K-12 school mask rule won’t be part of SC House’s return to Columbia, speaker says

South Carolina House Speaker Jay Lucas said he has no plans to bring lawmakers back to Columbia for a special session over calls from within his own chamber to address a budget measure aiming to ban school mask requirements.

“The House Republican Caucus met this (Wednesday) afternoon and discussed multiple issues before the General Assembly,” Lucas, R-Darlington, said after the caucus’ nearly three-hour private meeting. “The conversation was productive and spirited. The entire caucus remains mindful of the restrictions of the sine die resolution and, at this time, the House has no plans to reconvene for a special session.”

The caucus met Wednesday at the Palmetto Club in downtown Columbia to discuss how to react to COVID-19 vaccine mandates planned by the Biden administration, as well as legislative plans for the rest of the year.

Last week, Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson joined other attorneys general threatening legal action should the Biden vaccine mandates take effect calling them a government overreach. Biden’s proposed plan would require federal contractors, health care workers and employees of businesses with more than 100 people to be vaccinated. Employees at large businesses would have the option of getting tested weekly.

“We’re supporting Attorney General Wilson, defending South Carolina and her rights,” House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York said.

Separately, a bipartisan group of lawmakers, teachers and medical groups have asked the Legislature to return to Columbia before the school semester ends and address a one-year law that states state money cannot be used to enforce a mask mandate.

With growing COVID-19 caseloads, the city of Columbia and the Richland 2 School District sued, taking the matter to the state Supreme Court.

While the district’s ruling is still pending, the high court ruled against the city, striking down the city’s order due to its enforcement mechanism. The Columbia City Council has since enacted a new city-wide mask mandate that applies to schools and businesses open to the public.

“It’s unfortunate that the House Republican Caucus has the time to meet in Columbia for lunch, but not to convene to address the ongoing and prolonged coronavirus pandemic,” said state Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, the assistant House minority leader. “Our schools continue to be unnecessarily hamstrung in responding to the virus because of a reckless and politically motivated proviso passed earlier this year.”

But Senate Education Committee Chairman Greg Hembree said school districts don’t need the Legislature’s help — conflicting with Gov. Henry McMaster’s argument that public school districts’ federal and local money can’t be separated from state dollars.

In an op-ed for The State, the Horry County Republican said districts can impose mask rules and still be in compliance with the state budget law. For example, he wrote, districts can spend federal dollars to hire temporary employees to serve as “public health enforcement officers.

“School boards have the money to carry out a mask mandate, and school boards have the legal authority to impose mask mandates and avoid violating state law,” Hembree wrote. “To impose a mask mandate merely requires the will of the local school board.”

With no return this fall for the House, the chamber is slated to return in December to tackle redistricting — part of the Legislature’s already approved agreement on what it can address after session in May.

The Senate is scheduled to return Oct. 12 to debate how to spend federal dollars, with potentially redistricting on the table. Though masks are not on the Senate’s agenda, the debate is likely, Senate Democrats have indicated.

Simrill told The State that the House may wait until 2022 to deal with how to spend the state’s share of federal COVID-19 aid, giving lawmakers more time to wade through requests.

This story was originally published September 22, 2021 at 3:34 PM.

Joseph Bustos

The State

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Joseph Bustos is a state government and politics reporter at The State. He’s a Northwestern University graduate and previously worked in Illinois covering government and politics. He has won reporting awards in both Illinois and Missouri. He moved to South Carolina in November 2019 and won the Jim Davenport Award for Excellence in Government Reporting for his work in 2022. Support my work with a digital subscription