Sparks fly between party leaders

Merrill, Ott have to be separated during heated property tax dispute

From Staff and Wire Reports

Tempers flared Thursday in the S.C. House as lawmakers clashed over how they will consider property tax reform next week.

Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, and Majority Leader Jim Merrill, R-Charleston, had to be separated, as they spoke in a close huddle on the House floor.

The flare-up sets the stage for a contentious debate when the two property tax bills are considered Wednesday.

Two bills are involved:

• One would place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in November.

• The second is the nuts-and-bolts bill that determines how property taxes are changed or eliminated.

The amendment requires a two-thirds vote from the House. The second bill takes only a simple majority.

Democrats are upset because the House will first consider the amendment and believe the decision to do so was made by fiat by the Republican majority.

To consider the amendment before debating the merits of the property tax relief plan is backward, Ott said, and somewhat dishonest.

“What’s wrong with having open and honest debate on the bill?” Ott said.

But Republicans said the order of the bills make no difference.

“(Democrats) are either for property tax relief or against it,” said Rep. Kenny Bingham, R-Lexington.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the bills’ order was purely coincidental.

Harrell said there will be plenty of time for debate Wednesday. But, he warned, if Democrats try to delay a vote by piling up amendments, Republicans will be ready to use procedural moves to stop them.

In other news:

• Traffic light cameras. Police chiefs from Columbia and Greenville told a House subcommittee they favor a new law allowing red light cameras at intersections.

The cameras would snap photos of vehicles if they drove through a red light, with a $50 to $100 ticket sent to the vehicles’ owner. Drivers would face no points on their licenses, only a financial penalty, under the bill.

The committee decided to discuss the bill later, likely in two weeks.

• Fetus protection. Harming or killing a fetus could bring additional criminal charges under a bill heading to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The legislation “recognizes a second victim of criminal violence,” Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg said.

The bill is similar to a 2004 federal law that abortion-rights proponents criticized as an assault on reproductive freedom because it recognized legal rights for an embryo or fetus distinct from a woman’s rights.

Ritchie said the legislation applies only to violent crimes and won’t be applied to situations involving the death or injury of a fetus as a result of things like car accidents.

The House is considering similar legislation.

• Judicial elections. People seeking election to state court seats would face tougher rules under legislation headed to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

State law now says judges can’t seek commitments from the legislators who elect them until after a report is released showing qualifications of all judicial candidates.

Ritchie said concerns have grown that some people who want to become judges have sought support before they become candidates.

People using that loophole, he said, could end up with an advantage over other candidates. The bill closes that loophole.

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