Supporters who want to make South Carolina the next-to-last U.S. state to pass a hate crimes law increasing penalties for some crimes fueled by race, gender or sexual orientation are running out of time to get what could be a decisive vote in the state Senate.
The bill now heads to the governor’s desk, but there is expected to be another legal challenge.
A bill that protects the identities of pharmaceutical companies who supply drug used for capital punishment has now passed.
The South Carolina Senate has voted unanimously passing H.B. 3532, a bond reform bill to make it harder for violent criminals to get out of jail.
South Carolina’s Republican-controlled Senate passed a bill Thursday that would bar citizens of “foreign adversary” nations from buying property in the state, an anti-espionage measure that critics fear will chill overseas investments over outsize concerns.
The State Senate is taking up a bill allowing lawful firearm owners to carry handguns openly or concealed without a state permit.
Senator Davis introduced several amendments to the Abortion Ban Bill including exceptions in the case of rape or incest. Some of his Republican colleagues disagreed with this amendment.
An amendment added last week by the House that provides an exception for abortion in the case of rape and incest was struck down by a 7 to 3 vote by the Senate Medical Affairs Committee.
Democratic Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter says that while lawmakers say the bill will protect unborn life, it will make many lives in the state worse.
Both chambers passed an almost $14 billion budget which includes income tax cuts and almost a billion dollars on road improvement.
