People gathered at the State House today to lift their hands up for the National Day of Prayer. It’s observed each year on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray or meditate for the nation.
The South Carolina House has voted to add the firing squad to the state’s execution methods amid a lack of lethal-injection drugs. The chamber’s 66-43 vote Wednesday is one of the last steps needed to finalize the bill.
South Carolina senators debating a bill that would allow people with concealed weapons permits to carry their guns on Wednesday rejected an attempt to get rid of the requirement for the permits. Senators voted 25-21 against the so-called constitutional carry amendment after several hours of debate.
The South Carolina House is insisting the state continue to accept offers to sell Santee Cooper. That means the fate of a bill to overhaul the state-owned utility will go down to the wire at this year’s session.
South Carolina’s effort to become the next-to-last state to pass a hate crimes law has survived a challenge from some Republican senators. The senators had questioned whether it is necessary to add penalties to violent crimes based on someone’s motives.
At the Statehouse, the South Carolina Senate has approved the state’s roughly $10 billion budget for the next fiscal year. It includes a 2% raise for all state employees and a $1,000 raise for teachers.
The South Carolina House passed a bill this week eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes and reducing the amount of time drug offenders have to serve in prison for some offenses.
A small group of South Carolina senators has approved a bill that would allow licensed people to openly carry pistols and not hide them under a jacket. The 3-2 vote Thursday along party lines kept alive hopes in 2021 that the Senate could pass the House-approved bill.
South Carolina senators working on the state’s $10 billion spending plan have rejected one lawmaker’s call to remove all special projects to the spending plan.
South Carolina House members may soon debate whether to restart the state’s stalled death penalty with the electric chair. At issue is whether to add a firing squad to the execution methods.
