A quick spin through action at the State House on Thursday:
CHARTER SCHOOLS BILL AMENDED
A House subcommittee crafted a series of amendments Thursday it
hopes will clear the way next week for colleagues to endorse Gov.
Mark Sanford’s charter school bill.
The five-member education subcommittee is recommending that
oversight of state-sponsored or state-funded charter schools first
go to the governor, but then shift to the state Department of
Education by 2011.
Several education committee members, including Rep. Ted Pitts,
R-Lexington, questioned creating a bureaucracy to manage new charter
schools. He proposed the compromise.
Sanford supports Pitts’ idea, but educators are split. The
Education Department’s lobbyist said the agency believes the new
duties would create a conflict of interest because it currently
arbitrates charter school challenges and application appeals. The
state school boards association prefers the Education Department
supervise charter schools.
SENATE OVERRIDES SANFORD’S VETOES
The Senate on Thursday followed the House’s lead and overrode
three of Gov. Mark Sanford’s vetoes of bills that would:
• Require that nonfranchise car
dealers complete at least eight hours of education courses before
they can be issued a license to sell cars (H. 3831)
• Allow property owners to
designate their property as fireworks-free zones (H. 3409)
• Create an acupuncture advisory
committee, set billing practices for anatomic pathological services,
and affect registration for cardiovascular invasive specialists (H.
3891)
Bills vetoed by the governor but overridden by the House and
Senate become law.
BILL WOULD KEEP GOLF COURSES PUBLIC
Rep. Ted Vick, D-Chesterfield, and several other Pee Dee
legislators have filed a bill designed to stave off the plan to turn
over Cheraw State Park’s golf course to a private operator.
The bill would require that any golf course operated as part of
the state park system that is making a profit must continue to be
operated by employees of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation
and Tourism.
While the Cheraw course has made a modest profit in recent years,
Gov. Mark Sanford in his proposed budget suggests that a private
operator with more golf course experience could make the course more
profitable.
— Joey Holleman, Bill
Robinson
