S.C. political briefs

Legislators would be subject to open records law

A S.C. House panel voted 19-2 Tuesday to amend the S.C. Freedom of Information Act to make the papers of legislators and legislative committees subject to public information requests by citizens.

Every other public agency has to respond to the open records laws, and the General Assembly should be no exception, said state Rep. Rick Quinn, R-Lexington, who proposed the amendment. “To give ourselves an exemption is wrong.”

Quinn’s proposal was attached to another amendment to the Freedom of Information Act that also passed the House Judiciary Committee. That amendment put limits on the amount of money that public agencies can charge the public for copies and Freedom of Information searches.

The amendments now go to the House floor. If passed there, they will go the Senate.

John Monk

Sumter Democrat says he’ll run for state Senate

Sumter attorney Thomas McElveen, a Democrat, said Tuesday that he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by state Sen. Phil Leventis.

Leventis, a Sumter Democrat, recently said he would not seek re-election to the District 35 seat, which includes parts of Sumter, Lee, Kershaw and Richland counties. McElveen said he will run on the issues of job creation, improving education and tax reform.

Gina Smith

Legislator proposes 16-year term limits

A Democratic S.C. lawmaker wants voters to decide whether legislators should be limited to 16 years in their chamber.

State Rep. Bakari Sellers, D-Bamberg, introduced a measure Tuesday that would limit the number of times House and Senate members could be re-elected, starting with those elected in 2014.

The idea would require amending the state Constitution. Sellers’ measure would put two questions on November’s ballot. His proposed constitutional amendments would ask voters if House members should be limited to eight full terms and senators to four.

A Republican senator introduced a similar measure the opening day of the 2011 session. It has gone no where.

The Associated Press

Governor’s schedule for this week

Gov. Nikki Haley’s publicly announced schedule for the rest of this week, released Tuesday by her office, is:

Today, 11:30 a.m. – Visit with group from Greenwood’s Palmetto Christian School at the State House

Friday to Monday – Attend Republican Governors Association’s winter meeting, Washington, D.C.

What the governor did last week

According to her office, Gov. Haley’s schedule for last week included:

8 – Legislative meetings or calls

4 – Economic-development meetings

3 each – Meetings concerning state policy; meetings concerning state agencies; speeches, to the Municipal Association of South Carolina, the S.C. Automotive Manufacturing Summit and the Greenville Chamber of Commerce

2 each – Calls to politicians, including a fellow governor and a fellow statewide constitutional officer; newspaper interviews

1 each – Meeting with a constituent; meeting with students from Greer’s Blue Ridge High School who were visiting the State House; visit to a S.C. plant, the 3M facility in Greenville

Busiest day – Thursday, with 11 activities

Lightest day – Tuesday, with one activity