Bills on seat belts, school start dates and a casino boat ban are among 225 measures lawmakers prefiled last week for the legislative session that begins next month. Another round of prefiling is set for Wednesday in both the House and Senate, and again Dec. 22 in the House.

Here are some examples of prefiled legislation:

House bills

JOB CREATION

• The bill — (H. 3006) “2005 Jobs Creation Act” offers businesses up to 25 percent income tax credit for certain new investment.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Wilkins, Harrell, Doug Smith, Joe Brown, Cato, Chellis, Harrison, Townsend, Witherspoon

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

INCOME TAX CUT

• The bill — (H. 3007) Reduce the state’s top income tax rate from 7 percent to 4.75 percent over several years, as long as the general fund’s revenue growth is at least 2 percent.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Wilkins, Smith, Harrell, Cato, Chellis, Harrison, Townsend and Witherspoon

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

TORT REFORM

• The bill — (H. 3008) The “South Carolina Economic Development, Citizens, and Small Business Protection Act of 2005,” a tort reform bill, deals with what’s known as joint and separate liability as well as trial venue.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Cato, Bales, Clark, Barfield, Huggins, Frye, Young, Sandifer, Ted Pitts, Taylor, Anthony, Bailey, Battle, Bingham, Ceips, Chalk, Chellis, Clemmons, Cooper, Dantzler, Davenport, Duncan, Edge, Hamilton, Hardwick, Harrell, Hinson, Kirsh, Leach, Limehouse, Littlejohn, Loftis, McCraw, Norman, Owens, Perry, Pinson, Rice, Simrill, Skelton, Don Smith, Garry Smith, Roland Smith, Stewart, Thompson, Toole, Townsend, Tripp, Umphlett, Vaughn, Vick, Viers, Walker, White, Whitmire, Wilkins, Witherspoon

• Next step — House Judiciary Committee

RESTRUCTURING

• The bill — (H. 3009) “The South Carolina Restructuring Act of 2005” creates a new Department of Administration and moves some of the responsibilities of the State Budget and Control Board to the new agency.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Wilkins, Harrell, Doug Smith and Harrison

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

CHARTER SCHOOLS

• The bill — (H. 3010) Creates a statewide Carolina Public Charter School District to make it easier to create charter schools.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Doug Smith and Wilkins

• Next step — House Education and Public Works Committee

APPOINTING OFFICIALS

• The bill — (H. 3011) A proposed constitutional amendment requiring that some constitutional officers be appointed by the governor rather than elected by voters. Would require a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Wilkins, Harrison, Doug Smith, Cato, Harrell and Chellis

• Next step — House Judiciary Committee

TUITION TAX CREDITS

• The bill — (H. 3012) The “Put Parents in Charge Act” provides income and property tax credits for parents to send their children to private schools or other public schools and creates scholarships funded by private organizations for students whose parents earn so little they do not pay taxes.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Doug Smith, Vaughn and Harrison

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

• The bill — (H. 3032) A bill to prohibit the state from recognizing same-sex marriages from other states.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Coates and Pinson

• Next step — House Judiciary Committee

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• The bill — (H. 3140) Declares the attempted union between two people of the same sex is void and to disavow any same-sex marriage from another state.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Altman

• Next step — House Judiciary Committee

ENDING THE TERI PLAN

• The bill — (H. 3036) A bill to end the Teacher and Employee Retention Incentive program by July 1, 2010, and to prohibit new participants beginning July 1, 2005.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Kirsh

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

SEAT BELTS

• The bill — (H. 3057) To make seat belt use a “primary” violation of state law, allowing police to stop a driver solely for failing to wear a seat belt or use a child restraint system.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Joe Brown

• Next step — House Education and Public Works Committee

EDUCATION FUNDING

• The bill — (H. 3073) A bill to require the Education Finance Review Committee to study state funding formulas to “determine if they are adequate and equitable.”

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Cobb-Hunter

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

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• The bill — (H. 3086) The “SMART (streamlined management and accounting resources for teaching) Funding in Education Act” consolidates public school funding into six different revenue streams.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Roland Smith, Cotty, Chellis, Scarborough, Bales, Brady, Cato, Ceips, Clark, Hamilton, Harrell, Haskins, Leach, Neilson, Perry, Don Smith, Garry Smith, Townsend, Tripp, Vaughn and Walker

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

SCHOOL UNIFORMS

• The bill — (H. 3075) Requires students to wear uniforms in schools that receive an absolute rating of below average or unsatisfactory on their report cards for two consecutive years.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Ted Pitts

• Next step — House Education and Public Works Committee

WOMEN’S COMMISSION

• The bill — (H. 3094) Make the Commission on Women an autonomous state agency, instead of part of the governor’s office.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Cobb-Hunter

• Next step — House Judiciary Committee

VOICE MAIL

• The bill — (H. 3104) Prohibits state and local government employees, including police, from using a voice mail system if the employee is at his desk and his phone works.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Kirsh

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

SCHOOL BAND

• The bill — (H. 3106) Allows participation in high school bands to substitute for physical education requirements.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Kirsh

• Next step — House Education and Public Works Committee

SALES TAX ON FOOD

• The bill — (H. 3111) To eliminate the state sales tax on food over a number of years.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Kirsh

• Next step — House Ways and Means Committee

ELECTION OF JUDGES

• The bill — (H. 3120) Increases the membership of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission to 11 from 10 and requires the commission to release a list of all qualified candidates to the General Assembly, rather than just a list of three nominees.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Govan

• Next step — House Judiciary Committee

HANDICAPPED PARKING

• The bill — (H. 3124) Allows local governments to create a citizens handicapped parking enforcement program.

• Who’s behind it — Rep. Joe Brown

• Next step — House Education and Public Works Committee

DEFINING MARRIAGE

• The bill — (H. 3133) Calls for a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage is defined as the union between one man and one woman. Would require a two-thirds vote of both houses.

• Who’s behind it — Reps. Delleney, Harrison, Altman, Simrill and Taylor

• Next step — House Judiciary Committee

Senate bills

SEAT BELTS

• The bill — (S. 1) Makes failure to wear a seat belt a primary offense. Current law allows police to ticket only if another violation is involved.

• Who’s behind it — Sens. Ryberg, Hutto, Lourie, Drummond, Land, Moore, Matthews, McGill, O’Dell, Reese, Hayes, Gregory, Jackson, Martin, Rankin, Short, Richardson, Ritchie, Cromer, Smith and Leatherman

• Next step — Senate Judiciary Committee

TORT REFORM

• The bill — (S. 2) The “South Carolina Economic Development, Citizens and Small Business Protection Act of 2005” creates a cap of $250,000 in verdicts for non-economic damages.

• Who’s behind it — Sen. Leatherman

• Next step — Senate Judiciary Committee

APPOINTING OFFICIALS

• The bills — (S. 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12) Constitutional amendments making the state superintendent of education, treasurer, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner, adjutant general and comptroller general appointed, rather than elected, positions. Would require a two-thirds vote of both houses.

• Who’s behind it — Sens. McConnell and Moore

• Next step — Senate Judiciary Committee

STATE GRAND JURY

• The bill — (S. 22) Expands the power of the state grand jury to specifically investigate environmental crimes.

• Who’s behind it — Sens. Knotts and McConnell

• Next step — Senate Judiciary Committee

VOTER REGISTRATION

• The bill — (S. 28) Requires voter registration cards to have the voter’s photograph.

• Who’s behind it — Sen. Richardson

• Next step — Senate Judiciary Committee

TOUGHER PENALTIES

• The bill — (S. 47) Requires those convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree to serve a minimum term of 10 years in prison, with no chance of a suspended sentence or probation.

• Who’s behind it — Sen. Cromer

• Next step — Senate Judiciary Committee

TUITION PROGRAM

• The bill — (S. 51) Prohibits the S.C. Tuition Prepayment Program from taking on new participants.

• Who’s behind it — Sen. Ryberg

• Next step — Senate Education Committee

BOARD OF REGENTS

• The bill — (S. 61) Creates the South Carolina College and University Board of Regents, which would become the governing body of all public two- and four-year colleges and universities.

• Who’s behind it — Sen. Sheheen

• Next step — Senate Education Committee

LIFE SCHOLARSHIPS

• The bill — (S. 68) Creates requirements for home-schooled students to earn a LIFE scholarship.

• Who’s behind it — Sen. Short

• Next step — Senate Education Committee

PROPERTY TAX RELIEF

• The bill — (S. 69) Increases the state sales tax by 2 percent and uses the revenue to lower property taxes.

• Who’s behind it — Sens. Thomas, McConnell, Cromer, Knotts, Hawkins, Grooms, O’Dell, Fair and Mescher

• Next step — Senate Finance Committee

To read more about these bills and the rest of those on file, go to http://www.scstatehouse.net/ and click on the “Legislation” button.