Legislative Digest: The week's news from the Statehouse

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Restructuring: Gov. Mark Sanford tried to rebuild support for his plans to restructure state government by testifying before a Senate committee Tuesday, but senators ended up voting on amendments that significantly weaken part of the legislation.

Sanford's proposal, which has been a key piece of his agenda, eliminates all but four of the nine current elected statewide offices and shifts or merges some agency responsibilities. The proposal is contained in two bills, the first dealing with the constitutional officers and the second with the agency structure. But the Senate Judiciary Committee couldn't get past the first bill.

Minibottles: Plans to scrap the state's requirement that bars and restaurants use only minibottles won final approval Wednesday in the Senate. But the Senate version of the bill would require that retailers pull 1-liter liquor bottles from store shelves and allow them to be used only in bars and restaurants. Consumers who like minibottles also would be able to buy them at retail stores. That's not allowed under the current law.

Income tax: Gov. Mark Sanford's plan to reduce the state's income tax rate only helps the top half of taxpayers, South Carolina's chief economist said Tuesday. Sanford's proposal, which is sponsored by House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, and backed by about 90 House members, would cut the state's top income tax rate to 4.75 percent from 7 percent during the next decade.

School choice: Gov. Mark Sanford introduced on Thursday the "Put Parents in Charge Act," which he says will restore parental control of education, improve public schools and expand educational opportunities.

Sanford said the proposal "brings a real market pressure to bear on the current system — something that's been proven to help improve performance at public schools where similar choice measures have been implemented."

Under the proposal, families making less than $75,000 annually could receive an education tax credit on property or income taxes to use toward private education, home-schooling or the cost of transferring a child to another school district. Families could be eligible for credits of 80 percent of school tuition, with caps of $3,200 for a kindergarten student, $4,000 for a student in first through eighth grades, and $4,600 for students in ninth through 12th grades.

Tuition program: The South Carolina Tuition Prepayment Program would be closed to new participants under a bill the Senate is considering. That bill, introduced in the Senate on Wednesday after clearing the Senate Finance Committee, calls for the program to stop taking new participants on Sept. 1. People already in the program would be able to continue and the state would be required to cover promised tuition costs.

Traffic accidents: Rules for investigating traffic accidents involving police would be clarified under a bill a House Judiciary subcommittee approved Wednesday.

Questions arose last year when Forest Acres police investigated an accident following a chase that left a woman dead. A suspect fleeing police crashed into the car the woman was riding in on May 27, 2003.

Rep. Phil Sinclair, R-Spartanburg, said the bill provides a "clear definition" of what it means for a police vehicle to be involved in a collision and what will be done in an investigation. It says investigations don't have to arise just from wrecks involving police cars or chases. It also requires that accident investigators identify possible witnesses that may not have been involved in the wreck.

Stillbirth bill: Women who have stillborn babies in South Carolina would be able to receive a state certificate under a bill approved by the Senate Medical Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

The bill says a certificate may be issued for stillbirths that come after at least 20 weeks of pregnancy. The certificate would not be required, but those requesting it could get one from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, said Wanda Crotwell of the agency's commissioner's office.

"Prior to this bill there was no official recognition of that child even though the mother had carried the child and indeed had to deliver the child and the child was born dead," said Sen. Jim Ritchie, R-Spartanburg, the bill's co-sponsor.

Tempers flare: A heated exchange over a bill aimed at electing more black judges turned physical Thursday in a House office building.

Rep. Jerry Govan, the chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, had been trying to get that bill through House Judiciary's Constitutional Laws subcommittee. But the panel ran out of time to handle Govan's bill before the House session began at 10 a.m., House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison, R-Columbia, said.

Harrison said the Orangeburg Democrat came to his office. "We had a heated discussion," Harrison said.