Bill on SC Day of Prayer goes to Senate floor

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A bill creating a State Day of Prayer to coincide with the national one is now heading to South Carolina’s Senate floor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday approved a bill that would insert a single sentence into state law setting that day as the first Thursday in May.

Rep. Chip Limehouse initially proposed the idea in 2010, soon after a federal judge in Wisconsin declared the National Day of Prayer an unconstitutional call for religious action.

The Mount Pleasant Republican called the ruling an assault on religion. His bill sailed through the House but died in the Senate.

Limehouse re-filed the bill last April after an appeals court dismissed the federal lawsuit. It has already been approved by the House.