COLUMBIA - The prescription-transfer bill nearly passed both the House and the Senate this week but won't gain final passage until next week.

The bill, sponsored in the House by Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, would ease the burden on visitors who forget their medicine or run out.

Current law requires them to see a doctor to get a new prescription.

Clemmons said the bill will help visitors as well as residents who might want to cross the Horry County border if better prices are available in North Carolina.

Clemmons' bill passed the House, then quickly moved through the Senate, where it received the second of three readings Thursday.

The companion Senate bill passed early in the week and was sent to a House committee, but Clemmons got a motion passed Thursday to withdraw the bill from committee. It probably will be passed Tuesday.

The governor might have a bill to sign next week. He already has said he would sign the bill.

He vetoed the same bill last year because a measure requiring 60 hours of training for hair braiders was attached to it.

Clemmons said it doesn't matter which bill the governor signs.

"Whichever one finishes first, I don't care," he said.

Earlier in the day, a House subcommittee approved ratification of the free-pour-liquor referendum. The measure already was approved by the Senate.

It is a formality that must pass for the referendum results to become law.

On the House floor, Rep. Vida Miller, D-Pawleys Island, got a resolution passed commending the Waccamaw Lady Warriors of Pawleys Island on their Class A-AA state tennis championship and inviting them to the Statehouse to be recognized.

Such recognitions are common. On Thursday, the Class A state football champs, from Lamar, came to the Capitol to be recognized on the House floor.