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The amendment was adopted.

Having voted on the prevailing side, Senator GREG SMITH moved to reconsider the vote whereby Amendment No. 49 (JUD3730.080) proposed by Senator LAND was adopted on Tuesday, May 21, 1996.

The motion to reconsider was adopted.

The question then was the adoption of the amendment.

Senator ROSE spoke on the amendment.

Senator GREG SMITH moved to lay the amendment on the table.

The amendment was laid on the table.

Senator PATTERSON proposed the following Amendment No. 69A (3730R046.KP), which was adopted:

Amend the bill, as and if amended, page 12, by striking lines 6 through 23 and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

/SECTION 4. Section 16-23-460 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 16-23-460. Any person carrying a dirk, slingshot, metal knuckles, razor, or other deadly weapon usually used for the infliction of personal injury concealed about his person is guilty of a misdemeanor, shall must forfeit to the county, or, if convicted in a municipal court, to the municipality the concealed weapon so carried concealed, and must be fined in the sum of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars and not less than two hundred dollars or imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than ninety days nor less than thirty days. Nothing herein contained may be construed to apply to (1) persons carrying concealed weapons upon their own premises or pursuant to and in compliance with Article 4 of Chapter 31 of Title 23, or (2) to peace officers in the actual discharge of their duties. The provisions of this section do not apply to rifles, or shotguns, dirks, slingshots, metal knuckles, or razors unless they are used with the intent to commit a crime or in furtherance of a crime."/

Renumber sections to conform.

Senator PATTERSON explained the amendment.

Senator PATTERSON moved that the amendment be adopted.

The amendment was adopted.

Having voted on the prevailing side, Senator LEVENTIS moved to reconsider the vote whereby Amendment No. 59 (JUD3730.085) proposed by Senators HUTTO and BRYAN was adopted on Tuesday, May 21, 1996.

Senator LAND moved to table the motion to reconsider.

By a division vote of 23 to 18, the Senate refused to reconsider the vote whereby Amendment No. 59 was adopted.

Senator ROSE desired to be recorded as voting against the motion to table the motion to reconsider.

There being no further amendments, the question then was the second reading of the Bill.

The "ayes" and "nays" were demanded and taken, resulting as follows:

Alexander           Boan                Cork
Courson             Courtney            Elliott
Fair                Giese               Gregory
Hayes               Holland             Hutto
Lander              Leatherman          Leventis
Martin              McConnell           McGill
Mescher             Moore               O'Dell
Passailaigue        Peeler              Rankin
Reese               Richter             Rose
Russell             Ryberg              Saleeby*

Setzler             Short               Smith, G.
Thomas              Waldrep             Wilson

Bryan                Drummond             Ford
Glover*              Jackson              Land
Matthews             Patterson            Smith, J.V.
Washington

*These Senators were not present in the Chamber at the time the vote was taken and the votes were recorded by leave of the Senate, with unanimous consent.

The Bill was read the second time, passed and ordered to a third reading.

By prior motion of Senator McCONNELL, with unanimous consent, H. 3730 was ordered to receive a third reading on Thursday, May 23, 1996.

THE CALL OF THE UNCONTESTED CALENDAR HAVING BEEN COMPLETED, THE SENATE PROCEEDED TO THE MOTION PERIOD.

On motion of Senator COURTNEY, the Senate agreed to dispense with the Motion Period.

THE SENATE PROCEEDED TO THE ADJOURNED DEBATE.

H. 3838 -- Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee: A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 42-9-30, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE AMOUNT OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION AND PERIOD OF DISABILITY FOR CERTAIN INJURIES, SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR A PRESUMPTION

The Senate proceeded to a consideration of the Bill. The question being the third reading of the Bill.

Senator MARTIN proposed the following Amendment No. 1 (3838R009.LAM):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, page 3, by striking SECTION 3 in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

/SECTION 3. Section 42-1-310 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 42-1-310. (A) Every employer and employee, except as stated in this chapter, shall be presumed to have accepted the provisions of this title respectively to pay and accept compensation for personal injury or death by accident arising out of and in the course of the employment and shall be bound thereby, unless he shall have given, prior to any accident resulting in injury or death, notice to the contrary in the manner provided in Section 42-1-340, except as provided in subsection (B).

(B) An employer may reject the terms of Title 42 if:

(1) the employer has given, prior to any accident resulting in injury or death, notice in the manner provided in Section 42-1-340; and

(2)(a) the employer shows proof of financial responsibility to the Department of Insurance in the form of an alternative employee benefits insurance plan endorsed by an insurance company that is licensed, an admitted carrier and a participant in the South Carolina Guarantee Association Fund; or

(b) the employer shows proof of financial responsibility by placing on deposit with the Department of Insurance an irrevocable certificate of deposit in the amount of three hundred thousand dollars./

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

/SECTION . Chapter 1, Title 42 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 42-1-315. (A) An employer rejecting the terms of Title 42 pursuant to Section 42-1-310(B)(2)(a) shall provide minimum coverage for his employees as provided in this section.

(B) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) the hands and feet, the actual severance through or above wrist or ankle joints;

(b) sight, the entire and irrecoverable loss thereof; and

(c) the thumb and index finger, actual severance through or above metacarpophalangeal joints.

(2) `Temporary Total Disability' means a non-permanent physical impairment, resulting from a work-related injury and substantiated by a diagnosis from a physician, which prevents an employee of the insured from performing the duties for which he is employed by the insured.

(3) `Continuous total disability' means the complete, permanent and absolute inability of an employee of the insured to perform the duties of any occupation for which he is qualified by reason of education, training or experience. Such disability must be due to work-related injury and may result from, but is not limited to, the following circumstances:

(a) brain damage, which means the severe neurological damage due to external trauma resulting in complete and irrecoverable loss of brain function;

(b) coma, which means a profound state of unconsciousness from which the employee cannot be aroused even by powerful stimulation; and

(c) paralysis, which means the complete and total inability of the employee to move an entire extremity as the result of neurological damage, as determined by a licensed physician.

(4) `Total Disability' means the complete and continuous inability of the insured person to:

(a) perform all essential acts and duties of his or her regular occupation until the weekly benefit has been paid for one hundred four weeks during the same period of continuous total disability, and thereafter; and

(b) engage in any gainful occupation for which he or she is or can be reasonably fitted by training, education or experience.

(C) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of maximum lump sum benefits for the accidental death of an employee of not less than two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars.

(D)(1) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of maximum lump sum benefits for the accidental dismemberment of an employee as provided below:

(a) for the loss of both hands or both feet or sight of both eyes, not less than two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars;

(b) for the loss of one hand and one foot, not less than two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars;

(d) for the loss of either hand or foot, not less than one hundred twelve thousand five hundred dollars;

(e) for the loss of sight of one eye, not less than one hundred twelve thousand five hundred dollars; and

(f) for the loss of a thumb and an index finger of the same hand, fifty six thousand two hundred fifty dollars.

(2) Lump sum benefits for dismemberment shall be not more than two hundred twenty-five thousand dollars in the aggregate for the same accident.

(E)(1) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of maximum benefits for medical expenses incurred by the employee for accidental injuries of not less than one million dollars for each accident.

(2) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide that the payment of maximum benefits for medical expenses shall be increased by not less than five hundred thousand dollars when the employee is diagnosed as either a paraplegic or quadriplegic by a licensed physician.

(F)(1) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of weekly wage replacement benefits for temporary total disability for a maximum period of not less than one hundred four weeks. The plan shall provide that benefits for continuous total disability shall be paid to an insured person when the employer receives due proof that the insured person has been granted a social security disability award for the disability for which payment is sought from the employer.

(2) Weekly benefits under this subsection shall be paid as follows:

(a) a period of not less than seven days after the accident shall elapse before temporary total disability benefits shall be paid;

(b) the weekly total disability indemnity benefit amount shall be offset by the weekly social security disability award for the disability for which payment is sought;

(c) the weekly total disability indemnity benefit amount shall be:

(i) not more than seventy percent of the insured person's gross average weekly earnings, reduced by the primary social security disability award; or

(ii) not more than four hundred fifty dollars; and

(d) the benefit period shall provide for the payment of benefits until the employee reaches the age of sixty-five, provided that an employee who reaches the age of sixty-five but who has received the benefits for a

(G) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide for the payment of aggregate benefits for all employees injured in the same accident of not less than two million dollars.

(H) The employee benefits insurance plan shall provide that lump sum amounts shall be paid equally to all employees without regard to the wage rate./

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, page 3, after line 23, by adding an appropriately numbered new SECTION to read:

/SECTION . Sections 42-1-330 and 42-1-340 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:

"Section 42-1-330. (A) Either an An employer or employee who has exempted himself by proper notice from the operation of this Title may at any time waive such exemption and thereby accept the provisions of this Title by giving notice as provided in Section 42-1-340.
(B) This section applies only to an employer who meets the requirements of Section 42-1-310(B).

Section 42-1-340. (A) The notices referred to in Sections 42-1-310 and 42-1-330 shall not be effective as to any accident resulting in injury or death that occurs within thirty days after the giving of any such notice; provided, that if any such accident occurs less than thirty days after the date of employment, notice of such exemption given at the time of employment shall be effective as to such accident. Any such notice shall be in writing or print, in substantially the form prescribed by the Commission, and shall be given by the employer by posting it in a conspicuous place in the shop, plant, office, room or place in which the employee is employed or by serving it personally upon him and shall be given by the employee by sending it in registered letter, addressed to the employer at his last-known residence or place of business, or by giving it personally to the employer or any of his agents upon whom summons in a civil action may be served under the laws of the State. Any notice referred to in Section 42-1-310 shall state the basis for the rejection of the terms of Title 42.

A copy of the notice in the prescribed form shall be filed with the Commission. In any suit by an employer or an employee who has exempted himself by proper notice from the application of this Title a copy of such notice duly certified by the Commission shall be admissible in evidence as proof of such exemption.

(B) This section applies only to an employer who meets the requirements of Section 42-1-310(B).

/SECTION . Sections 42-1-510 of the 1976 Code are amended to read:

"Section 42-1-510. (A) An employer who elects not to operate under this Title shall not, in any suit at law instituted by an employee subject to this Title to recover damages for personal injury or death by accident, be permitted to defend any such suit at law upon any or all of the following grounds:

(1) That the employee was negligent;

(2) That the injury was caused by the negligence of a fellow employee; or

(3) That the employee had assumed the risk of the injury.

(B) After June 30, 1997, this section applies only to an employer who meets the requirements of Section 42-1-310(B)."/

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, page 8, by striking SECTION 10 in its entirety.

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, page 8, by striking SECTION 11 in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

/ SECTION 11. Sections 42-1-520 and 42-1-530 of the 1976 Code are repealed on July 1, 1997./

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, page 8, by striking SECTION 12 in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

/SECTION 12. Except as may otherwise be provided in this act, this act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. Employers who have filed with the Workers' Compensation Commission a notice to reject the provisions of Title 42 before the effective date of this act will have until July 1, 1997, to comply with the provisions of this act relating to insuring their workers' compensation liabilities or relating to rejecting the terms of Title 42. Any employer who has rejected the terms of Title 42 prior to approval of this act and has procured another form of employee benefits insurance shall comply, not later than July 1, 1997, with the provisions of this act relating to the insuring of its workers' compensation liabilities or relating to rejecting the provisions of Title 42. Furthermore, nothing in this act shall affect or alter any cause of action, right, or claim accruing before the effective date of this act; however, any such cause of action, remedy, or claim accruing before the effective date of this act shall be governed by the law prior to the effective date of this act./

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.

With Senator MARTIN retaining the floor, Senator DRUMMOND asked unanimous consent to make a motion that when the Senate adjourns, it stand adjourned to reconvene at 10:00 A.M. on Thursday, May 23, 1996, and that H. 3838 would be the first order of business to the exclusion of all other matters on Thursday, May 23, 1996, following the Pledge of Allegiance.

There was no objection and the motion was adopted.

On motion of Senator DRUMMOND, debate was interrupted by adjournment with Senator MARTIN retaining the floor.

Having received a favorable report from the Greenwood County Delegation, the following appointment was confirmed in open session:

Reappointment, Greenwood County Magistrate, with term to commence April 30, 1995, and to expire April 30, 1999:

Honorable Joe C. Cantrell, Room 106, County Courthouse, Greenwood, S.C. 29646

On motion of Senator PASSAILAIGUE, with unanimous consent, the Senate stood adjourned out of respect to the memory of Mr. William "Bill" Padgett, Jr. of Charleston, S.C.

Senator DRUMMOND moved that when the Senate adjourns, it stand adjourned to meet Thursday, May 23, 1996, at 10:00 A.M., which motion was adopted.

At 7:40 P.M., on motion of Senator DRUMMOND, the Senate adjourned to meet tomorrow at 10:00 A.M.

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

The Senate assembled at 10:00 A.M., the hour to which it stood adjourned and was called to order by the PRESIDENT.

A quorum being present the proceedings were opened with a devotion by the Chaplain as follows:

Beloved, the Psalmist gives us a large focus for our thinking, Psalm 33 (vv. 6-8a):

"By the word of the Lord the heavens

were made,

And all their host by the breath of

His mouth.

He gathered the waters of the sea

as in a bottle;

He puts the deeps in storehouses...

He loves righteousness and justice."
Let us pray.

Almighty God, we are united in the realization that we all cannot bear our burdens without Your help!

May the best that we know become our beacon!

Help us to be intolerant of the things that are unbecoming to the character of the wonderful people we represent in this place of great responsibility.

In a day, O Lord, when some are making gods out of the dollar, and gods out of social, economic and political status:

Renew our faith in the verities that center in the prophetic message that a truly happy nation must act as if the living God is truly its Lord.

So lead us to our tasks!

Amen.

At 10:05 A.M., on motion of Senator RYBERG, the Senate receded from business until 10:15 A.M.

At 10:16 A.M., the Senate resumed.

PURSUANT TO THE MOTION OF MAY 22, 1996, THE SENATE PROCEEDED TO THE INTERRUPTED DEBATE.

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