COLUMBIA - A bill that revises how
Santee Cooper's board is structured will be debated on the Senate
floor this week after it was pulled from its committee and set for
special priority.
Besides stripping the governor's power to remove board members
from the utility without cause, it would require that members have
relevant background or experience and that they be approved by a
screening committee.
The measure and a similar one in the House were prompted by Gov.
Mark Sanford's firing in December of the utility's board chairman,
his demands for money for the state general fund from the utility
and what some said were hints that he wanted to sell it.
Sanford has denied discussing whether to sell the state-owned
utility, although he has requested a study of its value.
After hearings from the public on Santee Cooper issues in Conway,
Litchfield and Moncks Corner, a Senate subcommittee approved the
bill Wednesday.
Later that day, it was pulled from the Judiciary Committee's
jurisdiction. On Thursday, the bill was given special priority by a
38-5 vote.
Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-
Charleston, said the rush is
necessary to give the bill a chance this year. Both houses now are
facing the May 1 deadline to send a bill to each other, and the
Senate has budget debate next week.
"Santee Cooper, we have worked and worked and worked to try to do
something," McConnell said. If the bill doesn't get priority status
now, it won't have a chance this year, he said.
Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, was angry that the bill was getting
priority status.
"I have a real, real problem if you put this bill on special
order," Ryberg said. "I think this is abuse, I think this is pushing
things, this is not the deliberative process."
"Are you for this bill?" asked Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach.
Rankin has been a supporter of the bill and led the subcommittee
that worked on it.
"I'm for accountability, but I'm not for this dam opening,"
Ryberg said. Moving the bill up so quickly sets a bad precedent, he
said.
McConnell said Ryberg "is no cheerleader for anything he sees as
restrictive of the governor's appointing authority."
The substance of the bill was discussed last year and most people
are familiar with it, McConnell said.
Sen. Ray Cleary, R-Murrells Inlet, moved to adjourn. Sen. Larry
Martin, who seldom raises his voice, yelled "No!"
The motion to adjourn failed, then the special-status motion
passed 38-5, with McCleary among those opposed.
He said later that he was surprised because the bill was bumped
from its subcommittee and he did not know its details.
"I expected to hear this at the committee level," Cleary
said.
He said he is in favor of the bill but wanted time to discuss the
provisions with local people such as former Santee Cooper board
members.
"I'm going to vote to take the politics out of Santee Cooper,"
Cleary said. He also would vote against any moves to privatize the
utility, he said.
Rankin said later that, if the bill had not been prioritized,
"this bill would likely be dead."
It's important to remove the board from politics so it can act
without fear of removal by a governor who disagrees with certain
actions, he said. Santee Cooper, which has an excellent credit
rating, received a negative outlook from one of the three rating
firms after the turnover last winter.
"We will put this rancor and the rumors and the innuendoes to
bed," Rankin said.
Smoking ban
Reps. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway,
Liston Barfield, R-Aynor, and Ralph Davenport, R-Boiling Springs,
introduced a bill Wednesday that would forbid cities from adopting
ordinances to ban smoking in restaurants.
A competing bill allows cities and counties to ban smoking in
restaurants or other public places. Neither has advanced yet.
Next week
President George Bush is coming to a joint session Monday to talk
about his Social Security reform plan.
Legislators changed their usual Tuesday through Thursday schedule
to accommodate the president and will hold session Monday through
Wednesday.
The House is expected to debate its version of the free-pour bill
Tuesday.
On Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee takes up the Put
Parents in Charge bill, which offers tax credits to parents for
private school or home-schooling.
The committee is expected to vote the bill up or down.
On Tuesday, an issue that has lain dormant so far this year will
be in a Senate subcommittee for hearings and first review. It is the
school-start-date bill sponsored by Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle
Beach.
Tourism interests say schools start too early and shorten the
vacation season, and now that North Carolina has passed a law moving
schools' opening closer to the traditional Labor Day, South Carolina
should follow suit for competitive reasons.
The issue dominated the legislative session two years ago, with
the result that education accountability tests were ordered to be
held later. That was expected to encourage schools to start later
but has not had much effect.
The subcommittee meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Room 207 of the
Gressette Senate Office Building.
