Weekly Legislative Update from Rep. Tom Young – May 29, 2012 to June 4, 2012

 

Weekly Legislative Update from Rep. Tom Young – May 29, 2012 to June 4, 2012

The House of Representatives is in session for 2012. The regular session will conclude this Thursday, June 7. The House will meet later in June to address any budget vetoes and conference committee reports on bills which have passed both the House and Senate with differences.  I hope that you find the following information helpful and informative:

Congratulations to Graduating High School Seniors!:  Graduations for local high schools were held this past week.  All of the graduating seniors are congratulated on their accomplishment and wished the best of luck in the future!

Last Week’s Legislative Session

State Budget:  The House Ways and Means Committee is working on an amendment to the Senate version of the State Budget.  That is expected to be presented this week.  If adopted, then the House will non-concur in the Senate version of the budget sending the budget to a Conference Committee.

Restructuring – Elimination of the Budget and Control Board: A conference committee continues to meet to work out differences in H.3066, legislation eliminating the South Carolina Budget and Control Board and transferring many of the responsibilities to the newly created Department of Administration. This is a MAJOR restructuring initiative for this year.

State Retirement System:  On Wednesday, the House amended the Senate version of the pension reform plan.  The Senate did not concur with those changes on Thursday sending the bill now to a House/Senate Conference Committee.  Conferees are Sen. Greg Ryberg (Aiken); Sen. Nikki Setzler (Lexington); Sen. Tom Alexander (Oconee); Rep. Jim Merrill (Berkeley); Rep. Kenny Bingham (Lexington); and Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (Orangeburg).  To see a side by side comparison, go here.

House Expected To Return June 19 and June 26:  The House will return on June 19 to consider an expected Budget Conference Report.  After a budget is passed that week, then the House will return on June 26 to consider any gubernatorial vetoes of the budget.

Extracurricular Activities — Governor’s School and Home School Students: The House joined the Senate in unanimously passing legislation allowing home school students and Governor’s School students to participate in interscholastic activities, including athletics, music, speech, and other extracurricular activities, at local public schools as long as these criteria are met by the student:

• meets all requirements for residing within the public school’s attendance boundaries;

• satisfies all public school eligibility requirements except for pertinent enrollment and attendance requirements;

• meets the same responsibilities and standards of behavior and performance, including related practice requirements, of public school students participating in the interscholastic activities of the team or squad and is required to meet the same standards for acceptance on the team or squad.

The legislation also provides that a public school student who is not allowed to participate in interscholastic activities because of a failure to maintain academic eligibility is ineligible to participate in interscholastic activities as a charter school student, Governor’s School student, or home school student for the following semester.

Disqualification for Unemployment – Fired for Misconduct:  The House approved S. 1125 which provides that a person discharged from employment for misconduct is ineligible for the twenty weeks of jobless benefits available under the state’s unemployment compensation provisions.  Misconduct is defined as (1) conduct which is “willful and wanton disregard of an employer’s interests”; (2) carelessness or negligence of such degree or recurrence as to manifest equal culpability, wrongful intent, or evil design; or (3) an intentional and substantial disregard of the employer’s interest or of the employee’s duties and obligations to his employer.  No finding of misconduct may be made for a discharge resulting from an extreme hardship, emergency, sickness, or other extraordinary circumstance.

Refund of Filing Fees for Candidates Removed from June 2012 Primary Ballot:  The House approved H. 5285 authorizing a refund of the filing fee to individuals who are prohibited by the recent South Carolina Supreme Court ruling from appearing on the June 2012 primary ballot as the result of their failure to file a statement of economic interests.

Senate Approves Legislation Adding Judges:  The Senate approved legislation adding six new Family Court judges and three new Circuit Court judges in the state court system.  This is the first addition of any new judges in the state system since 1997.  The move is intended to help address long-standing backlogs on court dockets in both family court and criminal court. The House approved the bill earlier this year.

Aiken Resident Recognized for Heroism:  On Thursday, the House recognized Corporal Joey Patsourakos of the Williston Police Department for his heroism is capturing a suspect on the run after escaping police custody in Georgia. Afterwards, Corporal Patsourakos was awarded the first Law Enforcement Cross of Exceptional Heroism by the American First Responder Institute of Heraldry. Corporal Patsourakos lives in Aiken with his wife and four sons.

This Week’s Legislative Session

Bills on House Calendar:  This the last week of the regular legislative session. The full House may debate several bills this week including the following:

• Several bills which have come from the Senate in recent weeks;

• Bills which are recalled from Committee or which come from the Senate in the waning days of the session.

Senate Campaign Update

Senate Campaign:  Here is the latest on the Campaign for Senate District 24:

• Bumper stickers for “Tom Young for Senate” are available.  They may be picked up at my office downtown at 409 Park Avenue SW; at the Tom Young Allstate agency on Whiskey Road next to Home Depot; or at Hixon Insurance in North Augusta.  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 6 general election ballot.

• The following communities in Aiken County are in Senate District 24: 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 towww.tomyoungforsenate.com, email me at tom@tomyoungforsenate.com, or call me at 215-3631.

Other Topics of Interest

Aiken County Public Library Summer Reading Program:  The annual summer reading program for children through the 5th grade has started at the Aiken County Public Library.  The Program runs through early August.  Children who read the required number of books will receive a medal and a certificate of completion.  Reading is essential to doing well in school.  Please encourage as many young people as you can to read this summer.  For more information, call the Aiken County Public Library at 642-2020 or go here.

Palmetto Amateur Tournament in Aiken:  The 2012 Palmetto Amateur golf tournament will be in Aiken at the Palmetto Golf Club this week from June 5 to 10.  The event is one of the top amateur golf events in the United States.  To learn more about the event, 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.

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 atwww.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
649-0000 (o)
215-3631 (cell)

 

P.S. Please visit www.tomyoungforsenate.com for more posts, news, video updates, and, if you have Twitter, please click here to start following me!

 

Paid for by Tom Young for Senate


 


Leave a Comment

*