In all, senators prefiled 79 pieces of legislation Thursday. The bills range from attempts to restructure state government to measures that would empower the state grand jury to go after businesses involved in environmental crimes.

However, the bill at the top of the docket came from supporters of a primary seat-belt law, which would allow law enforcement officers to pull over and ticket motorists for not wearing seat belts. The state's secondary seat belt law means police now can ticket motorists for seat-belt violations only if they've been stopped for some other reason.

Last session, the primary seat-belt law was supported by most senators but faced stiff opposition from the most powerful man in the Senate, President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston.McConnell, along with a small group of senators, filibustered the proposal for months, tying up efforts to pass other pieces of legislation. In the end, the measure died with a whimper, as proponents gave up without the Senate ever voting on the actual bill.

Newly elected Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Columbia, authored the original bill as a member of the House last session. He is one of more than a dozen senators from both parties who signed onto the measure this time.

"Last year was very frustrating," Lourie said. "This is an important bill, one that could save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of critical injuries, and it was stopped by a small group of senators last session. But we didn't give up on it. We are going to fight for it again this year and hopefully win."

While McConnell still opposes the bill, he said he believes others will kill it for him this session.

"I imagine that thing will die without me having to do too much," he said. "Last session it never got to the point where we could add amendments. That'll happen this year, and once it does, I'd bet the bill will have a lot of new enemies."

The seat-belt bill snuck into the Senate last session, bobtailed onto legislation for hearing-impaired decals on driver's licenses. This time, the measure will go through the committee process, which means senators will attempt to add bits and pieces to the measure.

Another contentious struggle last session was over two massive bills that sought to restructure state government. Authored by McConnell and inspired by Gov. Mark Sanford, the bills would have reduced the number of constitutional officers elected by voters and streamlined the administration by moving several agencies under the control of the governor.

At 1,900 pages, with multiple parts, the bills eventually died under their own weight.

This session, McConnell is taking a different approach. He has prefiled six separate bills on restructuring, each addressing a single constitutional officer.

"This way we will force the issue," McConnell said. "There will be no hiding from a vote. This will be show-and-tell time."

Under the bill, the education superintendent, comptroller general, adjutant general, secretary of state, state treasurer and commissioner of agriculture would become Cabinet-level appointees. The lieutenant governor would run on the same ticket as the governor.

McConnell plans to prefile another restructuring bill next week, this one to consolidate several state agencies and move them under the control of the governor. Similar bills have been prefiled in the House.

Sanford spokesman Will Folks said Thursday the governor is encouraged by the quick action of the General Assembly.

"The important thing is that it looks like we will have a broad and encompassing debate on restructuring," Folks said. "And that's a good thing."

Last month, House Republicans unveiled their "Palmetto Pledge," a five-point plan that focused on job creation, reducing income tax, restructuring government, broadening school choice and retooling tort laws. On Wednesday, components of the pledge were among the first bills prefiled in the House.

While the Senate did not announce an official agenda this year, many Republican senators have made it clear they share many of the goals of their House counterparts.

Three Senate bills were prefiled dealing with the reform of liability laws, focusing on capping settlements in medical malpractice suits, cutting down on "frivolous" lawsuits and determining who shares the financial burden following an accident.

Three bills dealing with gay marriage were prefiled in the House, two seeking to deny benefits to gay couples married in other states. A similar bill was prefiled in the Senate.

Click here to return to story:
http://www.charleston.net/stories/121004/sta_10senate.shtml