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The following named Representatives voted for Ms. Rogers:

Anderson         Bailey           Beatty
Breeland         Brown, G.        Brown, J.
Brown, T.        Byrd             Canty
Carnell          Cave             Clyburn
Cobb-Hunter      Govan            Harvin
Hines            Howard           Inabinett
Kennedy          Lloyd            McAbee
McMahand         Moody-Lawrence   Neal
Neilson          Rhoad            Scott
Whipper, L.      Whipper, S.      Williams

Whereupon, the President announced that Ms. Leslie Riddle, having received a majority of the votes cast, was duly elected for the term prescribed by law.

I abstained from voting in the Judicial election today. I did so because the feedback I had received up until screening had been favorable. The "unqualified" finding of the Judicial screening committee causes me concern to the point where I do not feel I can cast a favorable vote for Judge Rogers.

Rep. JAMES L.M. CROMER, JR.

I was called to sign the conference reports on the budget, as well as Carnell-Felder, Surplus Bill, and the Capital Reserve Bills. Had I been present at the time of the vote I would have voted for Leslie Riddle for Family Court Judge of Fifth Judicial Circuit.

Rep. JOHN G. FELDER

The purposes of the Joint Assembly having been accomplished, the President announced that under the terms of the Concurrent Resolution the Joint Assembly would recede from business.

The Senate accordingly retired to its Chamber.

At 12:40 P.M. the House resumed, the SPEAKER in the Chair.

Rep. A. YOUNG moved that the House recede until 2:15 P.M., which was adopted.

At 2:15 P.M. the House resumed, the SPEAKER in the Chair.

The question of a quorum was raised. A quorum was later present.

The SPEAKER granted Rep. BAILEY a leave of absence due to a doctor's appointment at the Medical University in Charleston.

Rep. A. YOUNG moved that when the House adjourns it adjourn to meet at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow, which was agreed to.

Rep. TOWNSEND moved that the Committee of Conference on the following Bill be resolved into a Committee of Free Conference and briefly explained the Conference Committee's reasons for this request.

S. 365 -- Senators Setzler, Stilwell, Cork, Moore, Lander, Courson and Leventis: A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 59-103-10, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE STATE

Rep. McTEER spoke against granting Free Conference Powers.

Rep. McTEER continued speaking.

Rep. WRIGHT spoke in favor of granting Free Conference Powers.

Rep. STILLE spoke against granting Free Conference Powers.

Rep. STILLE continued speaking.

Rep. ALLISON spoke in favor of granting Free Conference Powers.

Rep. TOWNSEND spoke in favor of granting Free Conference Powers.

The yeas and nays were taken resulting as follows:

Allison          Askins           Baxley
Boan             Brown, G.        Cain
Carnell          Cato             Chamblee
Cooper           Cotty            Cromer
Dantzler         Davenport        Easterday
Elliott          Fair             Felder
Fleming          Fulmer           Gamble
Harrell          Harris, J.       Harris, P.
Harrison         Harvin           Haskins
Herdklotz        Howard           Huff
Hutson           Jennings         Keegan
Kelley           Kinon            Klauber
Knotts           Koon             Law
Limbaugh         Limehouse        Littlejohn
Marchbanks       Mason            McAbee
McCraw           McKay            Meacham
Neilson          Phillips         Quinn
Rhoad            Rice             Richardson
Riser            Robinson         Sandifer
Seithel          Sharpe           Shissias
Simrill          Smith, D.        Smith, R.
Spearman         Stuart           Thomas
Townsend         Tripp            Trotter
Tucker           Vaughn           Waldrop
Walker           Wells            Whatley
Wilkes           Wilkins          Witherspoon
Wofford          Worley           Wright
Young, A.        Young, J.

Those who voted in the negative are:

Anderson         Beatty           Breeland
Brown, J.        Brown, T.        Byrd
Canty            Cave             Clyburn
Cobb-Hunter      Delleney         Govan
Hines            Inabinett        Kennedy
Keyserling       Kirsh            Lloyd
McElveen         McMahand         McTeer
Moody-Lawrence   Neal             Rogers

Scott            Sheheen          Stille
Whipper, L.      Whipper, S.      Wilder
Williams

So, the motion to resolve the Committee of Conference into a Committee of Free Conference was agreed to.

The Committee of Conference was thereby resolved into a Committee of Free Conference, the SPEAKER appointed Reps. TOWNSEND, ALLISON and WRIGHT to the Committee of Free Conference and a message was ordered sent to the Senate accordingly.

The COMMITTEE OF FREE CONFERENCE, to whom was referred:
S. 365 -- Senators Setzler, Stilwell, Cork, Moore, Lander, Courson and Leventis: A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 59-103-10, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE STATE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION, SO AS TO REVISE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CHAIRMAN IS SELECTED; TO AMEND SECTION 59-103-60, RELATING TO RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION TO THE BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, SO AS TO INCLUDE THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AS A RECIPIENT OF SUCH RECOMMENDATIONS AND DELETE THE BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD AND PROVIDE THAT THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE AND THE SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE AS WELL AS THE BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD MAY REFER TO THE COMMISSION CERTAIN REQUESTS OF INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING; AND TO AMEND SECTION 59-103-90, RELATING TO THE PROFESSIONAL STAFF OF THE COMMISSION, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE COMMISSION TO SERVE AT ITS PLEASURE WITH NO GRIEVANCE RIGHTS, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE OTHER PROFESSIONAL STAFF COMPLEMENT OF

that the bill do pass amended as follows:

Strike all after the enacting words and insert:

/SECTION 1. Section 59-103-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-103-10. There is created the State Commission on Higher Education. Two members must be appointed by the Governor from each congressional district upon the recommendation of the majority of the legislative delegation members from the district. Six members must be appointed by the Governor from the State at large with the advice and consent of the Senate. Members must be appointed for terms of four years and until their successors are appointed and qualify. No one is eligible to serve on the commission for more than two consecutive terms. A term served by a member which is less than a full four-year term must not be counted in determining when a member has served the maximum number of terms. No member may be an employee or member of a governing body of a public or private institution of higher learning in this State. The commission shall consist of fourteen members appointed by the Governor. The membership must consist of one at-large member to serve as chairman, one representative from each of the six congressional districts, three members appointed from the State at-large, three representatives of the public colleges and universities, and one representative of the independent colleges and universities of South Carolina.

The membership of the Commission on Higher Education must be as follows:

(1) Nine members, six to represent each of the congressional districts of this State appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the majority of the legislative delegation members from the district and three members appointed from the State at-large upon the advice and consent of the Senate. Each representative of a congressional district must be a resident of the congressional district they represent. In order to qualify for appointment, the representatives from the congressional districts and those appointed at-large must have experience in at least one of the following areas: business, the education of future leaders and teachers, management, or policy. A member representing the congressional districts or appointed at-large must not have been, during the succeeding five years, a member of a governing body of a public institution of higher learning in this State and must not be employed or have immediate family

If the boundaries of the congressional districts are changed, members serving on the commission shall continue to serve until the expiration of their current terms, but successors to members whose terms expire must be appointed from the newly defined congressional districts. If a congressional district is added, the commission must be enlarged to include a representative from that district.

(2) Three members to serve ex officio to represent the public colleges and universities appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. It shall not be a conflict of interest for any voting ex officio member to vote on matters pertaining to their individual college or university. One member must be serving on the board of trustees of one of the public senior research institutions, one member must be serving on the board of trustees of one of the four-year public institutions of higher learning, and one member must be a member of one of the local area technical education commissions or the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education to represent the State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education. These members must be appointed to serve terms of two years with terms to rotate among the institutions.

(3) One ex officio member to represent the independent colleges and universities by the Governor upon the advice and consent of the Senate. The individual appointed must be serving as a member of the Advisory Council of Private College Presidents. This member must be appointed for a term of two years and shall serve as a nonvoting member.

(4) One at-large member to serve as chairman appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. This member must be appointed for a term of four years and may be reappointed for one additional term, however, he may serve only one term as chairman.

The Governor, by his appointments, shall assure that various economic interests and minority groups, especially women and blacks, are fairly represented on the commission and shall attempt to assure that the graduates of no one public or private college or technical college are dominant on the commission. Vacancies must be filled in the manner of the original appointment for the unexpired portion of the term. All members of the commission shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualify. The chairman of the commission must be elected annually by the members of the commission and may not serve as chairman for more

SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 59-103-45. In addition to the powers, duties, and functions of the Commission on Higher Education as provided by law, the commission, notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, shall have the following additional duties and functions with regard to the various public institutions of higher education:

(1) establish procedures for the transferability of courses at the undergraduate level between two-year and four-year institutions or schools;

(2) coordinate with the State Board of Education in the approval of secondary education courses for the purpose of determining minimum college entrance requirements; and

(3) review minimum undergraduate admissions standards for in-state and out-of-state students."

SECTION 3. Section 59-103-60 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 59-103-60. The commission shall make such recommendations to the Governor's Office State Budget and Control Board and the General Assembly as to policies, programs, curricula, facilities, administration, and financing of all state-supported institutions of higher learning as may be considered desirable. The House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the State Budget and Control Board may refer to the commission for investigation, study and report any requests of institutions of higher learning for new or additional appropriations for operating and for other purposes and for the establishment of new or expanded programs."

SECTION 4. Section 59-103-90 of the 1976 is amended to read:

"Section 59-103-90. An executive director must be appointed by the commission to manage and carry out the duties of the commission as prescribed by law and assigned by the commission. The executive director is not subject to the State Employee Grievance Procedure Act of 1982 and may be dismissed without cause.

SECTION 5. A joint legislative committee to study the governance and operation of higher education in South Carolina and the institutional structures of higher education is established as follows:

(1) four members of the committee shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives from that body and four members shall be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate from that body. At least one member of the committee appointed by the Speaker of the House from that body and at least one member of the committee appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate from that body shall be an African-American, and at least one other member of the committee appointed by the Speaker of the House from that body and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate from that body must be a female. Four members of the committee must be appointed by the Governor, two of whom must represent the business community, one of whom must be an institutional trustee elected by the General Assembly, and one who must be a member of the Commission on Higher Education. A chairman shall be elected from among the membership of the committee. The committee shall be convened no later than July 1, 1995.

(2) The committee shall:

(a) conduct a comprehensive review of the current governance structure of higher education including statewide coordinating and oversight measures currently sustained.

(b) examine:

(i) national trends and reform efforts in higher education governance structures, including the advantages and disadvantages of

(ii) the lines of authority and the relationship between the respective boards of trustees and the Commission on Higher Education;

(c) investigate how higher education opportunities are currently provided to South Carolina students by examining the structures of higher education institutions at all levels;

(d) address any other matters the committee considers necessary or appropriate.

(e) solicit topics of inquiry from all public and private institutions in the State and the Commission on Higher Education.

(3) At least one staff person shall be transferred to the committee from the Legislative Audit Council and from the State Reorganization Commission for the duration of the study. The study committee shall use this staff in conjunction with other professional staff. Legislative staff of the committee shall be the lead staff and the staff transferred to the committee from the Legislative Audit Council, and the State Reorganization Commission shall support the lead legislative staff. Upon completion of the workplan of the study and if the committee determines that more staff are needed to ensure a timely report and so requests, one additional professional staff person must be transferred from the Legislative Audit Council and from the State Reorganization Commission. The Commission on Higher Education and the staff of the public institutions of higher education shall cooperate fully with the committee including providing staff support and other in-kind resources as requested by the committee.

(4) The committee shall conclude its work and issue its final report by February 1, 1996, which shall serve as the decennial report of the Commission on Higher Education. The final report shall be submitted to the House Education and Public Works Committee and the Senate Education Committee, and must be considered the first report required by the Decennial section of the commission's Master Assessment plan, and upon submission of its final report, the committee shall be dissolved.

(5) Members of the committee shall receive the usual mileage, subsistence, and per diem paid by law to members of the General Assembly to be paid from approved accounts of both houses.

SECTION 6. The terms of the present members of the State Commission on Higher Education shall expire on July 1, 1996, at which time the members of the commission selected in the manner provided by this act shall take office. The present members of the commission who

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