Posted on Thu, Jan. 11, 2007

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There’s plenty to keep lawmakers busy until June

THE BULK OF LEGISLATORS’ time is spent not on the most important issues — which this year should be reforming the tax code, overhauling the government and advancing education — but on second-tier topics that are less broad in scope but still can make a huge difference in the life of our citizens and our state.

Among the actions we believe lawmakers would do well to take this year are to:

• Make it clear that campaign finance laws still apply when elections are forced into recounts.

• Make our campaign finance law do what lawmakers claimed it would, by requiring groups that try to influence our votes to report not just how they spend the money but where it comes from; making it clear that rules regarding activities within 45 days of an election apply no matter when the check was written; closing the loophole that lets special interest groups hide the source of funds they spend during those crucial final days; and requiring candidates to disclose campaign donors’ occupations, rather than just collecting them.

• Repeal new laws that make it legal for 14- and 15-year-olds to have sex with anyone younger than 19 and that let adults argue in court that they didn’t realize the person they had sex with was too young.

• Add a public comment period before the state’s Constitutional Ballot Commission approves ballot explanations, to help make sure the explanations aren’t more confusing than the questions themselves.

• Repeal the laws that require the state treasurer to be physically present in his office six days a week and all state agencies to be open on Saturday mornings.

• Severely limit charges for payday lending.

• Bring our teen driving laws up to national safety standards by prohibiting minors from driving after 10 p.m. or from having any teenage passengers and delaying the minimum age for beginner’s permits, intermediate licenses and unrestricted licenses by six months.

• Adopt and fund a school bus replacement system that will halve the age of our increasingly dangerous fleet.

• Reform annexation laws to allow cities to grow naturally, along with the population.

• Require police to investigate all allegations of police misconduct and questions about officers’ character, and to report their findings to the state; toughen the penalties for agencies that violate reporting requirements.

• Close the loophole that lets able-bodied drivers use someone else’s placard to park in handicapped spaces.

• Free local governments to impose impact fees on new residents and businesses to help cover the costs of new school buildings and other infrastructure needs.

• Scale back or eliminate the super-sized subsidy the public is forced to give to legislators’ retirement fund.

• Close the loophole that lets people lock down votes before they become official “candidates” for judge and either reduce legislative influence on the Judicial Merit Selection panel or let the governor appoint judges.

• Move state primary elections from June to August, to allow potential candidates to emerge based on legislative actions, and to allow greater scrutiny of candidates.

• Open government by requiring closed-door meetings to be taped so a judge can review what happened if questions are raised, and require elected officials to sign an affidavit saying they didn’t break the law.

• Repeal the law that allows city governments to call off an election and declare a winner when only one candidate files and no one mounts a write-in campaign.

• Update state election laws by spelling out such things as when recounts will be ordered, what standards will be used for them and what actions will be taken before the ballots are cast to reduce the chance of mistakes.

• Prohibit state agencies from spending public money to lobby the Legislature.

• Require older drivers to pass road tests for license renewal, and restrict or prohibit driving for those who are physically or mentally incapacitated.

• Hold parents criminally responsible if children use their unlocked guns to kill or injure others, so they’re more likely to use trigger locks or safe storage.

• Require state officials to review the environmental-law compliance records in other states of companies seeking environmental permits or economic incentives in South Carolina. Restrict or prohibit permits and incentives for those with bad track records.

• Limit the use of state funds for highways, sewer projects and other infrastructure where they will contribute to suburban sprawl.

• Require regular testing of traveling carnival rides, and repeal the law that lets carnival workers hold misbehaving children in custody for an unlimited period.

• Prohibit elected officials from forming (or being associated with) so-called “leadership” PACs, which allow them to circumvent campaign finance laws.