A bill that would prevent lawsuits against businesses and other groups by people who contract COVID-19 has passed the South Carolina Senate.
In a ceremony at the Statehouse Thursday afternoon, Governor Henry McMaster signed the Fetal Heartbeat Bill into law. Senate Democrats released the following statement in reaction to the signing of a bill that bans most abortions in the state.
Public health workers in South Carolina have been tasked with keeping the state safe for 143 years, ever since a health board was created following a yellow fever outbreak in 1878. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic surges, legislators are trying to break their agency apart.
The South Carolina Senate voted Thursday to pass the Fetal Heartbeat Bill with a 30-13 vote.
State lawmakers are not meeting at the State House this week. Leaders are asking lawmakers to hold committee and subcommittee meetings online so they can pass bills the entire House and Senate can take up when they return.
The spike in COVID-19 cases is also impacting how business is conducted at the State House. South Carolina Senate Democrats now plan to hold their annual planning meeting virtually.
All 124 members of the South Carolina House are returning to Columbia this week, but the goal is to organize, not to pass laws. The House plans to meet Tuesday and Wednesday to get ready for the 124th session of the General Assembly scheduled to start Jan. 12.
The new leader of South Carolina Senate Democrats says he wants his colleagues to concentrate on better jobs, health care and education instead of getting caught up in partisan fights.
A South Carolina Senate subcommittee is discussing a bill that would establish punishments if someone is caught using their cell phone while driving.
A bill that would ban virtually all abortions six weeks after conception in South Carolina moves closer to being discussed on the Senate floor.
