School-start bill runs into roadblock

COLUMBIA - A bill setting an advisory referendum on later school-starting dates was a nonstarter when it hit the Senate floor Thursday.

Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, sponsored the bill for the plebiscite in the 2006 general elections. Efforts to bring schools back to more traditional starting dates near Labor Day have been under way for six years with little result.

Most S.C. schools now start in early August. School officials say they need the time to prepare for state school accountability tests in early May.

Tourism interests say the change has cost them a month of vacationers, and a few parents who say their family time and vacation time are affected have joined the effort.

The bill would ask voters if they want school to start no earlier than Aug. 25. It was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But when it came to the floor, Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, objected to it. It's the responsibility of lawmakers to decide such issues, not the voters, Ryberg said.

Republican Sen. Jim Ritchie of Spartanburg said it's an advisory referendum, meaning the results are not binding.

"I don't like it," Ryberg said.

His objection means the bill can't be taken up until it is set for forced debate by a two-thirds vote. That isn't likely to happen this year because, with two weeks left in the session, the Senate is concentrating on passing bills with a higher priority.

Rankin said the important thing is to get the bill in a position for passage next year in time for the referendum and to keep the issue open for discussion.

Supporters of the later starting dates will spend the next year trying to build support among parents, Rankin said. It was the demands of parents that encouraged N.C. lawmakers to adopt a later starting date last year.

Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-
Myrtle Beach, filed a companion bill in the House, but it has not been taken up.

Horry precincts

The Horry delegation sponsored bills at the request of county election and registration officials that add six new precincts to deal with population growth.

The bills add Burgess 2, Jetport 2, Little River 3, Myrtle Trace, Palmetto Bays and Socastee 4.

Maps of the changes are available at the voter registration offices.

This week

Early Tuesday, the conference committee on the free-pour bill meets to try to resolve the differences between the House and Senate version.

The major difference is that the House wants the wholesalers to be allowed to sell directly to bars.

The Senate refused to change the existing system, in which specially-licensed liquor stores are designated to supply bars.

A conference committee on the casino-boat bill also is likely to begin work Tuesday.

The bill allows local governments to ban or regulate the boats. The Senate added a provision Wednesday that allows the two boats in Little River a five-year phaseout if Horry County decides to ban them.

Those are the only boats operating in the state, though others have expressed interest and one operator sued Georgetown County over its ban on the vessels.

A lower court ruled against the county, saying it did not have the power to enact a ban.

The bill seeks to remedy that by delegating the state's power, though many legislators question whether the state can do that under the federal law that allows casino boats to operate unless a state bans them.

Also on Tuesday, the House is expected to take up budget vetoes from Gov. Mark Sanford.

Among the vetoed items are $5 million for beach renourishment, some of which was intended for North Myrtle Beach and Pawleys Island; $5 million for a new environmental study center at Hobcaw Barony near Georgetown; $500,000 for a new science building at Coastal Carolina University; $100,000 for overdue maintenance at Horry-Georgetown Technical College; $100,000 for a world trade center in Myrtle Beach; and hundreds of thousands of dollars for tourism marketing.