Hate crimes, police reform await SC lawmakers in last week

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – The South Carolina General Assembly will start its final week of the 2021 session with several consequential bills on their agendas. The House has on its calendar a bill to throw South Carolina’s name on a list of states calling for a convention to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The House also may take up a police reform bill that it debated briefly last month before supporters decided to tweak some of proposals. Neither bill has passed the Senate. One of the most high-profile proposals awaiting action in the Senate is a House-passed bill to make South Carolina the 49th state to enact a hate crimes law.