesday.  The bill prohibits public agencies and governments from charging excessive fees for public records and requires them to respond quicker than current law.  The legislation also includes provisions for the electronic transmission and online posting of public records and eliminates the current FOIA exemption provided for memoranda, correspondence, and working papers in the possession of individual members of the General Assembly and their immediate staff.  I voted for the bill and am a co-sponsor.

Individual Income Tax Relief: This bill revises individual income tax provisions by eliminating the current four, five, and six percent income brackets and providing instead for incomes to be taxed through a revised and consolidated structure consisting of only three brackets of 0%, 3.75%, and 7%.  The legislation includes provisions to ensure that no individual income tax burden increases as a result of these changes.  The revised bracket structure applies for taxable years beginning after 2012.  This bill now goes to the Senate.  I voted for it.

Small Business Income Tax Relief:  This bill reduces from five percent to three percent the tax rate for income derived from pass‑through trade and business arrangements, such as sole proprietorships, partnerships, and “S” corporations.  The reduction is to be phased in over the course of four years under a gradual schedule that reduces the tax rate by 0.5% per year. I voted for the bill and it now goes to the Senate.

Sales Tax Reform:  When originally filed, this bill eliminated two thirds of the state’s 78 sales tax exemptions totaling about $250 Million per year. (The ones recommended to be preserved directly benefit families in our state including sales tax exemptions on gasoline; groceries; residential electricity; and prescription drugs.) At the Committee level, the bill was amended to restore all but less than $15 million worth of exemptions. The bill requires that the revenue generated by the elimination of these exemptions must be used to reduce the overall sales tax rate.  The bill also re-establishes the Joint Committee on Taxation charged with conducting a cost benefit analysis of the sales tax exemptions and reviewing their feasibility every five years, if not more frequently.  The House passed the bill and I voted for it.  It now goes to the Senate.

Limited Liability Company (LLC) Protection:  On Thursday, the House approved and sent to the Senate H.5150 restoring a provision to shield members of the LLC from personal liability for actions taken in the ordinary course of business of the LLC.  This legislation was required due to a recent decision from the S.C. Supreme Court in early April.

Property Tax Assessment Appeal:  The legislation provides that the appeal must be based on the market values of real property as of December thirty‑first of the tax year under appeal instead of the tax year when the assessment was done.  The bill heads to the Senate.

Second Residence and Owner Occupied Property Tax Assessment Ratio:  This bill allows a taxpayer to claim the four percent property tax assessment ratio for two residential properties located in the state so long as the taxpayer is attempting to sell the first acquired residence and this residence that is for sale remains vacant and unused.  The four percent assessment ratio may not be claimed on both residences for more than one property tax year.  The bill goes now to the Senate.

School Bus Decentralization from State Government:  This bill establishes a committee to study the provision of school bus services in this state by the public sector, private sector, or combination of both.  The study must address the most cost‑effective, efficient, and safe way to provide school bus services to students in grades K‑12 utilizing available state and local resources and funding.  I voted for an amendment moving all school bus operations to local districts effective July 1, 2013 with provisions included to encourage privatization and cost savings.  That amendment failed. The bill now goes to the Senate.

Video Gambling Prohibitions: This bill (H.4675) closes a loophole that may allow a new form of video poker to be legal in South Carolina.  The “sweepstakes” video games will be illegal under the proposal. The bill now goes to the Senate.  It is very important that this pass this year.

Sound Money Bill:  The House approved H.4128 authorizing gold and silver as legal tender to the full extent allowed by the United States Constitution.  The bill states that no party is required to accept gold or silver as legal tender but if both the buyer and seller agree, then gold or silver can be used for that purpose.  The bill now goes to the Senate.

Other Bills:  Other legislation passed and sent to the Senate includes (1) H. 4821 authorizing the collection of a fee when filing court documents by electronic means in the S.C. state court system; (2) H.4802 which establishes incentives for renovating and redeveloping buildings abandoned for more than 5 years in S.C; (3) H. 5025 which overhauls the S.C. State University Board of Trustees; and (4) H. 4943  which allows night hunting under certain circumstances on private land of coyotes, armadillos, and wild hogs.

Joint Election of Governor and Lt. Governor?:  Last week, the Senate voted to pass the legislation which I sponsored where the Lt. Governor would be selected by the Governor rather than elected separately from the Governor.  The Senate changed the bill to move the effective election year from 2014 to 2018.  It now comes back to the House.  A very interesting editorial on this bill and the separate bill which I sponsored to allow the Governor to appoint the Superintendent of Education can be seen here.

This Week’s Legislative Session
Bills on House Calendar:  The full House may debate several bills this week including the following:

• Freedom of Information Act changes – Third Reading;
• Department of Administration – Restructuring;
• Several bills which have come from the Senate in recent weeks.

Senate Campaign Update
Senate Campaign:  Bumper stickers for “Tom Young for Senate” have arrived.  They may be picked up at my office downtown at 409 Park Avenue SW or at the Tom Young Allstate agency on Whiskey Road next to Home Depot.  If you prefer, I can send a sticker to you.  Just let me know.   Because no one else filed to run in the Republican primary for June 12, neither the office nor my name will be on that ballot.  However, both the office and my name will be on the November general election ballot.  I have started visiting areas around the district including most of Aiken, North Augusta, Warrenville, Gloverville, Montmorenci, Couchton, New Ellenton, Jackson, Windsor, and Beech Island. To learn more about my campaign for State Senate, go to www.tomyoungforsenate.com, email me at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com, or call me at 215-3631.

Other Topics of Interest
National Day of Prayer:  This Thursday, May 3 is the National Day of Prayer.  The Greater Aiken area will recognize this day with a service in Aiken at the H. Odell Weeks Center at 6:45 p.m.  Whether you can go or not, please know that prayer works and our state and nation need our prayers not just on May 3 but every day.

Aiken County Teacher of the Year Banquet:  Aiken County’s teacher of the year banquet will be tonight at 7:00 pm at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.  Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.publicedpartners.org.  To learn more, call 649-9040.

Small Business Development Work Shop:  The Aiken Small Business Development Center is offering a FREE tax work shop for prospective and new small business owners. The workshop will be held from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM this Wednesday, May 2 2012, in the Penland Admin Building Conference Room 110 at USC Aiken.  For more information and to register, call 641-3646 or email at sbdc@usca.edu.

Boeing’s First Plane Produced Last Week:  On Friday, Boeing finished its first plane at its new South Carolina plant.  To see the story, go here.

Leadership Aiken County Great Ideas Endowment Fund:  This group of leaders from our County is working to raise at least $25,000 to establish an endowment fund to provide (1) grants of up to $500 for secondary education teachers to encourage the study of science, math, engineering and technology and (2) engineering scholarships to Aiken Tech.  To learn more, go here.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent Information
Speaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.lswia.org.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

Tom Young’s Website: My website can be reached at www.tomyoungforsenate.com. There are links to a variety of constituent services; the status of sponsored bills; and roll call votes. Please add my web site as a bookmark on your computer.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young

The House of Representatives is in session for 2012. I hope that you find the following information helpful and informative:

Restructuring – Elimination of Budget and Control Board:  Since I started serving in January 2009 representing House District 81, I have advocated eliminating the State Budget and Control Board (BCB).  Created in 1949, the BCB  — both unique to South Carolina and composed of the Governor, State Treasurer, Comptroller General, Senate Finance Chair, and House Ways and Means Chair – has more power and oversight authority than any other part of state government.  Only three of the five members are elected statewide and accountable to you and me as voters in Aiken County.  Much of what the BCB does in South Carolina is done by executive branch agencies under the governor in other states.  Substantial questions exist as to whether the BCB is good for South Carolina in terms of efficiency, accountability, duplication, and waste.

Last March 2011, the House passed and sent to the Senate the Department of Administration bill (H.3066) moving many of the agencies under the BCB to under the Governor’s authority.  During the debate, an amendment to eliminate the BCB was offered.  I was one of only 7 House Republicans to vote for the amendment.

In June 2011, Governor Hailey tried to call the Senate back into session to pass H.3066 and three other restructuring bills.  The Supreme Court ruled that she could not do that.

In late February of this year, the Senate sent to the House its version of H.3066 intended to restructure state government.  While well-intentioned, the Senate version creates 8 new boards from the one Budget and Control Board (BCB) and actually keeps the BCB for certain reasons.  To see a flow chart of what the Senate version will do, go here.

The House is NOT expected to concur with the Senate.  Rather, the House will debate and amend the bill this week.  The goal in the House will be to eliminate the BCB and to put most of the BCB functions in the Department of Administration under the Governor.

This bill is very important because it is a MAJOR restructuring initiative intended to improve efficiency and accountability.  Further, it is critically important to get it right because the national credit rating agencies have warned that if the Senate version becomes law, then our state’s AAA credit rating could be in jeopardy.  Much will be said about this bill in the next few weeks.  I will do my best to represent you and to report back on what happens and why.

Last Week’s Legislative Session
Online Electronic Voter Registration:  The House approved and sent to the Senate a bill (H.4945) allowing any person who is qualified to register to vote in South Carolina and who has a valid S.C. driver’s license or state identification card to register to vote electronically on the website of the State Election Commission.  Several other states already do this.  I am a co-sponsor of this bill.

Human Trafficking:  The House unanimously approved a bill (H.3757) that expands and increases penalties at the state level for human trafficking.  This bill is the top priority this year for the S.C. Attorney General.  It is intended to assist both state and federal authorities with the increasing problem of human trafficking both to our state and through our state.

Sales Tax Reform:  A bill was filed in early March to eliminate two thirds of the state’s 78 sales tax exemptions.  The proposed exemptions to eliminate total about $250 Million per year. (The ones recommended to be preserved directly benefit families in our state including sales tax exemptions on gasoline; groceries; residential electricity; and prescription drugs.)  This bill is one of several tax reform bills filed this session. Last week, a House Ways and Means Committee amended the bill to restore all but about $15 million worth of exemptions.

Congratulations to Joerg Klisch of MTU Detroit Diesel!:  Last week, the S.C. Department of Commerce and Governor Haley recognized and honored House District 81 resident Joerg Klisch of MTU Detroit Diesel as Aiken County’s Ambassador of the Year for Economic Development.

Locals Elected by General Assembly:  The General Assembly elected local dentist and Clemson graduate Dr. Ronnie Lee to a full four year term on the Clemson Board of Trustees this past Wednesday.  Additionally, local businessman Tim Dangerfield was one of three people reelected to serve as an appellate panelist for the Department of Employment and Workforce.

This Week’s Legislative Session
Cross Over Deadline:  May 1 is the “Cross Over Deadline” in the General Assembly.  This means that for any bill that is still pending to have a chance to pass this year, the bill has to pass either the House or the Senate on or before May 1 and then go to the other body for consideration. If passage of the bill does not meet that deadline, then the bill has to have a 2/3s majority agree just to consider the bill.  For bills that create lots of discussion, that is difficult to achieve.  Thus, the deadline has both procedural and practical significance.  Because of the “Cross Over Deadline,” both the House and the Senate will be busy this week.

Bills on House Calendar:  The full House may debate several bills this week including the following:

• Video Gambling Ban;
• Freedom of Information Act changes;
• Department of Administration – Restructuring;
• Several tax reform measures.

Senate Campaign Update
Senate Campaign:  Bumper stickers for “Tom Young for Senate” have arrived.  They may be picked up at my office downtown at 409 Park Avenue SW or at the Tom Young Allstate agency on Whiskey Road next to Home Depot.  If you prefer, I can send a sticker to you.  Just let me know.   Because no one else filed to run in the Republican primary for June 12, neither the office nor my name will be on that ballot.  However, both the office and my name will be on the November general election ballot.  I have started visiting areas around the district including most of Aiken, North Augusta, Warrenville, Gloverville, Montmorenci, Couchton, New Ellenton, Jackson, Windsor, and Beech Island. To learn more about my campaign for State Senate, go to www.tomyoungforsenate.com, email me at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com, or call me at 215-3631.

Other Topics of Interest
Latest Unemployment Numbers: Based on the latest numbers from March, the state’s unemployment rate has gone down to 8.9% and Aiken County’s
unemployment rate is 8.0%. One year ago, Aiken County’s rate was 8.6%.

Excellent Advice for Young People:  Last week, I read an article about the “game of life” message shared by USC football coach Steve Spurrier and several of the USC football players.  Regardless of whether you are Gamecock fan or not, please consider sharing this message with young people in our community.  To see the article, go here.

National Day of Prayer:  Thursday, May 3 is the National Day of Prayer.  The Greater Aiken area will recognize this day with a service in Aiken the H. Odell Weeks Center at 6:45 p.m. that night.  Whether you can go or not, please know that prayer works and our state and nation need our prayers not just on May 3 but every day.

Aiken County Teacher of the Year Banquet:  Aiken County’s teacher of the year banquet will be next Monday, April 30 at 7:00 pm at the USC Aiken Convocation Center.  Tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.publicedpartners.org.  To learn more, call 649-9040.

Gangs and Families Event:  A presentation on gangs and families will be presented by the Family and Marriage Coalition of Aiken, Inc. this Tuesday, April 24 at 7:00 pm at the River of Life Church in Aiken. To learn more, go here.

Small Business Development Work Shop:  The Aiken Small Business Development Center is offering a FREE tax work shop for prospective and new small business owners. The workshop will be held from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Wednesday, May 2 2012, in the Penland Admin Building Conference Room 110 at USC Aiken.  For more information and to register, call 641-3646 or email at sbdc@usca.edu.

Leadership Aiken County Great Ideas Endowment Fund:  This group of leaders from our County is working to raise at least $25,000 to establish an endowment fund to provide (1) grants of up to $500 for secondary education teachers to encourage the study of science, math, engineering and technology and (2) engineering scholarships to Aiken Tech.  To learn more, go here.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent Information
Speaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.lswia.org.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

Tom Young’s Website: My website can be reached at www.tomyoungforsenate.com. There are links to a variety of constituent services; the status of sponsored bills; and roll call votes. Please add my web site as a bookmark on your computer.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young

My family and I hope that you and your family enjoyed the Easter weekend.  The House of Representatives is in session for 2012. The House is on furlough this week.  I hope that you find the following information helpful and informative:

National Day of Prayer:  With this update the day after Easter, I wanted to let you know that Thursday, May 3 is the National Day of Prayer.  The Greater Aiken area will recognize this day with a service in Aiken at 7:00 p.m. that night.  I will provide more information later this month.  Whether you can go or not, please know that prayer works and our state and nation need our prayers not just on May 3 but every day.

Charleston Port:  As I have written several times since the beginning of the year, deepening the port is critical for our state’s economic future.  One in every 5 jobs in South Carolina (260,000 jobs total) is tied to the Charleston Port. To see the latest on what is happening at the Charleston Port, go here.

Local Golf Courses Recognized:  Four golf courses located within House District 81 have been recognized as being some of the the best in the state.  Those four are Palmetto Golf Club, Aiken Golf Club, The Reserve at Woodside, and Sage Valley Golf Club.  To see the story, go here.

Expansion of Horse Liability Protection Law:  Last Monday, the Governor signed into law the bill which protects landowners from liability due to someone’s sustaining damages while riding a horse on the landowner’s property where the landowner grants permission to ride. I sponsored the bill.  Clubs, classes, and stables are already protected from lawsuits under an existing law dating back to the mid-1970s.  This legislation will benefit private landowners across the state in addition to the Aiken Land Conservancy and the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce with their joint horse trail easement project for Aiken County.

Senate Campaign UpdateSenate Campaign: As reported in last week’s update, no one else filed to run by March 30 as a Republican or Democrat for Senate District 24 which represents a large part of Aiken County including Aiken, North Augusta, Warrenville, Gloverville, Montmorenci, Couchton, New Ellenton, Jackson, Windsor, and Beech Island.  As a result, my name will not be on the Republican primary ballot on June 12, and I will be on the ballot for the November general election.  My family and I are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic and tremendous support from people all over the district.  During the next few months, I will be visiting many areas around the district.  Thank you for the honor and the privilege to serve in the House of Representatives.  I ask for the opportunity to continue doing so in the State Senate.  To learn more about my campaign for State Senate, go to www.tomyoungforsenate.com, email me at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com, or call me at 215-3631.

Last Week’s Legislative Session
No Session this Past Week:  The House was on furlough last week for the week before Easter so there was no legislative session.

This Week’s Legislative SessionHouse on Furlough:  The House will be on furlough until April 17. The Senate will return to Columbia April 10.

Other Topics of InterestLaurens Street Bridge Closed: The bridge on Laurens Street between Park Avenue and South Boundary is indefinitely closed.  SCDOT advises that the bridge may need substantial repairs or may need to be replaced.  More will be known this week as engineers continue examining the bridge.  Governor Haley has signed an Executive Order declaring the bridge an emergency which will allow the SCDOT to obtain federal help in its work with the bridge.  I will provide more information as I learn it from the Department and local officials.

SRS Retiree’s Association Annual Meeting:  This meeting will be tomorrow — Tuesday, April 10 at 1:30 pm at St. Angela’s Hall on York Street.

Congratulations to South Aiken High NJROTC!:  The NJROTC unit at South Aiken High recently finished first in a national competition!  The story can be seen here.

Workshops to Help with Job Search:  In the month of April, Goodwill Industries in Aiken has a series of free workshops to help develop job readiness skill development at its Job Connection office. To learn more, go here.

Small Business Development Work Shop:  The Aiken Small Business Development Center is offering a FREE tax work shop for prospective and new small business owners. The workshop will be held from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Wednesday, May 2 2012, in the Penland Admin Building Conference Room 110 at USC Aiken.  For more information and to register, call 641-3646 or email at sbdc@usca.edu.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent InformationSpeaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.lswia.org.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

Tom Young’s Website: My website can be reached at www.tomyoungforsenate.com. There are links to a variety of constituent services; the status of sponsored bills; and roll call votes. Please add my web site as a bookmark on your computer.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young

Weekly Legislative Update from Rep. Tom Young – Mar. 27, 2012 to April 2, 2012

Happy Easter to you and your family!  The House of Representatives is in session for 2012. The House is on furlough this week. I hope that you find this update helpful and informative:

Senate Campaign – Thank you!: On  Friday, I learned that no one else filed to run as a Republican or Democrat for Senate District 24 which represents a large part of Aiken County including Aiken, North Augusta, Warrenville, Gloverville, Montmorenci, Couchton, New Ellenton, Jackson, Windsor, and Beech Island.  As a result, my name will be on the ballot for the November election but neither the office nor my name will be on the Republican primary ballot on June 12.  My family and I are extremely grateful for the enthusiastic and tremendous support from people all over the district.  During the next few months, I will be visiting many areas around the district.  Thank you for the honor and the privilege to serve!  To learn more about my campaign for State Senate, go to www.tomyoungforsenate.com or email me back.

Last Week’s Legislative Session
Drug Test Results and Unemployment Benefits:  By a vote of 70-24, the full House on Thursday passed a bill which states that if a person receiving unemployment benefits applies for a job and as a condition to an offer of an employment the person (1) takes a drug test required by the prospective employer and fails it OR (2) refuses to take a drug test as required by the prospective employer, then the employer can report the failure or refusal to the Department of Employment and Workforce. If that happens, then the person can no longer receive unemployment benefits until he goes back to work for the period of time required to requalify. State law already disqualifies workers fired for illegal drug use from collecting unemployment benefits.  The bill now heads to the Senate.  To see my editorial in last week’s paper in support of this bill, go here.  To see the television news story on the bill, go here.

School Choice Bill: On Wednesday, the House voted to approve a compromise proposal on school choice.  The bill provides a limited number of privately funded scholarships to children living in poverty and children with special needs, as well as offering small tax deductions (not tax credits) for parents paying across district public school, independent, or home school expenses out of pocket.  Additionally, the state Education Oversight Committee is charged with providing a report on the effectiveness of the program at both the 3 year and the 7 year intervals. Members of the General Assembly are not eligible for tax deductions for the first 4 years of the program.  To see a summary of the legislation, go here.  The bill now heads to the Senate.

Concealed Weapons Permit:  The House approved a change to existing law as to concealed weapons permits (CWP).  The approved bill will allow CWP holders to carry their handgun into a restaurant which serves alcohol as long as the permit holder does not consume any alcohol while there. If the restaurant posts a sign not allowing concealable weapons on the premises, that has to be honored. I voted for the bill.

This Week’s Legislative Session
House on Furlough:  The House will be on furlough for the next two weeks and will return to Columbia April 17. The Senate will furlough next week and return to Columbia April 10.

Other Topics of Interest
Laurens Street Bridge Closed: The bridge on Laurens Street between Park Avenue and South Boundary is indefinitely closed.  SCDOT advises that the bridge is being examined and may need substantial repairs.  I will provide more information as I learn it from the Department and local officials.  To see the article in today’s Aiken paper, go here.

SRS Retiree’s Association Annual Meeting:  This meeting will be next Tuesday, April 10 at 1:30 pm at St. Angela’s Hall on York Street.

USC Honors College: In the first-ever ranking of public university honors colleges, the USC Honors College was ranked No. 1, according to the soon-to-be published guide, “A Review of Fifty Public University Honors Programs.”  The ranking is based on honors curriculum, honors retention and graduation rates, honors housing, study abroad programs and priority registration. USC led the universities of Texas at Austin, Michigan, Virginia, Georgia, Penn State and Minnesota.  The story can be seen here.  I am very proud to report this news since I graduated from the USC Honors College in Columbia in 1993.

Fallen Heroes Memorial 5K: This 5K race supporting the Wounded Warrior Project and the USC Naval ROTC Unit is Saturday, April 7 in Columbia. Aiken native Ryan Wisz is in charge of this race.  For more information, call Ryan at (803) 640-5944 or go to www.fallenheroes5k.com.

Small Business Development Work Shop:  The Aiken Small Business Development Center is offering a FREE tax work shop for prospective and new small business owners. The workshop will be held from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Wednesday, May 2 2012, in the Penland Admin Building Conference Room 110 at USC Aiken.  For more information and to register, call 641-3646 or email at sbdc@usca.edu.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent Information
Speaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.lswia.org.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

Tom Young’s Website: My website can be reached at www.tomyoungforsenate.com. There are links to a variety of constituent services; the status of sponsored bills; and roll call votes. Please add my web site as a bookmark on your computer.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young

The House of Representatives is in session for 2012.  I hope that you find this update helpful and informative.

Last Week’s Legislative Session

State Retirement Systems Reform: By a vote of 86-27 on Wednesday, the House passed legislation to reform the state retirement systems and to keep them solvent.  According to professional actuaries and other professionals hired by the Ways and Means Committee to assist in this process, the changes will lower the unfunded liabilities by over $2 Billion and save taxpayers an estimated $8 Billion over the next 30 years; will allow the state to keep its high credit rating; and will avoid most, if not all, litigation that sometimes arises when changes are implemented to publicly funded retirement systems. Several amendments to grandfather in some employees with over 20 years in the system and which would have ultimately led to problems with our state’s credit rating were defeated.  The bill’s changes include the following:

To see a summary, go here.  I voted for the bill. The bill now heads to the state Senate for more debate and possible changes.

Drug Testing Before Receiving Welfare Assistance:  Last week, the House Constitutional Laws subcommittee heard testimony on legislation that I filed last June which requires adults applying for government assistance under the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (welfare) to undergo a drug screening at their expense.  If the person passes the test, then he is reimbursed for the cost.  If the person fails the test, then the person is ineligible for government assistance for at least 6 months while the person undergoes voluntary drug treatment. If the person has children, then the person can designate a responsible adult to receive the funds on behalf of the children. This bill is one way to address these two questions:  Why should those addicted to illegal drugs receive taxpayer funded government benefits which can then be used to further fund the person’s illegal drug habit?  Where the applicant has children, are the children benefitting from the government benefits or is the parent spending the money on drugs and neglecting the children?  After hearing from lots of constituents about this issue, I filed the bill last June with 67 sponsors in the House.   The bill is still at the subcommittee level and will have another hearing later this session.

Veterans and S.C. Driver’s Licenses:  The House passed legislation which allows for honorably discharged veterans who are S.C. residents to have a special emblem placed on their S.C. driver’s license.  Under the bill, veterans can go the DMV and produce the DD-214 form showing that they were honorably discharged. They then can pay the nominal fee to get an updated license with the emblem on it.  The bill now goes back to the Senate. I will post in my weekly update when the bill becomes law later this year.

This Week’s Legislative Session

Bills on House Calendar:  The full House may debate several bills this week including the following:

• Video Gambling Ban;
• Failing or refusing drug test of prospective employer while unemployed will result in disqualification for additional unemployment benefits;
• Freedom of Information Act improvements.

Senate Campaign Update

Very Positive Feedback:  Since making my announcement to run for Senate District 24, I have received enthusiastic and tremendous support from people all over the district including Aiken, North Augusta, Warrenville, Gloverville, Montmorenci, Couchton, New Ellenton, Jackson, Windsor, and Beech Island.  To learn how you can help, go to www.tomyoungforsenate.com; email me back at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com; or call me at 215-3631.

Other Topics of Interest

Hitchcock Woods Winter Newsletter:  To see the current newsletter, go to the Woods website by clicking here

Leadership Aiken County Great Ideas Endowment Fund:  This group of leaders from our County is working to raise at least $25,000 to establish an endowment fund to provide (1) grants of up to $500 for secondary education teachers to encourage the study of science, math, engineering and technology and (2) engineering scholarships to Aiken Tech.  To learn more, go here.

Leadership Aiken County Visits State House: The 2012 class of Leadership Aiken County visited the State House last week.  The House delegation met with them to discuss issues including economic development, taxes, and education.

Junior Leadership Aiken County:  On Friday, I spent an hour visiting with 9th graders from Aiken, South Aiken, Midland Valley, and Silver Bluff high schools and Aiken Prep.  They asked lots of questions and it was a very good discussion.  Notably, they all said that they believed that the drop out/no driver’s license bill pending in the Senate will make a difference in keeping their peers in high school so more graduate.  In fact, their junior leadership group plans to prepare and sign a letter stating their support of the bill and they asked me to help in getting it to the members of the State Senate.

Aiken County Biking and Walking Plan:  The County is working on this project and is holding a public input session.  To learn more, go here.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent Information

Speaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.lswia.org.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

Tom Young’s Website: My website can be reached at www.tomyoungforsenate.com. There are links to a variety of constituent services; the status of sponsored bills; and roll call votes. Please add my web site as a bookmark on your computer.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young

The House of Representatives is in session for 2012.  I hope that you find this update helpful and informative.

Lt. Gov. Ard Resigns: Following a SLED and grand jury investigation going back to last year, Lt. Gov. Ken Ard on Friday resigned and pled guilty to criminal charges for which he received a 5 year probationary sentence along with the requirement to pay a $5,000 fine to the State Ethics Commission and to perform 300 hours of community service.  Under the State Constitution, the President Pro Tempore of the State Senate (Sen. Glenn McConnell) becomes Lt. Governor.

Joint Election of Governor and Lt. Governor?:  In the wake of the Ard resignation, at least two editorials this weekend said that the situation with Lt. Gov. Ard underscores the need to pass the legislation which I sponsored where the Lt. Governor would be selected by the Governor rather than elected separately from the Governor.  To see the editorials, go here.  The House passed the bill last year and it is currently in the State Senate.

Redistricting — Federal Court Approves Plans:  On Friday, a panel of three Federal judges decided that the 2011 redistricting plans for the S.C. House of Representatives Districts and Congressional Districts do not violate the law.  The plaintiffs in the lawsuit had previously dropped their claims regarding the S.C. Senate Districts.  The decision means that the primary elections set for June 12 will go forward as planned.  Redistricting occurs every 10 years after each census. To see the Court’s opinion, go here.

Last Week’s Legislative Session
DOT Reform:  Last Wednesday, the House voted to recommit to Committee a bill changing the governing authority of the State Department of Transportation (DOT) and requiring that the DOT prioritize road projects in each of the State’s 7 engineering districts as part of the Department’s annual budget request.  In doing so, DOT reform this year is probably stalled.  I voted not to recommit.

Texting While Driving:  The House passed a bill that bans texting while driving a motor vehicle.  I voted in favor of the bill based on the feedback of many people in District 81 for the past 3 years.  Currently, South Carolina and Florida are the only states in the Southeast with no ban on texting while driving.  To see a list of all 50 states and the restrictions on texting and cell phone use while driving, go here.  The bill now heads to the Senate where a similar bill failed in 2010.

State Retirement Systems: Last week, the bill intended to preserve the State Retirement Systems advanced to the House calendar where it will up for consideration next week after the budget.  The bill includes the following:

• Retirees receive a guaranteed COLA as long as certain triggers are met for SCRS and PORS.
• No annual or sick leave can be used in the average final compensation calculation;
• Average final compensation calculation will be computed using five highest years rather the current last three years;
• The cost to purchase service time will be the actuarial cost;
• Employee contribution rate will increase 1 percent over two years;
• New employees must have 30 years of service to retire and will not have the TERI program;
• Legislators will not be able to draw retirement benefits while still serving.

Video Gambling Bill:  The House Judiciary Committee passed the bill which will close a loophole that may allow a new form of video poker to be legal in South Carolina.  The “sweepstakes” video games will be illegal under the proposal. The bill will be on the House calendar next week.  I voted in favor.

Voter Registration by Party:  A House Judiciary subcommittee received testimony this week and gave a favorable report to a bill which will require a person voting in a partisan primary election to be registered to vote as a member of that political party.  This bill will be in full Judiciary Committee next week.  I welcome your feedback.

This Week’s Legislative Session

State Budget:  The budget will be debated in the House beginning on Monday, March 14 and continuing daily until the House passes a budget to send to the Senate.   The summary of the budget in its current form as passed by the Ways and Means Committee can be accessed here.  The combined budgets for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Social Services total $8.156 Billion.  The total budget for K-12 education is $3.69 Billion.

Additional Budget Thoughts:  Remember that the budget process will continue after this week into June as the budget goes from the House to the Senate and then back to the House and then to the Governor where she may veto certain items. Thus, there are a lot of uncertainties between now and the end of June as to what the final budget will look like.

Other Topics of Interest

S.C. Business Network Launched:  The S.C. Dept. of Commerce recently launched a serviced called S.C. Business Network to provide resources and information to small businesses and entrepreneurs interested in turning their business concepts into reality.  To learn more, go to SCBizNetwork.com.
Committee on Children Recommendations:  The Joint Citizens and Legislative Committee on Children released its 2012 Annual Report.  The Committee recommends immediate action in both the public and private sectors in the following four focus areas:

• Safe sleeping practices for infants;
• Immunization of all children;
• Effective diagnosis and treatment of childhood trauma caused by abuse, neglect, or family violence;
• Decreasing childhood obesity.

To see the full report, go to www.sccommitteeonchildren.org.

SC Parks, Recreation and Tourism (PRT):  Governor Haley’s Director of PRT Duane Parrish recently prepared a report outlining the financial performance of the State Park System and highlighting the impact of state parks in South Carolina.  To see that report, go here.

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month:  March is colorectal cancer awareness month.  Colorectal cancer is the #2 cause of cancer death in the U.S.  My family has been affected by this.  I encourage others to be screened and to promote awareness of colorectal cancer.  Locally, to learn more in Aiken, there is a public awareness presentation by the Savannah River Cancer Foundation on Thursday, March 22 at 6 pm at the City of Aiken Municipal Center in The Alley.  Also, you can learn more by seeing this flyer.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent Information

Speaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.lswia.org.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at TomYoung@schouse.gov or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young

The House of Representatives is back in session for 2012.  I hope that you find this update helpful and informative.

Senator Ryberg’s Retirement Announcement:  On Friday morning, long time Aiken County Senator Greg Ryberg announced that he will not seek reelection to Senate District 24.  Senator Ryberg has been a stalwart for conservative principles and fiscal responsibility in the S.C. Senate. We thank him for his service and his leadership on many critical issues during the past 20 years.  He will serve through the end of the year as our State Senator.  To see his letter to the District and community, go here.

Last Week’s Legislative Session

Governor’s Veto — Savannah River and DHEC: Last week, by a vote of 111-1, the House overrode Governor Haley’s veto of a joint resolution suspending all DHEC decisions since 2007 concerning navigability, depth, and dredging on South Carolina’s portion of the Savannah River.  The Senate also overrode the veto unanimously by a vote of 39-0.  The resolution is intended to restore the authority of the Savannah River Maritime Commission and to override DHEC’s November decision to grant a permit for the State of Georgia to dredge the Savannah River as part of Georgia’s port deepening project.  Both the Charleston and the Savannah ports need to be deepened to accommodate larger ships coming to the East Coast through an expanded Panama Canal.  It is widely believed that the DHEC decision will assist the Savannah Port at the expense of the Charleston Port to which at least 1 in 5 jobs in South Carolina are tied.

State Retirement Systems: Last week, members of House Ways and Means filed a bill aimed at preserving and strengthening the State Retirement Systems.  The bill increases current state employees’ contributions into the retirement system by 1 percent, prohibits including vacation or sick days in retirement benefit calculations, and uses five years of salary to calculate benefits versus three. New hires would be required to work 30 years or reach age 65 with 5 years of service before becoming eligible for benefits. The TERI program would also be terminated.  A Senate Committee is also working on this issue.  A House Ways and Means sub-committee will take testimony on this bill Tuesday afternoon.

High School Dropout Bill: The Senate Education Committee unanimously approved this bill (H.3164) last Wednesday. Senator Ryberg was instrumental in getting the bill passed in leading an effort to defeat an amendment which may have killed the bill for this session.  The bill prohibits possession of a driver’s license until age 18 unless the young person is enrolled in, or has completed, high school. The bill contains a hardship provision for some limited exceptions including (1) where the young person has to go to work to support himself or his immediate family or (2) where he or she joins the military at age 17. Numerous reports show that high school dropouts in general increase the costs to taxpayers in areas such as crime, teenage pregnancy, infant mortality, health problems, juvenile delinquency, and single parent families living in poverty. Thank you to the many people who called and emailed in favor of this bill.

Home-Based Food Production:  Across the state, there have been numerous complaints from people who have not been allowed to sell their home made cakes, cookies, jams, and other goodies at such places as the Aiken’s Farmer’s Market due to DHEC regulations requiring them to have a commercial kitchen. Last week, the House passed legislation (H.4689) aimed at addressing these concerns. The bill reduces stringent regulations and allows the production and sale of such foods as long as certain sanitation requirements are met and the foods are not made to be sold wholesale.  The bill now goes to the Senate.

This Week’s Legislative Session

Bills on House Calendar: The full House may debate the following bills this week:

• Department of Transportation (DOT) reform;
• Failing or refusing the drug test of a prospective employer while unemployed will result in disqualification for additional unemployment benefits;
• Freedom of Information Act improvements.

Budget Week Next Week:  The House will consider the State Budget next week starting on Monday, March 12.  The House is expected to meet daily until a budget is passed and sent to the Senate.
Other Topics of Interest

Aiken County Career Center:  Located across from Aiken Tech, his facility assists local high school students who may not have an interest in the traditional college prep courses in high school.  Of the students participating from Aiken County high schools,  95.8% graduate on time within 4 years.  Programs offered are as follows:  see website.  Currently, there are 18 teachers at the facility assisting 670 students.  This is a great program which is doing wonderful work to keep students in school and help them learn a skill. To learn more, go here.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent Information

Speaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit www.lswia.org.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

Tom Young’s Website: My website can be reached at www.reptomyoung.com. There are links to a variety of constituent services; the status of sponsored bills; and roll call votes. Please add my web site as a bookmark on your computer.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at TomYoung@schouse.gov or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young

The House of Representatives is back in session for 2012.  I hope that you find this update helpful and informative.

Last Week’s Legislative Session

State General Funds Budget:  Last week, the House Ways & Means Committee approved a $5.9 Billion budget for the General Funds budget.  The House budget writers’ proposal will be presented to the full House for debate and consideration beginning March 12. Education (both K-12 and higher education) and Medicaid/Social Services/DHEC/Mental Health together make up about 75% of the General Funds budget.   The budget proposal includes the following:

• Increases the ‘Base Student Cost’ sent to K-12 public schools by $152 Million to $2,012 per child;
• Restores $18 Million in funding to the Department of Mental Health;
• Appropriates $24 Million to help train workers through the readySC program at the technical colleges;
• Provides $47 Million worth of tax relief to businesses across the State by contributing funds to repay the federal government loan for unemployment benefits.  Doing so will lower the average unemployment tax per employee from $363.75 to $325.21.
• Increases funding for Department of Commerce Closing Fund by $10 Million.
• Provides $21 Million in new funds to the State’s two primary law enforcement departments (SLED and Department of Public Safety).
• Provides a 2% state employee pay raise and an additional 3% raise for class one officers including Highway Patrolmen and DNR officers.

Charleston Port Funding: As part of the budget proposal, the Ways and Means Committee approved $180 million to pay for the state’s 60 percent portion of the $300 million Charleston Harbor dredging project. The money would go into the South Carolina State Ports Authority Harbor Deepening Reserve Fund which the Ways and Means Committee also established last week. This is very important to the state’s efforts to make the port of Charleston the number one port on the east coast.  Thousands of jobs in our state depend upon the Charleston port.

Video Gambling:  The House Constitutional Laws Subcommittee passed a bill aimed at closing a loophole which some have argued allows a new form of video poker to be legal in South Carolina.  The “sweepstakes” video games will be illegal under the proposal.  I voted in favor of the ban.

School Choice Bill:  After several months of work, a compromise proposal has been reached on school choice in the House.  The bill, which a House Ways and Means subcommittee will take up next week, provides a limited number of privately funded scholarships to children living in poverty and children with special needs, as well as offering small tax deductions (not tax credits) for parents paying across district public school, independent, or home school expenses out of pocket. To see a summary of the legislation, go here.

This Week’s Legislative Session

Action Item – High School Dropout Bill: The Senate Education Committee will consider this bill (H.3164) this Wednesday, February 29 at 10 am. The bill prohibits possession of a driver’s license until age 18 unless the young person is enrolled in, or has completed, high school. The bill contains a hardship provision for some limited exceptions including (1) where the young person has to go to work to support himself or his immediate family or (2) where he or she joins the military at age 17. Numerous reports show that high school dropouts in general increase the costs to taxpayers in areas such as crime, teenage pregnancy, infant mortality, health problems, juvenile delinquency, and single parent families living in poverty. Georgia and North Carolina have similar laws.  Please email Senate Education Committee Chairman John Courson or call (803) 212-6250 to express your support.  All 3 Senators who represent parts of Aiken County are on this Committee.  Please contact them too as follows:  Sen. Greg Ryberg; Sen. Shane Massey; and Sen. Nikki Setzler.

DOT Reform Bill on House Floor: The full House should debate a bill this week which overhauls the governing authority of the State Department of Transportation (DOT) and require that the DOT prioritize road projects in each of the State’s 7 engineering districts as part of the Department’s annual budget request.

Drug Test Results and Unemployment Benefits on House Floor:  The full House is also expected to consider a bill this week which states that if a person receiving unemployment benefits applies for a job and (1) takes a drug test required by the prospective employer and fails it OR (2) refuses to take a drug test as required by the prospective employer, then the person can no longer receive unemployment benefits from the Department of Employment & Workforce. State law already disqualifies workers fired for illegal drug use from collecting unemployment benefits.

Freedom of Information Act Bill on House Floor:  Rep. Bill Taylor’s bill to improve the SC Freedom of Information Act related to requests for information from government entities received approval of the House Judiciary Committee last week.  The bill will be on the full House calendar this week.

Other Topics of Interest

Reading Report: Being able to read at grade level is critical to academic achievement in school.  Last week, the state’s Education Oversight Committee released its latest report documenting the reading performance of the state and school districts.  To see the report, go here.

“My Aiken High Week” starts today:  The Aiken High School PTO is sponsoring a week long fundraiser this week with a series of events including “Aiken High” night at the Wing Place tonight and “A Taste of Italy” catered by the award-winning Aiken High culinary arts program on Wednesday night of this week.  To learn more about “A Taste of Italy,” go here.

Aiken Prep Students Visit:  The 3rd and 8th grade students from Aiken Prep School visited the State House on Wednesday.

SCDOT Weekly Update:  The Department of Transportation started a weekly update in August to inform the public about what is going on at the agency as to its financial situation and other matters.  To see the latest, go here.

Constituent Information

Speaking with Groups Around the District: Several local groups have invited me to attend one of their meetings to provide a legislative update.  If you have a group that would like for me to come to a meeting, please let me know.

Help for Displaced SRS Workers: If you or someone you know lost a job at SRS, there is a One-Stop Transition Center open in downtown Aiken at Park Avenue and Laurens Street to assist workers displaced at SRS with finding new work.  The Center is open from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. For more information, visit.

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse in State Government:  To report waste, fraud and abuse in state government, you can call: 1-855-SC-FRAUD.

Facebook:  I have a Facebook page for Representative Tom Young. Please “like” the page to receive updates during the week from me on Facebook.

Tom Young’s Website: My website can be reached at www.reptomyoung.com. There are links to a variety of constituent services; the status of sponsored bills; and roll call votes. Please add my web site as a bookmark on your computer.

State House Tours:  Tours are available for the S.C. State House by calling (803) 734-2430.  If you set a tour between January and June and it is on a Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, please let me know so I can do my best to see you.

Email Updates:  If you know of people in or around District 81 who do not receive my updates but they would like to get them, please email their names and email addresses to me.

Road Issues:  If you see a road problem, call the SCDOT at 641-7665 or Aiken County at 642-1532 to report the problem.  If you do not get a prompt response, please let me know at TomYoung@schouse.gov or call me. Generally, most paved roads in the County are maintained by SCDOT and are identified on the road sign poles by a small black and white sign listing the road number, such as S-2-1669. Most unpaved roads in the County are maintained by the County.

Thank you for the opportunity and the honor to represent you.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way or if you have questions about these or other issues. Your feedback is meaningful and appreciated.

Sincerely,

Tom Young