Posted on Wed, Apr. 26, 2006

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Illegal immigrants focus of work bill

“It really is a restoration budget.”

— Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, arguing the working Senate budget plan, which increases state spending, is helping several state programs get back on track after leaner years

TODAY AT THE STATE HOUSE

For a complete list of legislative meetings, go to http://www.scstatehouse.net/ and click on the “Meetings” link.

IN THE HOUSE: Convenes at 10 a.m. At 9 a.m., 403 Blatt Building, a Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee discusses retail licenses and partnerships.

IN THE SENATE: Convenes at 10 a.m. State budget debate in full Senate

THE DAILY BUZZ

PROPERTY TAXES REVISITED

It won’t grab headlines again until next week, but property tax reform advocates kept up the drumbeat for change as the state budget debate kicked off in the Senate.

Sen Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, proposed moving $1 — two pennies for each of the 46 state senators, plus a little change — into the budget to hold a place for property tax reform.

The move was largely symbolic, Knotts said, to give taxpayers hope that tax reform could happen.

But the man who holds the purse strings, Senate Finance chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, worried that adding the item would open the door to rewriting the whole Senate budget.

The ranking member prevailed, as the Senate voted to kill the proposal, two cents and all.

SCHMOOZING

Where and from whom state lawmakers will be able to get free food and drinks

• Lunch: Noon, State House grounds, Beach Music Day, hosted by Beach Music Association International

• Evening reception: 6 p.m., The University House, hosted by Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce

MORE ON THE WEB

What you can find online at thestate.com

• YGA Today, midday news from inside the State House, is updated several times each legislative day.

• Our searchable list of state employee salaries for workers earning more than $50,000 a year

A QUICK SPIN AROUND THE STATE HOUSE

A Lowcountry legislator aims to limit the number of illegal immigrants working in South Carolina by keying in on employers who do business with the state.

Employers would have to verify the identity of all new employees under a bill expected to be filed in the House today.

Rep. Catherine Ceips, R-Beaufort, said public employers would have to make sure new employees have a valid Social Security number after July 1, 2007, under the legislation, if it becomes law.

The Illegal Aliens and Public Employment Act would require employers doing business with the state to register with the Federal Work Authorization program, an electronic verification system or its equivalent, operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The department verifies identities and checks Social Security numbers under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Ceips is unsure whether the legislation can be moved by Thursday, the last legislative day before the May 1 crossover deadline. Each chamber has until then to get bills passed. After that, a two-thirds majority vote would be required in the other chamber for the measure to be taken up.

BUDGET DEBATE

The Senate is on pace to finish work today on a $6.5 billion state budget.

An improving economy has the state’s tax collections and projections for next year on the rise, pumping up spending by some estimates as much as $1 billion.

Some see the extra money as a way of helping cash-strapped programs get back on track. Gov. Mark Sanford, who disagrees, weighed in Tuesday to criticize the Senate for its plans to spend more than he had in his $5.9 billion executive budget. Sanford wanted much of the extra money put into tax rebates of about $400 per household. He has not identified specific items to cut.

Senators could give approval to a spending plan today. A conference committee will then work out differences with the House next month.

In other news:

• Women would be able to breast-feed their children in public places under a bill heading to Gov. Mark Sanford for his signature. The House agreed to Senate amendments on the measure.

• The House and Senate approved a compromise bill setting up a first-in-the-nation statewide charter school district, clearing the way for Sanford’s signature.

• The House passed a nonbinding resolution directing the attorney general to investigate alleged gasoline price gouging.

• The House gave key approval to a bill making it a misdemeanor to picket within 1,000 feet of a funeral service. The bill also criminalizes interrupting ceremonies at cemeteries.

• All proceeds from the sale of the state’s Bull Street property in Columbia would be returned to the Department of Mental Health for long-term care and other services under a bill given key House approval.

• People could legally resell tickets at a markup by working through the venues and companies that handle ticket sales under a bill given key House approval.

• Residents would not have to turn weapons over to local governments when natural disasters hit under a bill given second-reading approval in the House.

• County names will not be added to state license tags. An amendment creating the change was defeated in the House.

• A $500 state income tax credit for buyers of hybrid fuel cars would be created under a bill that gained key House approval.