Bathroom bills, gun background checks, term limits among SC House proposals
S.C. House members have prefiled more than 360 bills that they would like to see become law. (State senators had their chance earlier in the week.) A look at some of the House proposals:
The transgender bathroom bill is back
It’s back. Freshman state Rep. Steven Long, R-Spartanburg, proposes banning local governments from requiring that private clubs or buildings allow guests to use the bathroom of their choice.
The proposal also would give local governments the go-ahead to require that transgender men and women use only the public bathrooms of their birth sex.
The bill is similar to the controversial proposal by former state Sen. Lee Bright, R-Spartanburg, that failed last session.
Gun background checks
A proposal by state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, would require a national instant background check be completed before a firearm could be sold in South Carolina. Licensed dealers would be barred from selling or distributing guns until the results of background checks are in.
Mandatory dress code
Students in every S.C. public school would have to conform to a statewide dress code under a proposal by state Rep. Cezar McKnight, D-Williamsburg.
McKnight also says the state should help poor students pay for at least five sets of school uniforms for each season.
Guns for school teachers
The “Jacob Hall School Protection Act,” named after the 6-year-old killed in the Townville Elementary shooting this year, would allow school employees to carry concealed weapons to be used only when responding to an active-shooter situation.
Public school and districts could authorize certain employees to hold a concealed weapons’ permit under the bill, proposed by state Rep. Joshua Putnam, R-Anderson.
Raising the minimum wage
Cobb-Hunter proposes raising the minimum wage to at least $10.10 an hour. The Orangeburg Democrat’s proposal would allow that amount to rise if the federal minimum wage — now, $7.25 an hour — is increased to higher than $10.10 an hour.
Stopped trains
State Rep. Seth Whipper wants to limit how long a stopped train can block traffic on busy S.C. streets.
The Charleston Democrat proposes barring trains from blocking four-lane intersections for more than five minutes at a time from 7 to 9 a.m., noon to 2 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.
Ban straight-ticket voting
South Carolina is one of nine states nationwide that allows residents to press one button to vote for all of a party’s candidates.
And S.C. voters wear that button out on election day. About half of them quickly select every member of a single party, rather than picking favorites in each individual race.
State Rep. Laurie Funderburk, D-Kershaw, wants that to change. She proposes eliminating the provision of S.C. law that provides for straight-ticket voting.
Scooby-Doo for president?
S.C. voters last month might have been disappointed to learn they were not allowed to write in a vote for president. Two S.C. House members want to reinstate that option, taken away by state lawmakers in 1982.
State Reps. Garry Smith, R-Greenville, and Mac Toole, R-Lexington, prefiled bills to delete the section of state law that bars write-in votes for president and vice president.
Term limits for legislators
Three Republican House members have submitted similar term-limit proposals.
State Rep. Nathan Ballentine, R-Richland, proposes limiting S.C. House members to six terms, or 12 years, and senators to four terms, or 16 years. Those term limits would begin counting with the next election.
State Reps. Joshua Putnam and Garry Smith, R-Greenville, propose statewide referendums to let voters decide whether S.C. legislators should be limited to a set number of terms.
Under Putnam’s plan, S.C. House members could serve six consecutive terms and senators could serve three. The counts would begin with the 2020 general election.
Smith proposes limiting S.C. House members to six terms, starting with the 2018 election, and senators to three terms, starting with the 2020 election.
Metal detectors at venues
State Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, proposes requiring movie theaters, sporting arenas and concert venues to install and operate metal detectors.
‘In God We Trust’
State Rep. Steve Moss, R-Cherokee, proposes the state encourage the display of the United States’ motto in homes, churches, public buildings and schools.
This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Bathroom bills, gun background checks, term limits among SC House proposals."