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Immigration reform, tourism and tax reform top the agenda as the state’s business community gathers in Myrtle Beach through Friday for the annual meeting of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce.
The 28th Annual Summit attracts several hundred business leaders statewide.
Immigration reform is expected to be one of the major issues before the General Assembly when it returns in January.
The state chamber last month announced it would support a S.C. Senate immigration reform bill. During the last legislative session, the chamber opposed to state action in favor of the federal government enacting reforms.
The chamber maintains that immigration is a federal issue, but the failure of Congress to deal with reform led the chamber to endorse state action.
The chamber had heard concerns on immigration from business leaders around the state at grassroots meetings over the past few months. But businesses cautioned the burden of compliance not be pushed onto employers.
S.C. Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, who authored the immigration reform bill last year, will address the Annual Summit Symposium today.
The chamber wants modifications to the bill to block local governments from passing additional immigration laws that might create conflicting regulations.
But unlike last April, when the representatives of the agribusiness, hospitality, construction, homebuilders and other industries stood shoulder to shoulder with the chamber, Ritchie’s bill may not draw the business community’s total support.
South Carolina’s two largest industry segments — agribusiness and hospitality — are heavily dependent on immigrant labor, much of it admittedly illegal, and are very wary of state action.
The Farm Bureau is withholding endorsement of the Ritchie bill until it sees what provisions are included when the General Assembly reconvenes in January.
Tom Sponseller, president of the Hospitality Association of South Carolina, said his organization has not come out in support of the Ritchie bill.
But because Congress has not acted on immigration reform, Sponseller said his group is willing to work with the legislature.
He said he’s concerned that the nation could end up with 50 different immigration laws which would have serious implications for chain operators of hotels and restaurants who do business across state lines.
In other events, research economist Donald Schunk, formerly of USC and now at Coastal Carolina University, will speak at the symposium on the impact of tourism in South Carolina.
Roger Dow, president and chief executive officer of the Travel Industry Association, will deliver the keynote address.
The need for increased support for tourism funding was expressed by business leaders around the state during the chamber’s grassroots meetings.
At a grassroots meeting in Rock Hill, business leaders stressed that tourism is not just on the coast but is statewide.
The need for comprehensive tax reform in South Carolina also came out at the grassroots meetings. David Tuerck of The Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University, will address the summit on tax reform in South Carolina.
During the summit banquet this evening, Jim Micali, chairman and president of Michelin North America in Greenville, will take over as chairman of the state chamber from Harris DeLoach of Sonoco.
Lee Bussell, chief executive officer of Columbia-based Chernoff Newman, will be honored as the 2007 Business Leader of the Year, and Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler will be honored as the 2007 Public Servant of the Year.
