COLUMBIA - The Senate refused Thursday to accept House changes to the tattoo legalization bill, so the differences will have to be worked out by a conference committee.

Sen. Bill Mescher, R-Pinopolis, the sponsor of the bill that would legalize and regulate tattooing, said the House provision that cities and counties could forbid tattoo parlors is unacceptable to the Senate.

The provision may be unconstitutional because some areas could treat a legal business differently from other areas, Mescher said. Location controls with zoning should be the only restrictions, he said.

Some House members refused to vote for the bill with-
out the provision allowing local governments to refuse to allow tattoo parlors, but the bill without that provision failed only narrowly.

The House also raised the age for tattooing from 18 in the Senate bill to 21. Mescher said senators don't like that change but can live with it.

Mescher, Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, and Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, will be on the conference committee. House members assigned to the committee are Rep. David Mack, D-North Charleston, Rep. Brian White, R-Anderson and Rep. David Umphlett, R-Moncks Corner.

The committee has not scheduled a meeting.

Spring break

The House is taking next week off. They are not paid unless they attend. Speaker David Wilkins said the recess will save about $40,000.

The House usually works a short week before Easter because it has finished the budget and much of its committee work as the April 30 deadline approaches to finish bills in time to send them to the Senate.

Last year, the House took the full week to save money and is doing it again.

Seat belts

The filibuster against changing the law to allow police to stop unbelted motorists continues in the Senate. A senator can hold the floor as long as he or she is able, preventing other business.

A team of about five opponents is keeping the filibuster alive. The only way to stop it is for senators to stay in session long enough for the talkers to wear down, but they also have been unwilling to do that.

They don't like to force an end to debate, either, because they might want to use the tactic someday. Last week, there were two attempts to force an end to the debate and both failed. The vote requires a two-thirds majority.

The first vote failed 18-22. Among those voting yes was Sen. Yancey McGill, D-Kingstree. Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach, Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, and Sen. Arthur Ravenel, R-Mount Pleasant, voted no.

The second attempt failed 16-25. McGill again voted yes, and Rankin joined him. Elliott and Ravenel voted no.

Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, has been trying to get past the debate to some other business but has not been able to get enough agreement. He said last week he is working hard to get enough votes to either shut down the seat belt debate or to agree to delay it so other business can be taken up.

Recognitions

A resolution sponsored by Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, congratulated Langston Memorial Baptist Church of Conway on its new sanctuary.

A bill designating the Conway Connector Road as Billy Jordan Boulevard is close to passage. It asks the Department of Transportation to name the road, and the agency usually complies with requests.

Rep. Tom Keegan, R-Surfside Beach, had visitors Thursday - his wife, Marie Keegan, and daughter Molly. But when introducing them to the House, he mixed them up, asking colleagues to welcome "my wife Molly ... oops."

"You need to get that right," Wilkins told him, laughing.

"I'm working on it," Keegan said.