COLUMBIA | End-of-session fever struck the Capitol on Tuesday, causing a flurry of activity including extended debates in the House and speeches and a filibuster in the Senate.

With two weeks to go in the official session, members were anxious to pass bills that seem to have a chance this year. The drawn-out floor debate made committee meetings late, and those gatherings had long agendas, forcing some members to work into the evening.

Among the casualties Tuesday was Billy Witherspoon's bill that forbids local governments from regulating animal farms.

Although the Senate Judiciary Committee approved an amended version of the bill, it was sent to the floor with enough opposition to ensure it no chance of passage this year.

Witherspoon, R-Conway, chairs the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee and called the measure a "right to farm" bill. He said the proposal has been widely misunderstood and wrongly portrayed.

"People have missed the whole point of this bill," Witherspoon said. "It's perceptions, it's emotions."

Opponents say the bill interferes with home rule powers such as land use and zoning, and will promote large hog farms.

Horry and Georgetown counties were racing to pass ordinances allowing them to regulate hog or other animal farms before the state passed a bill.

The Senate's amendment allows counties to regulate hog farms but not poultry and other livestock.

"This is referred to as the chicken-out bill, you might say," said Sen. Bob Waldrep, R-Anderson, author of the amendment. He said it is a compromise because there is a difference between hog farms, with their waste lagoons, and other animal operations.

Witherspoon said that, if the Senate approves the amended version, the House will not.

"The bill must stay like it is," he said.

Witherspoon said the hog farm rules are 99 pages and if a farmer meets those requirements, he should be allowed to start an operation.

But some Senate committee members echoed the concerns of people who spoke at public hearings on the issue. They say the hog farm rules are not strict enough for some locations.

Sen. Dick Elliott, D-North Myrtle Beach, said the rules of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control don't go far enough to protect areas such as Horry County that receive pollution from upstream and that depend on the rivers for drinking water.

"There is too much at risk" for some counties, and they should be able to use their powers based on local conditions, Elliott said.

"I think it's pretty obvious this bill is going nowhere," said Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island. "We're stomping all over home rule."

Witherspoon said it could be a good thing the bill is delayed. Over the summer, he and other supporters can work on educating people about the measure's merits, he said.