A look at action from the 17th week of the 115th session of the S.C. General Assembly:

GOVERNOR’S APPOINTMENTS

A bill that would sell a shipping terminal in Port Royal ran aground after a last-minute amendment angered some lawmakers. The amendment would limit the governor’s ability to fire members of the State Ports Authority and Santee Cooper boards. Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, said the governor deserves the authority to continue using that power.

FOSTER PARENTS

Some activists are angry that lawmakers have given the conservative Palmetto Family Council a spot on a panel studying a Senate bill that would bar unmarried couples from adopting children or becoming foster parents. Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, the bill’s sponsor, said he didn’t know how the council got on the committee and said he would consider removing them.

PUBLIC SAFETY APPOINTMENT

The Senate confirmed James Schweitzer, the FBI’s special agent in charge for South Carolina, as the new head of the state Department of Public Safety. Republican Gov. Mark Sanford tapped the Birmingham, Ala., native for the job in February to replace Boykin Rose, an appointee of former Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges.

ATV HELMETS

The House approved a bill to require children younger than 16 to wear a helmet and glasses and earn a safety training permit to ride an all-terrain vehicle. South Carolina had 50 ATV-related deaths from 1982 to 2002, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

TATTOO BILL

A bill ending South Carolina’s ban on tattooing has run into trouble in a conference committee after the House and Senate passed different versions. Lawmakers disagree on age limits for tattoos, with the House version requiring those 18 to 21 have parental permission. The Senate bill has no such restriction. Lawmakers agreed to wait a week to try to work out the differences.

LEGISLATION LIMITS

The House adopted a measure to change General Assembly rules to end legislative tack-ons known as bobtailing through the end of the year. The resolution reads that amendments to legislation have to reflect what their titles say the bills cover.

SEAT BELTS

The Senate killed a bill that would toughen seat-belt laws. Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, said some seat belt supporters were using the bill to block other legislation by refusing to let the bill die. The bill was favored by a majority in the Senate but was held up by opponents calling it unnecessary regulation.

WETLANDS

The House approved a bill that would change the way the state regulates isolated wetlands, which hold standing water but are not connected to another waterway. Under the proposal, developers and others could fill an isolated wetland of an acre or less. Isolated wetlands ranging from one to five acres could be developed as long as the owner took steps to mitigate. Opponents of the bill say it allows developers to go too far.

BOAT TAX

The House approved a bill to cap all property taxes on boats at $1,500. Anyone who owns a boat worth $18,750 or more would pay no more than $1,500 in taxes.

SAFE SCHOOL ROUTES

A bill aimed at helping students walk safer routes to school cleared a Senate Education subcommittee. The House bill requires school districts to establish committees of citizens and officials who would be responsible for making sure students have safe walking routes to school.

ESTATE TAX REDUCTIONS

The House agreed to spend part of an expected state surplus on income and estate tax reductions. The Senate Finance Committee used reports to put $110 million into the state budget. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said $40 million should go to making state tax laws conform to federal laws involving the marriage tax penalty and state taxes.

SMALLS MONUMENT

The Senate approved a bill that calls for a monument on State House grounds honoring a black Civil War hero who later became a U.S. House member. Robert Smalls was born in 1839 to a house slave in Beaufort and went on to become a respected captain, legislator and congressman.

PRISON HEALTH CARE

Prisons director Jon Ozmint is looking into privatizing health care as a way to save money. The Corrections Department has lost more than $70 million from its budget during the past four years, Ozmint said. He promised a Senate committee that he would do what he could to protect jobs and would give up on the privatization idea if it wasn’t feasible.

INCOME TAX

Gov. Mark Sanford’s plan to reduce the state’s top income tax rate narrowly avoided a delay that supporters said would kill it in the Senate Finance Committee. It’s now headed to the Senate floor for debate. Sanford wanted the state’s 7 percent top income tax rate cut to 4.75 percent during the next decade. The House passed that version, but the Finance Committee’s version says the state’s revenue would have to grow by about 5 percent before any money went to reducing the income tax.

RESTRUCTURING

A bill that would create a new Department of Administration accountable to the governor took a step forward in the House. Opponents are concerned about the estimated $2 million fiscal impact of the bill. Under the bill, the new agency would be made up of existing divisions and offices of the state Budget and Control Board and the governor’s office.

MINIBOTTLES

A House subcommittee approved a constitutional amendment to allow voters to decide the fate of minibottles. The amendment now moves to the full House Judiciary Committee then to the House floor, where it must pass by a two-thirds vote before voters can decide in a referendum.

ASTHMA SCHOOLS

Lawmakers debated whether a school district can decide whether students can carry and administer asthma medication in the form of injections on school grounds. A House medical affairs subcommittee is expected to take action on the bill next week.

The Associated Press