Journal of the Senate
of the First Session of the 111th General Assembly
of the State of South Carolina
being the Regular Session Beginning Tuesday, January 10, 1995

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SECTION 7. Section 1-23-10(4) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"(4) `Regulation' means each agency statement of general public applicability that implements or prescribes law or policy or practice requirements of any agency. The term includes the amendment or repeal of a prior regulation but does not include descriptions of agency procedures applicable only to agency personnel; opinions of the Attorney General; decisions or orders in rate making, price fixing or licensing matters; awards of money to individuals; policy statements or rules of local school boards; regulations of the National Guard; decisions, and orders of the Board of Paroles and Pardons or and rules of the Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Board Services; orders of the supervisory or administrative agency of any penal, mental or medical institution, in respect to the institutional supervision, custody, control, care or treatment of inmates, prisoners or patients therein; decisions of the governing board of any university, college, technical college, school or other educational institution with regards to curriculum, qualifications for admission, dismissal and readmission, fees and charges for students, conferring degrees and diplomas, employment tenure and promotion of faculty and disciplinary proceedings; decisions of the Human Affairs Commission relating to firms or individuals; advisory opinions of any agencies; and other agency actions relating only to specified individuals."

SECTION 8. Section 1-23-111(A) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 181 of 1993, is amended to read:

"Section 1-23-111. (A) When a public hearing is held pursuant to this article involving the promulgation of regulations by a department for which the governing authority is a single director, it shall be conducted by an administrative law judge assigned by the chief judge. When a public hearing is held pursuant to this article involving the promulgation of regulations by a department for which the governing authority is a board or commission, it shall be conducted by the board or commission, with the chairman or his designee from the board presiding. The administrative law judge, chairman, or chairman chairman's designee, as the presiding official, shall ensure that all persons involved in the public hearing on the regulation are treated fairly and impartially. The agency shall submit into the record the jurisdictional documents, including the statement of need

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and reasonableness, and any written exhibits in support of the proposed regulation. The agency may also submit oral evidences. Interested persons may present written or oral evidence. The presiding official shall allow questioning of agency representatives or witnesses, or of interested persons making oral statements, in order to explain the purpose or intended operation of the proposed regulation, or a suggested modification, or for other purposes if material to the evaluation or formulation of the proposed regulation. The presiding official may limit repetitive or immaterial statements or questions. At the request of the presiding official or the agency, a transcript of the hearing must be prepared."

SECTION 9. Section 1-23-600(A) of the 1976 Code, as added by Section 19 of Act 181 of 1993, is amended to read:

"(A) The hearings and proceedings concerning contested cases must be transcribed and are open to the public unless confidentiality is allowed or required by law. The presiding administrative law judge shall render the decision in a written order. Except as provided in this subsection, The the decisions or orders of these administrative law judges are not required to be published but are available for public inspection unless the confidentiality thereof is allowed or required by law. All decisions relating to the Department of Revenue must be made public; however, where confidentiality requires, decisions may be redacted."

SECTION 10. Section 1-30-10 (A) and (B) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 181 of 1993, is amended to read:

"(A) There are hereby created, within the executive branch of the state government, the following departments:

(1) Department of Agriculture;

(2) Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services;

(3) Department of Commerce;

(4) Department of Corrections;

(5) Department of Disabilities and Special Needs;

(6) Department of Education;

(7) Department of Health and Environmental Control;

(8) Department of Health and Human Services;

(9) Department of Insurance;

(10) Department of Juvenile Justice;

(11) Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation;

(12) Department of Mental Health;

(13) Department of Natural Resources;

(14) Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism;

(15) Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole and Pardon Services;

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(16) Department of Public Safety;

(17) Department of Revenue and Taxation;

(18) Department of Social Services;

(19) Department of Transportation.

(B)(1) The governing authority of each department shall be either:

(i) a director, and or in the case of the Department of Commerce, the secretary, or in the case of the Department of Insurance, the commissioner, who must be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, subject to removal from office by the Governor pursuant to provisions of Section 1-3-240; or,

(ii) a seven member board to be appointed and constituted in a manner provided for by law; or,

(iii) in the case of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Education, the State Commissioner of Agriculture and the State Superintendent of Education, respectively, elected to office under the Constitution of this State.

(2) In making appointments to boards and for department directors, race, gender, and other demographic factors should be considered to assure nondiscrimination, inclusion, and representation to the greatest extent possible of all segments of the population of this State; however, consideration of these factors in no way creates a cause of action or basis for an employee grievance for a person appointed or for a person who fails to be appointed. The Governor in making the appointments provided for by this section shall endeavor to appoint individuals who have demonstrated exemplary managerial skills in either the public or private sector."

SECTION 11. Section 1-30-10(f)(2)(iii) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 181 of 1993, is amended to read:

"(iii) Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole and Pardon Services created pursuant to Section 1-30-85 by the director of the former Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole and Pardon;"

SECTION 12. Section 1-30-35 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 181 of 1993, is amended to read:

"Section 1-30-35. Effective on July 1, 1993, the following agencies, boards, and commissions, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated, or related entities as well as the employees, funds, property, and all contractual rights and obligations associated with any such the agency, except for those subdivisions specifically included under another department, are hereby transferred to and incorporated in and shall must be administered as part of the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs to be initially divided into divisions for Mental Retardation, Head

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and Spinal Cord Injury, and Autism; provided,. However, that the board of the former Department of Mental Retardation as constituted on June 30, 1993, and thereafter after that time, under the provisions of Section 44-19-10 44-20-10, et seq., shall be is the governing authority for the department.

(A) Department of Mental Health Autism programs, formerly provided for at Section 44-9-10, et seq.;

(B) Head and Spinal Cord Injury Information System, formerly provided for at Section 44-38-10, et seq.;

(C) Department of Mental Retardation, formerly provided for at Section 44-19-10 44-20-10, et seq."

SECTION 13. Section 1-30-85 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 181 of 1993, is amended to read:

"Section 1-30-85. Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole and Pardon Services.

Effective on July 1, 1993, the following agencies, boards, and commissions, including all of the allied, advisory, affiliated, or related entities as well as the employees, funds, property, and all contractual rights and obligations associated with any such the agency, except for those subdivisions specifically included under another department, are hereby transferred to and incorporated in and shall must be administered as part of the Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole and Pardon Services:

Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole and Pardon Services, formerly provided for at Section 24-21-10, et seq."

SECTION 14. Section 2-7-73(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"(A) Any A bill or resolution which would mandate a health coverage or offering of a health coverage by an insurance carrier, health care service contractor, or health maintenance organization as a component of individual or group policies, must have attached to it a statement of the financial impact of the coverage, according to the guidelines enumerated in subsection (B). This financial impact analysis must be conducted by the Division of Research and Statistical Services and signed by an authorized agent of the Department of Insurance, or his designee. The statement required by this section must be delivered to the Senate or House committee to which any a bill or resolution is referred, within thirty days of the written request of the chairman of such the committee."

SECTION 15. Section 2-13-190 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

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"Section 2-13-190. Within five days after receiving such the page proofs corrected from the Code Commissioner, the Office of Legislative Printing and Information Technology Resources (LPITR) shall print the same and shall deliver as many copies to the Code Commissioner as the commissioner may order. The Code Commissioner on receipt of such these copies shall send a copy to each of the following officers: The Governor, Supreme Court Justices, Clerk of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals Judges judges, Clerk of the Court of Appeals, circuit judges, circuit solicitors, county Administrative Law Judge Division judges, county solicitors, clerk of the court of each county, judge of probate of each county, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller General, Adjutant General, State Treasurer, Chief Bank Examiner, Department of the Revenue and Taxation, Director of the Department of Transportation, State Health Officer, Director of the Department of Natural Resources, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Commissioner of Agriculture, Director Chief Insurance Commissioner of the Department of Insurance, State Budget and Control Board, State Superintendent of Education, State Librarian, Clerk of the House of Representatives, Clerk of the Senate, Director of the South Carolina Archives Department, Director of the Department of Public Safety, and the members of the General Assembly. Any magistrate may obtain a copy of advance sheets of statutes by sending his name, address, and term to the Code Commissioner."

SECTION 16. Section 2-13-240(a) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"(a) Sets of the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, shall must be distributed by the Legislative Council as follows: Governor, three; Lieutenant Governor, two; Secretary of State, three; Treasurer, one; Attorney General, fifty; Adjutant General, one; Comptroller General, two; Superintendent of Education, two; Commissioner of Agriculture, two; each member of the General Assembly, one; office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, one; Clerk of the Senate, one; Clerk of the House of Representatives, one; each committee room of the General Assembly, one; each member of the Legislative Council, one; Code Commissioner, one; Legislative Council, ten; Supreme Court, fourteen; Court Administration Office, five; each Court of Appeals judge, one; each circuit court judge, one; each circuit court solicitor, one; each family court judge, one; each county court Administrative Law Judge Division judge, one; College of Charleston, one; The Citadel, two; Clemson University, three; Coastal Carolina University, one; Francis Marion College, one; Lander College, one; Medical University of South Carolina, two; South

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Carolina State College, two; University of South Carolina, four; each regional campus of the University of South Carolina, one; University of South Carolina Law School, forty-six; Winthrop College, two; each technical college or center, one; each county governing body, one; each county clerk of court and register of mesne conveyances where such these offices are separate, one; each county auditor, one; each county coroner, one; each county magistrate, one; each county master in equity, one; each county probate judge, one; each county public library, one; each county sheriff, one; each public defender, one; each county superintendent of education, one; each county treasurer, one; Library of Congress, three; United States Supreme Court, one; each member of Congress from South Carolina, one; each state library which furnishes this State a free set of its Code of Laws, one; Division of Aeronautics of the Department of Commerce, one; Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, one; Department of Archives and History, one; Board of Bank Control Financial Institutions, one; Commissioner of Banking, one; Budget and Control Board (Auditor, six; General Services Division, six; Personnel Division, one; Research and Statistical Services Division, one; Retirement System, one); Children's Bureau, one; Department of Consumer Affairs, one; Department of Corrections, two; Criminal Justice Academy, one; Department of Commerce, five; Employment Security Commission, two; Ethics Commission, one; Forestry Commission, one; Department of Health and Environmental Control, five; Department of Transportation, five; Department of Public Safety, five; Human Affairs Commission, one; Workers' Compensation Commission, seven; Department of Insurance, two; Department of Juvenile Justice and Aftercare, one; Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation, two; South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, four; Legislative Audit Council, one; State Library, three; Department of Mental Health, three; Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, five; Ports Authority, one; Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, two; Public Service Commission, three; Reorganization Commission, one; Department of Social Services, two; Department of Revenue and Taxation, six; Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education, one; Veterans' Affairs Division of the Governor's office, one; Vocational Rehabilitation, one; Department of Natural Resources, four."

SECTION 17. Section 2-19-10 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 2-19-10. (A) Whenever an election is to be held by the General Assembly in Joint Session, including members of the judiciary, a joint committee, composed of eight members, four of whom shall must be members of the House of Representatives and four of whom shall must

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be members of the Senate, shall must be appointed to consider the qualifications of the candidates. Each body shall determine how its respective members shall must be selected. Each joint committee shall meet as soon after its appointment as may be practicable and shall elect one of its members as chairman, one as secretary, and such other officers as it may deem considers desirable.

(B) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (A), the membership of the Committee to Consider the Qualifications of Candidates for the Public Service Commission must be as established by Section 58-3-26."

SECTION 18. Section 4-10-25 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"Section 4-10-25. The gross proceeds of sales of tangible personal property delivered after the imposition date of the tax levied under Section 4-10-20 in a county, either under the terms of a construction contract executed before the imposition date, or a written bid submitted before the imposition date, culminating in a construction contract entered into before or after the imposition date, are exempt from the local sales and use tax provided in Section 4-10-20 if a verified copy of the contract is filed with the South Carolina Department of Revenue and Taxation within six months after the imposition of the local sales and use tax."

SECTION 19. Section 4-10-60(D) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"(D) The provisions of subsection (A) do not apply if the total number of county areas adopting the sales and use tax authorized by this chapter, which are projected by the Department of Revenue and Taxation to collect five million dollars or more, generated fifty percent or less during the most currently available fiscal year of the total statewide collections from the levy of a one percent sales and use tax, then those county areas generating five million dollars or more must be assessed five percent of the amount generated in the county area, and that amount must be used as a supplement to those county areas generating less than the minimum distribution. The supplement to those county areas generating less than the minimum distribution must be distributed so that each county area receives an amount equal to what its percentage of population bears to the total population in all of the county areas generating less than the minimum distribution which have implemented the sales and use tax authorized by this chapter. Once the amount of the supplement has been determined for each of the county areas to be supplemented, then the supplement must be distributed to the eligible units within the county area based on population as provided for in this chapter. However, the

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supplement to the county area combined with collections within the county area may not exceed the minimum distribution."

SECTION 20. Section 4-10-65 of the 1976 Code, as added by Section 99, Part II, Act 164 of 1993, is amended to read:

"Section 4-10-65. Funds collected by the Tax Commission Department of Revenue from the local option sales tax which are not identified as to the governmental unit due the tax, shall, after a reasonable effort by the commission department to determine the appropriate governmental unit, must be deposited to a local option supplemental revenue fund. These funds must be distributed in accordance with Section 4-10-60 to those counties generating less than the minimum distribution."

SECTION 21. Section 4-10-80 of the 1976 Code, as amended by Section 99, Part II, Act 164 of 1993, is amended to read:

"Section 4-10-80. Annually by August fifteenth the State Treasurer shall report to the county chief administrative officers, county treasurers, and municipal clerks in those county areas which levy the sales and use tax authorized by this chapter the total amount of revenue collected as reported by the Department of Revenue and Taxation in the county area for the preceding fiscal year."

SECTION 22. Section 4-10-90 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 181 of 1993, is further amended to read:

"Section 4-10-90. (A) The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall administer and collect the local sales and use tax in the manner that sales and use taxes are administered and collected pursuant to Chapter 36 of Title 12. The commission may prescribe forms and promulgate regulations in conformity with this chapter, including tables prescribing the amount to be added to the sales price. The county shall notify the Department of Revenue and Taxation and the State Treasurer through delivery of a certified copy of a resolution adopted by the county by December thirty-first following the referendum for the tax to be imposed May first. Failure to deliver the resolution by December thirty-first causes a delay of the imposition until the first day of May of the next calendar year. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, the local sales and use tax must not be imposed before July first following the first referendum held pursuant to Section 4-10-30.

(B) All revenues collected by the Department of Revenue and Taxation on behalf of a county area pursuant to this chapter must be remitted to the State Treasurer to be credited to a Local Sales and Use Tax Fund which is separate and distinct from the state general fund. After deducting the amount of refunds made and the costs to the Department of Revenue and Taxation of administering the tax, not to exceed one-half of one percent

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of the fund or seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, whichever is greater, the State Treasurer shall deposit the revenue into the Local Sales and Use Tax Fund which consists of two separate funds: the Property Tax Credit Fund and the County/Municipal Revenue Fund. The revenue collected pursuant to this chapter must be allocated to each fund as follows:

(1) During the first year after the effective date of this act, sixty-three percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and thirty-seven percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund.

(2) During the second year after the effective date of this act, sixty-five percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and thirty-five percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund.

(3) During the third year after the effective date of this act, sixty-seven percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and thirty-three percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund.

(4) During the fourth year after the effective date of this act, sixty-nine percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and thirty-one percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund.

(5) During the fifth year after the effective date of this act, and each year thereafter, seventy-one percent to the Property Tax Credit Fund and twenty-nine percent to the County/Municipal Revenue Fund. The allocation of revenue to each fund provided for in this section must remain uniform as to the percentage allocated to each fund regardless of the year in which a county adopts the local sales and use tax. The State Treasurer shall distribute monthly the revenues according to the provisions of this chapter.

(C) The Department of Revenue and Taxation shall furnish data to the State Treasurer and to the governing bodies of the counties and municipalities receiving revenues for the purpose of calculating distributions and estimating revenues. The information which may be supplied to counties and municipalities includes, but is not limited to, gross receipts, net taxable sales, and tax liability by taxpayers. Information by taxpayer received by appropriate county or municipal officials is considered confidential and is governed by the provisions of Section 12-54-240. A person violating this section is subject to the penalties provided in Section 12-54-240. The State Treasurer may correct misallocations from the Property Tax Credit Fund and County/Municipal Revenue Fund by adjusting subsequent allocations, but these adjustments may be made only in allocations made in the same fiscal year as the misallocation."

SECTION 23. Section 4-29-67 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 467 of 1994, is further amended to read:

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"Section 4-29-67. (A) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 4-29-60, in the case of a financing agreement in the form of one or more lease agreements for a project qualifying under subsection (B), the county and the investor may enter into an inducement agreement which provides for payment in lieu of taxes (fee) as provided in this section. All references in this section to a lease agreement shall be deemed also to refer to a lease purchase agreement.

(B) In order for property to qualify for the fee as provided in subsection (D)(2):

(1) Title to the property must be held by the county or in the case of a project located in an industrial development park as defined in Section 4-1-170, title may be held by more than one county, provided each county is a member of the industrial development park. Any real property transferred to the county must include a legal description and plat of the property.

(2) The investment must be a project which is located in a single county or an industrial development park as defined in Section 4-1-170. A project located on a contiguous tract of land in more than one county, but not in such an industrial development park, may qualify for the fee provided (a) the counties agree on the terms of the fee and the distribution of the fee payment; (b) the minimum millage rate cannot be lower than the millage rate applicable to the county in which the greatest amount of investment occurs; and (c) all such counties must be parties to all agreements establishing the terms of the fee.

(3) The minimum level of investment must be at least eighty-five million dollars and must be invested within the time period provided in subsection (C).

(4) (a) Except as provided in subsection (B)(4)(b), the investment must be made by a single entity. For purposes of this section, (i) any partnership or other association which properly files its South Carolina income tax returns as a partnership for South Carolina income tax purposes will be treated as a single entity and as a partnership, and (ii) any corporation or other association which properly files its South Carolina income tax returns as a corporation for South Carolina income tax purposes will be treated as a single entity and as a corporation.

(b) (i) The members of the same controlled group of corporations can qualify for the fee if the combined investment in the county by the members meets the minimum investment requirements. The county and the members who are part of the inducement agreement may agree that any investments by other members of the controlled group within the time periods provided in subsections (C)(1) and (C)(2) shall

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qualify for the payment regardless of whether the member was part of the inducement agreement; provided, however, in order to qualify for the fee, such other members of the controlled group must be specifically approved by the county and must agree to be bound by agreements with the county relating to the fee; provided, however, such controlled group members need not be bound by agreements, or portions of agreements, to the extent such agreements do not affect the county; provided, further, that with the consent of the county, such members will not be bound by agreements or portions of agreements which do affect the county. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (B)(2), the investments under this subsection (B)(4)(b) must be within the same county or industrial park. Any controlled group member which is claiming the fee must invest at least ten million dollars in the county or industrial park.

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