Senate may wait out filibuster

COLUMBIA - Supporters of ending the minibottle requirement say they may just have to wait out the filibuster by Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter.

Leventis is proposing an amendment to the bill that would retain tax collection at the distribution point. The bill calls for a 5 percent cocktail tax when the drink is sold.

Many senators say they don't like Leventis' suggestion; and some, including Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, say they suspect Leventis is trying to help friends in the industry who have the advantage of the float, or temporary use of the money between the time they collect the tax and the time they turn the money over to the state.

Leventis is a beer distributor who says he does not stand to benefit from the bill and denies he is helping out friends. He says he is only interested in ensuring the state's $22 million tax collections on minibottles doesn't go down.

Several state tax and economic experts say the state will collect more money with free-pouring, and the Senate Finance Committee agreed after studying the plans. But Leventis said he doesn't believe them and that it's not worth the risk.

Senate rules give Leventis the right to hold the floor to prevent a vote on the bill as long as he can hold out. The Senate can force him to stop with a two-thirds majority vote, but most members say they are reluctant to do that because they don't want the rule used against them when they want to filibuster something.

So the key is to wait him out, said Sen. John Kuhn, R-Charleston. For the past three weeks, Leventis' filibuster has been sporadic, ending with adjournment or interrupted by other business that is allowed under the rules.

To end a filibuster, senators have to be willing to sit as long as it takes, Kuhn said.

The treatment of Leventis' amendment this week will show how long the process will take. Some say they will accept it and then remove it when committees work out the differences with the House bill. Others say they won't accept it because it gives a special use of money to the four distributors who collect the tax.

Next week

Besides a continuation of the minibottle debate, the tattoo legalization bill will come up for reconsideration Tuesday. If that fails, the House committee that approved the bill will tinker with it at a meeting at 2:30 p.m. in Room 427 of the Blatt House office building.

Committee Chairman Joe Brown, D-Columbia, said it may be possible to add more state controls on locations of tattoo parlors to satisfy the objections of most of the Horry County delegation. Members say they don't want to see tattoo parlors spring up along the beaches.

Myrtle Beach has already zoned tattoo parlors to certain districts in case the ban is lifted, but Rep. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, is among opponents who say they don't trust local zoning rules to control tattoo parlors.

Also possibly up for debate Tuesday in the House is a bill sponsored by Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, that would control fireworks on the beaches in unincorporated areas by letting owners register their property as no-fire zones. The bill is on the agenda for discussion.

Also up for discussion is a bill sponsored by Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach, that extends vested rights in property development if a development plan has been approved. Current law protects land from being rezoned in a way to change an existing plan only if the owner has obtained a building permit.

Committee discussion last week showed some concerns with the proposal. Rep. Walt McLeod, D-Little Mountain, said preliminary plans should not be enough to lock in development because they are little more than feasibility studies.

"You can spend a quarter and get a nice one," he said.

A bill calling for a referendum to add a constitutional right to hunt and fish passed a subcommittee Thursday and will be heard by the full House Judiciary Committee at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 516 Blatt.

The committee also will take up a bill forbidding the state from recognizing gay marriages from other states. The bill is being rushed through the committee process and will probably be on the House floor late next week.

At 2 p.m. Wednesday in Room 433 Blatt, a committee will review a bill sponsored by Rep. Jim Battle, D-Nichols, naming the S.C. Tobacco Museum in Mullins the official state tobacco museum.

The museum, established in 1998, exhibits a way of life that is passing from the scene. Mullins was a major tobacco market as early as 1895 and in 1921, was the nation's largest.

The state has many official institutions, including the S.C. Hall of Fame in Myrtle Beach. Such designations are coveted but carry little more than the right to claim the name in tourism promotions.

Most of Horry County's legislators will miss part of next week's sessions to attend a two-day lobbying event in Washington for Interstate 73.