SC lawmakers could postpone work until the fall in wake of coronavirus outbreak
State legislative leaders are considering calling back the 170-member General Assembly to Columbia one day next week to pass measures that would ensure state government continues operating should the coronavirus outbreak prevent them from adopting a state budget before July.
Republican leaders of the state House and Senate are considering calling back lawmakers Wednesday.
But there is growing concern about coming back to vote and major pushback from several senators, who say there is no need to hurry back to Columbia, which would put the health of lawmakers and staff at risk.
“So I’m sorry, but returning for deliberation on things that are not a matter of life and death as of the first week of April would not be leading by example and would subject our friends and colleagues to unnecessary risk at this point, and it would needlessly subject additional people to the same risks in the 46 counties we represent,” state Sen. Thomas McElveen, D-Sumter, wrote Tuesday to his Senate colleagues.
McElveen recommended meeting at the Colonial Life Arena or Williams-Brice Football Stadium.
“This flies in the face of everything we are telling our constituents to do or not do, and it flies in the face of what I’ve heard from medical professionals who I do know and trust who are not a nameless, faceless doctor from DHEC.”
Legislative leaders spoke by phone Tuesday, and Senate President Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, and House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, said they would like lawmakers to return to work on Wednesday to pass two pieces of legislation, according to an email provided to The State, written by Senate Minority Leader Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington.
“Sen. Setzler has continuously communicated the concerns of individual members of our (Democratic) Caucus, and remains committed to doing what is best for our state, as well as protecting the health of senators and staff,” said caucus spokeswoman Meghan Durant.
Should the Legislature return soon, it plans to adopt a continuing resolution allowing the state to continue operating at current funding levels. Lawmakers adopt one every year just in case they and the governor do not pass a budget by the July 1 start of the fiscal year.
An effort to pass a continuing resolution earlier this month failed after some senators argued passing that measure would give South Carolinians a false impression that state government had closed up shop.
Lawmakers also could take up a second bill, called a sine die resolution, that will give lawmakers an outline of what issues they can gavel back into session to take up after the official calendar ends.
Lawmakers’ work for the year typically wraps up in early May.
But South Carolina’s Legislature could be forced to join others that have decided to hit the pause button on legislative work to avoid close contact and limit potential exposure to and spread of the virus.
The coronavirus outbreak in South Carolina — expected to surpass 8,000 positive cases come May — has stymied work and left hanging major debates over the state budget, education and the fate of the state’s public utility, Santee Cooper.
After taking a scheduled furlough, lawmakers came back to Columbia last month to quickly pass a bill giving the state’s health agency charged with overseeing the state’s response to COVID-19 $45 million that is expected to last the agency at least six months.
Pushing session back into the summer or fall would give lawmakers more time to see what revenue projections in the state will look like. Those original estimates are expected to change in part because one of the state’s main economic drivers, tourism, has taken a major hit.
Next week, state economists will meet to review revenue projections and likely announce changes to earlier estimates of $1.8 billion in extra cash to spend — a forecast that was initially based on South Carolina’s continued positive economic growth.
“The forecast that was issued in February assumed continued good growth in the economy,” Frank Rainwater, head of the state’s Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, told The State last week. “But now that the economy has hit a major stumbling block, an adjustment has to be strongly considered.”
Potentially postponing session would also create a new dynamic for lawmakers who would shift their focus to their reelection campaigns after the legislative session ends.
But as of Wednesday morning, legislative leaders had not made any definitive agreeing decisions on when to return to work.
John Monk contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 12:46 PM with the headline "SC lawmakers could postpone work until the fall in wake of coronavirus outbreak."
