Bill eliminating SC DOT commission moves to floor

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A bill to eliminate the board that oversees South Carolina’s Department of Transportation and give the governor full oversight of the agency is coming up for debate in a House committee.

The House Judiciary Committee voted 16-4 on Tuesday to advance the bill to the floor.

A 2007 law restructuring the agency put it in the governor’s Cabinet but gave oversight to a seven-member commission. Six commissioners are elected by legislators from each congressional district, and the seventh is appointed by the governor. Transportation Secretary Robert St. Onge thus reports to both Gov. Nikki Haley and the commission.

Haley wants legislators to eliminate the commission, saying the two-boss system is cumbersome and political.

While the bill eliminates the commission, it creates a 17-member advisory board to provide input without authority.