Accomplishments of the 2000 Legislative Session

Education
First Steps. The General Assembly approved Governor Hodges' request for an additional $10 million for the preschool initiative First Steps to School Readiness. The additional funding will enable First Steps to implement childhood education initiatives in all 46 counties.

Teacher Quality. In his State of the State address, Governor Hodges proposed a new initiative to encourage 500 teachers to obtain national certification by the year 2002. The General Assembly approved $14.6 million to encourage teachers to pursue higher standards. The teacher quality initiative includes bonuses for the S.C. Teacher of the Year, S.C. Honor Roll teachers and District Teachers of the Year.

Middle Schools. The General Assembly approved $5 million for the Excellence in Middle Schools initiative proposed by Governor Hodges. This new initiative will provide guidance counselors, school safety officers and school nurses in South Carolina middle schools.

Character Education. The General Assembly appropriated $265,000 to fund character education initiatives in public schools, and adopted Governor Hodges' proposal to make character education a mandatory part of every school district's curriculum.

SAT Improvement. The General Assembly approved $1 million in funding to better prepare college-bound students to succeed on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

Education Accountability. Over $20 million was appropriated to enhance alternative schools, professional development and other education accountability initiatives.

Reading Honor Roll. In his State of the State address, Governor Hodges challenged students to read 20 books a year. Students that meet this challenge are named to the Governor's Reading Honor Roll. This spring Governor Hodges visited 3 schools that met the 100 percent participation goal: Forestbrook Elementary in Myrtle Beach, Midway Elementary in Lexington, Crestview Elementary in Greer, and Erwin Elementary in Lancaster.

Governor's Institute of Reading. The Institute of Reading held a statewide summit in December 1999 to review the best practices in the teaching of reading. During the 2000-2001 academic year, the Institute of Reading will allocate $50,000 grants to 30 school districts in order to implement reading initiatives.

Reading with Rachel. Once a month, Rachel reads to young students at the Governor's Mansion. She also takes "Reading with Rachel" on the road. Rachel visits schools all across the state, reading to students and presenting media centers with copies of the "Reading with Rachel" Book of the Month.

Historic Observances
Confederate Flag. In his 2000 State of the State address, Governor Hodges called for the Confederate flag to be moved from the State House Dome to a place of historical context on the State House Grounds. The compromise passed by the General Assembly moves the Confederate flag from the Dome and the House and Senate chambers. It places a historically accurate flag at the Confederate Soldiers' Monument.

MLK Holiday. On May 1, 2000, South Carolina joined the rest of the nation in honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with an official state holiday.

African-American History Monument. On May 11, 2000, Governor Hodges and legislators broke ground on the African-American History Monument -- the only monument of its kind honoring African-Americans on a state capitol grounds in the United States.

Health Care
Prescription Drugs. In his State of the State address, Governor Hodges called for affordable prescription drug coverage for South Carolina seniors. The General Assembly passed the South Carolina Seniors' Prescription Drug Act. The $20 million initiative provides affordable deductibles and co-payments for seniors with incomes between $11,250 an $19,688 for a family of two, with top priority given to families with incomes less than $16,875.

Mental Health Parity. A new law endorsed by Governor Hodges establishes equal treatment for substance abuse, mental health conditions and physical health conditions with respect to insurance coverage. It creates a three-year pilot program establishing mental health parity in the state health insurance plan.

Home and Community Based Care. The state budget includes $1.6 million for home-based senior care, home nurse visits and adult day care. This funding will remove 500 seniors from waiting lists for services.

Nursing Home Care. The state budget includes $1 million to provide Medicaid payment for 100 nursing home beds, cutting the waiting list for nursing home services by one-third.

Newborn Health Screenings. The state budget includes $1.3 million for newborn hearing screenings. These screening will enable early diagnosis of hearing loss and enable children to receive proper treatment.

Youth Smoking Prevention. The General Assembly approved $1.7 million to fund youth smoking prevention programs throughout South Carolina.

Targeted Tax Relief
Senior Property Tax Relief. Governor Hodges approved an increase in the seniors' homestead exemption from $20,000 to $50,000. The $38 million initiative will eliminate property taxes for more than half the seniors in South Carolina.

Sales Tax Holiday. In his State of the State address, Governor Hodges proposed a sales tax holiday on the purchase of clothes and back-to-school items during the first weekend in August. The General Assembly approved $4.5 million for this targeted tax relief.

Economic Development
Tobacco Settlement. Governor Hodges requested that funds from the Master Settlement Agreement (Phase II) be appropriated among priorities in health care, rural economic development and compensation to tobacco growers and quota holders. The General Assembly approved a plan that dedicates 73 percent of tobacco settlement funds to health care, 15 percent to compensate growers and quota holders for loss of production, 10 percent to the Department of Commerce for water and sewer infrastructure, and 2 percent to the Budget and Control Board for grants to local government for water and sewer infrastructure.

Community Development Corporations. The General Assembly passed legislation supported by Governor Hodges that promotes economic development in rural and undeveloped areas of South Carolina. The new law provides tax credits for community development corporations throughout South Carolina.

Environment
Barnwell. In July 1999, Governor Hodges convened the South Carolina Nuclear Waste Task Force. In December, the Task Force unanimously recommended that South Carolina join the Atlantic Compact with New Jersey and Connecticut. The General Assembly passed legislation authorizing South Carolina to join the Atlantic Compact. The new law will reduce the amount of waste buried at Barnwell, meet the future disposal needs of South Carolina electric utilities and provide for the economic health of the Barnwell community. The Compact will eventually prohibit nuclear waste from 47 states and end South Carolina's role as the nation's nuclear dumping ground.

Governor's Summit on Growth. In March, more than 400 people from across South Carolina attended the Governor's Summit on Growth in Greenville. This summit brought together state and local leaders, realtors, homebuilders, developers and environmentalists to discuss the challenges of growth in South Carolina.

Brownfields. Governor Hodges signed legislation that will return polluted land, or "brownfields," to productive use. The new law establishes a voluntary cleanup program designed to redevelop contaminated industrial and commercial properties.

Conservation Easements. Governor Hodges signed legislation that offers significant additional tax advantages to property owners who donate conservation easements to protect natural resources.

Public Safety
Hurricane Preparedness. The supplemental appropriations bill passed by the General Assembly includes funding for portable message boards and highway advisory radios, and construction of five 800 MHz radio tower sites in Horry, Georgetown, Williamsburg, Marion, and Beaufort Counties. The new 800 MHz sites will provide greater communication and coordination among public safety, law enforcement, and emergency response personnel during time of emergency. The immediate need is in the coastal areas lacking adequate radio coverage.

Magistrate Reform. The Magistrate Reform Act of 2000 signed by Governor Hodges increases educational requirements for magistrates and raises the jurisdictional amount of magistrate's court to $7,500 in civil cases. It provides for exclusive jurisdiction of fraudulent check cases for cases in which the bad check is for $1,000 or less, increases filing fees, and requires new magistrates to observe ten trials before trying his or her first case. The new law establishes a mandatory eligibility examination and continuing education program for magistrates. The act also allows magistrates to participate in the Police Officers Retirement System and improves magistrate salaries.

Tougher Child Abuse Penalties. A new law signed by Governor Hodges classifies great bodily harm to a child as a violent crime with a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Previously, a person accused of child abuse could be charged either with assault and battery with intent to kill, or assault and battery of a highly aggravated nature.

Firearms Liability. Governor Hodges supported passage of H. 3420. In a products liability action involving firearms or ammunition, whether a firearm or ammunition shell is defective in design must not be based on a comparison or weighing of the benefits of the product against the risk of injury, damage, or death posed by its potential to cause that injury, damage, or death when discharged. In such a products liability action alleging a design defect, the burden is on the plaintiff to prove, in addition to any other elements required to be proved that the actual design of the firearm or ammunition was defective, causing it not to function in a manner reasonably expected by an ordinary consumer of firearms or ammunition and was the proximate cause of the injury, damage, or death.

Jacob's Law. A new law signed by Governor Hodges requires any entity, including private day care centers, transporting students to or from school, school-related activities, or child care, to transport students in a vehicle meeting federal school bus safety standards.

Illegal Per Se. Governor Hodges supported illegal per se legislation that toughens the state's drunken driving laws. The new law allows courts and jurors to presume drivers are drunk if they have a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent or more. Defendants can challenge test results and require the state to provide witnesses to testify about testing accuracy.

DMV Modernization. The state budget includes $9.3 million for Project Phoenix, a multi-year project to provide state-of-the-art technology to improve customer service at the Division of Motor Vehicles.