A QUICK SPIN

What’s going on around the State House:

SECOND INJURY CHALLENGE

A state legislator is questioning whether the General Assembly legally can take $40 million out of a backup worker’s compensation fund to use for another purpose.

The budget approved last week by the House Ways and Means Committee would take money from the Second Injury Fund and use it to fund general budget needs in departments such as Disabilities and Special Needs and Corrections.

Rep. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, has asked the state attorney general for a legal opinion on the proposal. Lourie is seeking an answer before March 9, when the House begins debating the budget on the floor.

“I don’t think that money belongs to the state,” Lourie said. “That money belongs to the insurance companies who paid into it.”

Private insurers and self-insurers pay into the fund to protect against claims when a person with a previous disability suffers another injury on the job.

ONE STEP AHEAD OF THE PRESIDENT

While President Bush was proposing a constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage Tuesday, South Carolina was moving toward making sure it would not need one. A bill that says the state will not recognize same-sex marriages in other states passed the House Judiciary Committee, 19-to-1. It now heads to the House floor for debate.

COMMERCE CRITIQUE

A follow-up report from the Legislative Audit Council shows the state Department of Commerce has taken steps toward curbing years of excessive costs in travel and operations, but it still does not do enough to limit expenses, including airplane use. A 2002 audit found the state’s economic development agency broke the law and wasted taxpayer money. For more, see Business, Page B6.

CONNOR TRIBUTE

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal began her State of the Judiciary speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday by remembering Carol Connor, South Carolina’s first female circuit court judge, who died last week after battling cancer for eight years. Toal wore Connor’s judicial robe as she spoke and called her a trailblazer for women in law.

From Staff and Wire Reports