House set to debate tax cuts

COLUMBIA - With the state spending plan out of the way, the House next week will debate proposals to cut income tax and control property taxes.

One of the property tax bills is the 15 percent cap on increases resulting from reassessment, sponsored by Rep. Vida Miller, D-Pawleys Island.

Another would eliminate the required reassessments until property changes hands.

Both bills are aimed at tax relief for people in areas such as the coast with rapidly-rising land values. Opponents say capping taxes for those people will force taxes up for others.

The income tax bill gradually reduces the tax rate, a move pushed by Gov. Mark Sanford.

The House also will take up a bill disallowing recognition of gay marriages performed in other states and confirming the state's existing gay marriage ban.

Budget debate

During the budget debate last week, the plan to take $5 million from the land conservation bank for beach renourishment at Hunting Island State Park on the south coast raised some questions for local legislators.

Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, said Cherry Grove has an erosion problem and that it brings in more revenue than Hunting Island.

Miller said Hunting Island contributed $2.1 million in revenue to the state last year and that the renourishment project will cost $9 million.

Both said the state is spend-
ing money meant for another purpose on a beach that is not stable and has had millions spent on it in recent years.

Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston and chairman of the budget-writing Ways and Means Committee, said the state will help Cherry Grove and Pawleys Island when their time comes for renourishment but that this year it's Hunting Island's turn.

Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, who fiercely fought establishment of the Conservation Bank that provides the renourishment money, took the floor to speak against the concept again.

He filed a bill forbidding placing any money into the account, though the budget allowed it $10 million. The money comes from property transaction taxes.

Witherspoon also planned to fight to remove the allocation from the budget but withdrew that attempt after the plan was approved to remove half of it for Hunting Island and $2.5 million for Medicaid.

He opposes more land conservation, saying the state already has 2.5 million acres of the state's total 20 million acres under some form of protection. "Just how much is enough?" Witherspoon said Thursday on the House floor.

Flagpole

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to review a bill Tuesday that says residents of restricted subdivisions can have flagpoles unless the objects are specifically forbidden and that people must have a way to display a flag.

The bill was prompted by Roger Johnson's experience at The Legends, where he paid an $850 fine for his flagpole. The homeowners association said it was a forbidden structure. The Legends has since changed its rules.

The bill, already passed by the House, was scheduled to be reviewed by the committee last week but was delayed by other business.

Seat belts

On the Senate floor, the debate on what is called primary enforcement of the seat belt law will continue. The bill allows police to stop and ticket adult motorists who are not buckled in.

The law currently requires seat belts, but adult motorists can be ticketed for not being buckled only if they are stopped for another violation. However, police can stop cars for unbuckled children younger than 18.

Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, is filibustering the bill. The Senate set this week to focus on it and try to wait him out.

Tattooing

A House committee will tackle the tattoo legalization bill again at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 427 of the Blatt House office building.

The Senate passed the bill, which puts tattooing on the same footing as body-piercing and regulates health practices connected with it. South Carolina and Oklahoma are the only states that forbid tattooing.

But the bill met resistance on the House floor and was sent back to the committee.