House panels to discuss 3 bills with ties to Strand

COLUMBIA - Three issues with local impact will be up for public hearings before House committees next week.

Legislators will hear from anyone interested in the proposed bird sanctuary for Murrells Inlet, allowing counties to control fireworks use and imposing a 15 percent cap on property tax increases caused by rising values.

Reps. Vida Miller, D-Pawleys Island, and Tom Keegan, R-Surfside Beach, proposed the bird sanctuary bill in response to complaints about waterfowl hunting in the inlet.

Several residents have said the inlet is too populated to allow the shooting to continue.

A House subcommittee will hold hearings on the bill at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 410 of the Blatt House office building.

At 9 a.m. Wednesday in Room 515A of the Blatt building, a subcommittee will hold hearings on a bill proposed by Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, aimed at solving complaints about fireworks from residents of unincorporated beach areas.

State law allows cities to control fireworks use but not counties. The fireworks industry has fought attempts to expand the law to allow counties to control fireworks.

After the House adjourns on Thursday, another committee will hold hearings on the tax cap bill sponsored by Miller, along with several other proposals to cap or limit taxes.

The hearings will be in Room 504 Blatt. The House meets at 10 a.m. Thursday, so the hearings probably would begin near 11 a.m.

Debate also will continue on a bill legalizing tattooing, which is known to occur underground across the state, including in Myrtle Beach.

A House committee stalled last week over one member's insistence that no one younger than 18 be allowed to have a tattoo. The bill as proposed said people between 16 and 18 could get a tattoo with written parental permission.

The subcommittee that reviewed the bill did not want to change it because it would then have to go back to the Senate, which has already passed the bill, but the full committee is willing to take that risk to refine the proposal.

Last week saw little action on issues of area interest.

A bill by Sen. Luke Rankin, D-Myrtle Beach, to forbid Santee Cooper from giving money from the sale of surplus property to the state reached the Senate floor Thursday, but it stalled when several members raised questions about it.

Rankin said he will talk privately with the senators who had questions about the bill to see if he can resolve their problems.

Another bill that stalled Thursday was a resolution by Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, and 31 others asking the U.S. Congress to send the states a constitutional amendment allowing the 10 Commandments to be displayed in public places. The resolution is expected to be debated Tuesday.