Sanford dealing
with mountain of bills
JIM
DAVENPORT Associated
Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Legislature left a
mountain of 62 bills on Gov. Mark Sanford's desk last week that
he'll have to deal with by midnight Tuesday.
Sanford is expected to veto some, including a tougher seat belt
bill, and sign others, such as a tougher criminal domestic violence
law.
Sanford's office says he'll sign the criminal domestic violence
legislation Tuesday.
When the law takes effect Jan. 1, the minimum fine for a first
conviction of domestic violence will double to $1,000 and offenders
can get 30 days in jail. That can be suspended if the person
completes a counseling program.
A second conviction brings a penalty of up to year in jail and
$5,000 in fines - much more than the current 30 days or $500
fine.
That legislation was killed this spring in the House. But an
uproar ensued after a Charleston legislator questioned why victims
return to abusive relationships. The flap put the legislation on a
fast track as Sanford and his wife spoke out in favor of a tougher
penalty.
On the other hand, the seat belt bill has no friend in
Sanford.
"My struggle is that our country was founded on the notion of
personal responsibility and personal judgment," Sanford said. "And
that included the freedom to make judgments that were good and bad;
some that were destructive, some that were productive."
Wearing seat belts is the correct and smart thing to do, but the
bill's $25 fine and lack of accountability in lawsuits doesn't go
far enough to foster personal responsibility, Sanford said.
Sanford signed 16 of the pending bills Friday, his spokesman
said.
That batch includes sweeter incentives for companies to use state
port facilities, new penalties for defacing or illegally removing
campaign signs and a low-cost version of a living will - all of
which took effect immediately.
Under the port legislation, manufacturers and other port users
can take a $500 tax credit for each job created or up to 2 percent
in investment tax credits for new facilities and equipment if they
increase their volume through state ports by at least 5 percent. The
new law caps the value of the incentive at a total of $8 million for
all companies.
Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia have similar incentives.
"The only state in the region that didn't have anything like this
was South Carolina," State Ports Authority spokesman Byron Miller
said.
The campaign sign bill makes it illegal to deface, vandalize,
tamper with or remove a lawfully placed political campaign sign
before an election. People who break the law could face fines of up
to $100 and up to 30 days in jail.
Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Columbia, said his bill targets a loophole in
the current law brought up by Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott
after reports of people uprooting signs during a school board
election.
It is one "more dirty trick one might play in a political
campaign," Lourie said. This is an "attempt to eliminate that
loophole and prevent those types of shenanigans."
Sanford also signed a bill that gives end-of-life wishes power
even if they are not handled by a lawyer writing a living will.
"Two or three hundred dollars is a lot of money to go to an
attorney and have a living will" drawn up, Rep. Vida Miller,
D-Pawleys Island, said.
South Carolina joins 37 states that now have so-called Five
Wishes legislation on their books, according to Aging with Dignity,
a Tallahassee, Fla., group that advocates for health directives. |