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:
Jeremiah reported:
"And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver."
(Jeremiah 32:9)
Pray with me, please:
Holy God, we find ourselves impressed with Jeremiah's confidence in the future of ancient Judah, how he bought that field, acting in a manner which revealed his hope even in the face of challenging times. We ask, dear Lord, that You will equally give these Senators confidence as they continue to wrestle with tough financial realities and strive to work with other leaders in planning for the days ahead. May they always be known as those who honor You by their service and their faithfulness. Also, O God, be with our men and women in uniform as they serve You in diverse places around the globe. And ever bless this State and this Nation which we love. In Your gracious name we pray, O Lord.
Amen.
At 10:11 A.M., Senator McCONNELL moved that a Call of the Senate be made. The following Senators answered the Call:
Alexander Anderson Bryant Campbell Campsen Ceips Cleary Courson Cromer Drummond Elliott Fair Ford Gregory Grooms Hawkins Hayes Jackson Knotts Land Leatherman Leventis Lourie Malloy Martin Massey Matthews McConnell McGill O'Dell
Patterson Peeler Pinckney Rankin Reese Ritchie Ryberg Scott Setzler Sheheen Short Thomas Vaughn Williams
A quorum being present, the Senate resumed.
I offer hearty congratulations to Ms. Caren Rose for being named South Carolina Teacher of the Year for 2008. Her extraordinary work draws favorable attention to an agency that usually grabs negative headlines.
Her career as a teacher and her dedication to help people who want to be helped is remarkable.
I believe the following reflects the sentiment of the entire Senate:
Members of the Senate were pleased to note that Ms. Caren Rose, instructor in vocational office skills at Sara A. Babb High School at the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Institution, has been selected 2008 Teacher of the Year for the Palmetto Unified School District.
Ms. Rose, a twenty-two year veteran of that special school district, which provides educational opportunities for inmates of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, was selected for this high honor based on the nomination of colleagues and inmate students submitted to a selection committee headed by Mr. Michael Truesdale, an attorney in general counsel's office of the Department of Corrections.
That selection committee noted that the recommendations it received on her behalf were noteworthy in expressing the positive impact her teaching has had on her students and the institution where she works.
Ms. Rose, who earned both a bachelor's degree in business education and a masters degree in secondary education at the University of South Carolina teaches mostly key boarding and computer applications and her service with the Palmetto Unified School District was preceded by two years of teaching business education at Furman High School in Sumter School District 2.
This indefatigable teacher uses her skills to do all she can to provide the training that will allow her students to have opportunities for careers on release.
The members of the Senate can well appreciate the difficulties and disappointments that her job can give rise to as well as the exhilaration
The members of the South Carolina Senate are pleased to add their voices to the chorus of appreciation and praise for Ms. Caren Rose expressed by her colleagues, students, and the trustees of the Palmetto Unified School District on the occasion of her being named the district's 2008 Teacher of the Year.
Senator LOURIE introduced Dr. Leo Walker of Columbia, S.C., Doctor of the Day.
Columbia, S.C., October 21, 2008
Mr. President and Senators:
The House respectfully informs your Honorable Body that it has overridden the veto by the Governor on R.429, S. 429 by a vote of 86 to 25:
(R429, S429 (Word version)) -- Senators Malloy and Jackson: AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 1, CHAPTER 28 TO TITLE 17 SO AS TO ENACT THE "ACCESS TO JUSTICE POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING ACT", TO DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS, PROVIDE PROCEDURES FOR POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING, PROVIDE A MANNER FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, PROVIDE THE METHOD OF DISCLOSING THE RESULTS OF DNA TESTING, PROVIDE IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY UNLESS THERE IS AN ACT OF GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR INTENTIONAL MISCONDUCT, AND PROVIDE LIMITS ON EXPENDITURES IN ONE YEAR TO ADMINISTER THE ACT; BY ADDING ARTICLE 3, CHAPTER 28 TO TITLE 17 SO AS TO ENACT THE "PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE ACT", TO DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS, PROVIDE PROCEDURES FOR PRESERVATION OF EVIDENCE, DELINEATE THE OFFENSES FOR WHICH PHYSICAL EVIDENCE AND BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL MUST BE PRESERVED, CREATE THE OFFENSE OF DESTROYING OR TAMPERING WITH PHYSICAL EVIDENCE OR BIOLOGICAL MATERIAL AND TO PROVIDE A PENALTY, AND PROVIDE IMMUNITY FROM CIVIL LIABILITY UNLESS THERE IS AN ACT OF GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR INTENTIONAL
Received as information.
S. 1470 (Word version) -- Senator McConnell: A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO PROVIDE THAT PURSUANT TO ARTICLE III, SECTION 21
Returned with concurrence.
Received as information.
H. 5300 (Word version) -- Ways and Means Committee: A BILL TO AMEND ACT 310 OF 2008, THE GENERAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008-2009, SO AS TO ENACT TARGETED REDUCTIONS IN GENERAL FUND APPROPRIATIONS AND TO MAKE NECESSARY CONFORMING PROVISO AMENDMENTS AND PROVIDE FOR OTHER RELATED MATTERS.
The Senate proceeded to a consideration of the Bill, the question being the second reading of the Bill.
Senator LEATHERMAN, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, spoke on the Bill.
Senator DRUMMOND spoke on the Bill.
On motion of Senator McCONNELL, with unanimous consent, the remarks of Senator DRUMMOND were ordered printed in the Journal.
Senators, I feel so sorry for this guy here, Senator LEATHERMAN. But, you know we are all State Senators. JOHN DRUMMOND is 89
You know, we had almost this same thing happen when Carroll Campbell was elected Governor. At the end of the Session, of course, I was a big supporter of Carroll Campbell -- the Democrats didn't like it worth a whit because he was a Republican. But, I liked him and he did a good job for the State. He had this problem and he called. And, do you know who he called to help solve it? There he sits right there -- Mike Shealy. Mike Shealy came to our aid. He gave us some good advice and we came out of that. Not a one of us in here is responsible for what's happened. It's national. Folks, we just don't have the money. Every one of us has been hearing, "Please don't cut that; please don't do that." It has to be done. Senator LEATHERMAN has to do it.
And, you know every one of us can go home and tell the people that, "Yes, we wanted to do this and we wanted to do that to help you. But, the money is not there." We didn't have anything to do with the money not being there. They didn't have anything to do with it. But, the money is not there. So, what can Senator LEATHERMAN do? What can we do in the Senate? As much as they can equally cut.
I'm still glad I'm here.
I love this Senate. I love every one of you. I've been here 40 some odd years. I started on the back row, finally got to the front, and now am right there. I didn't have the intelligence to do those things. I was only a high school graduate. But, somewhere, some of you helped me along. I love this Senate and I love this State. We have to do tough things sometimes and right now is the toughest. And, right now, I just told some of these Senators when they passed by my Desk, "Do what your Dad would have done 'cause they did it when I served with them." I know they were good Senators.
The public knows what we have to do. And, if we don't do it, they are going to accuse us then of not doing it. That is, cutting the budget as equally as we can, take care of everything and hope and pray. And, in the future, we can come back and do what we wanted to do. Right now, I think, as far as I'm concerned, don't let education suffer any more than you have to. I said that because I didn't have the education.
Nothing can happen in this State until we approve it. The Governor can do whatever he wants to. The House can, too. But, it's got to come from this Senate. And, I think I was a little rough on Senator GRESSETTE, but he did what he could. When he was on his deathbed, I went down several times to see him. I cried with him. At one time, he didn't like some of the things he did; but he did it because he had to.
Folks, the budget comes from the people. We don't get money anywhere else. And, when the people don't have it to give to us, we can't spend it. We can't ask somebody who has nothing. Now, all we have to do -- and, we can stay here, and I'm going to stay here with you, buddy, if you want to go all night -- JOHN DRUMMOND is going to be sitting there. But, we can do what we know we've got to do. What they have studied and the House did -- none of us wants to sign it. Folks, we are not cutting anyone. It's forced on all of us.
I love this Senate and I've nicknamed every one of you. But, Mike Shealy is standing here and, although I hadn't prepared anything -- but the good Lord helped me get out of bed this morning, get bathed and dressed and come down here. I had to come down here. I don't want to see this Senate embarrass itself. I don't want to see the headlines that the Senate held up so-and-so. The House has already done what it's supposed to do. You can't spend something that you don't have. Folks, we don't have the money. As long as we can equally cut, that's all we can do.
Now, we'd all like to have this or that and we all would. But, the money is not there. It's not our fault. You can't take fault for it. I'm glad I was able to stand here. I'm pleading with you. Let's do what a good Senate would do. Just do what we can do -- as much as we can with what we have and go home. This will be my last going home. But to my dying day will be my respect for this Senate.
When you put my portrait up on the wall, what did I tell y'all? When you look up, old JOHN DRUMMOND is standing up there and I'm telling you to call home and tell them you love them. Well, you know what? When I called home, my wife wanted to know, "What the hell I'd been doing?" But, listen. Call home. Tell them you love them. Call the various departments and agencies and tell them that you are going to do everything you can for them next year, but, this year you've got to do it. The money is not there. Senator LEATHERMAN can't
But, I've got enough strength. It's not easy for me to come here. It's tough. But, I love this Senate and every one of you. I'm not a Democrat or Republican person. I'm endorsing BILLY O'DELL everywhere. I'm also endorsing the guy who is running for my seat -- he's an African-American and smart as a whip and has been the Mayor of Greenwood for 14 years. And, I told both of them that we'd have a Republican and a Democrat supporting Greenwood County. I won't be here for Greenwood County but as long as they work together -- you heard me say that -- I'm talking to the Republicans and I'm talking to the Democrats -- as long as we work together, we'll move this State. We'll move this State. Folks, thank you for listening to me and thank the Lord that I could say something.
God Bless.
Senator CAMPSEN proposed the following Amendment No. 2 (5300R007.GEC), which was withdrawn:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 2, page 59, after line 39, by adding:
/SECTION 15 - H45 - UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA
15.7 (USC: Funds Transfer) Of the funds appropriated to USC-Non-Medicine: Restricted E&G Personal Service and USC-Non-Medicine: Auxiliary Personal Service, the University of South Carolina shall transfer $6,847.62 to the State Department of Education to assist in the instruction of the essentials of the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Federalist Papers as required by Section 59-29-120. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Senator CAMPSEN explained the amendment.
At 12:01 P.M., Senator McCONNELL assumed the Chair.
Senator CAMPSEN resumed explaining the amendment.
On motion of Senator CAMPSEN, with unanimous consent, the amendment was withdrawn.
Senator PATTERSON rose for an Expression of Personal Interest.
Senator RYBERG proposed the following Amendment No. 3 (5300R006.WGR), which was laid on the table:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 2, page 59, by adding after line 39:
/ SECTION 80A-F03-BUDGET AND CONTROL BOARD
80A.__. (BCB: Carry Forward) From the Budget and Control Board's carried forward funds, the Board shall transfer: $1,459,403 to the Department of Social Services for Child Protective Services, $696,939 to the Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole for the Sex Offender Monitoring Program, $350,000 to the Department of Juvenile Justice for Sex Offender Monitoring, and $22,000,000 to the State Department of Education for Aid to School Districts - Education Finance Act. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Senator RYBERG explained the amendment.
Senator RYBERG moved that the amendment be adopted.
Senator COURSON spoke on the amendment.
Senator RYBERG spoke on the amendment.
Senator COURSON moved to lay the amendment on the table.
The "ayes" and "nays" were demanded and taken, resulting as follows:
Alexander Anderson Campbell Campsen Ceips Cleary Courson Cromer Drummond Elliott Fair Ford Hawkins Hayes Hutto * Jackson Knotts Land Leatherman Leventis * Lourie Malloy Martin Matthews
McConnell McGill O'Dell Patterson Peeler Pinckney Rankin Reese Ritchie Scott Setzler Sheheen Thomas Vaughn Williams
Bryant Gregory Grooms Massey Ryberg Short
*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 amendment was laid on the table.
Senators JACKSON, SHEHEEN and LOURIE proposed the following Amendment No. 4 (5300R009.VAS), which was withdrawn:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, in SECTION 2, Page 54, SECTION 70 - A99 - LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT, Line 3 by inserting an appropriately numbered subsection to read:
/ Notwithstanding the provisions contained herein, no state funds including subsistence or mileage reimbursement may be expended to conduct legislative sessions after March 26, 2009 unless authorized by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tem of the Senate for extra session. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
On motion of Senator FORD, with unanimous consent, the amendment was withdrawn.
Senator RITCHIE rose for an Expression of Personal Interest.
On motion of Senator COURSON, with unanimous consent, the remarks of Senator RITCHIE were ordered printed in the Journal.
Mr. PRESIDENT, I rise to express my thanks and gratitude for the opportunity to serve. I want to spend a few minutes if I could before we leave and go home.
I first want to thank my family and my friends for the chance to run and to serve. I also want to thank the people of District 13 for the chance to serve and represent them here for the past eight years. It's been a remarkable opportunity and I appreciate it very much. People have asked me if I have enjoyed it. I enjoyed every day. I understand why Reagan chopped wood on the weekend -- you get a little frustrated. But, I enjoyed every day.
I also want to thank the members of this body, those that I'm serving with today and those that I had the honor to serve with in the past. I have learned an enormous amount. From the first day that I arrived for orientation and sat in the Cloak Room. Frank Caggiano, the former Clerk -- when he would talk to me, he'd say "Senator" every time. I said to him, "Frank, you can call me, Jim. I'm just Jim Ritchie from Spartanburg." He replied, "You're Senator Ritchie from Spartanburg now and that's how you'll be addressed." And, that was an important first lesson.
I want to thank the President Pro Tempore for the enormous opportunities he gave me over the past eight years. It was a remarkable chance to do some important work and to move the State forward. I will always be indebted to him for the confidence he showed in me.
I want to also thank the staff of the Senate -- especially the Judiciary -- Phil Lenski and others who have worked day and night on the tough issues challenging our State. You all who don't serve on those committees may not know how hard they work and how much they put into it for the people of this State. It was my honor to serve along with you guys.
I want to thank my assistant, Kendall Robinson, now Kendall Buchanan -- I keep forgetting to say that. I've not served with a more able, more hard-working, more conscientious staff member in the eight years that I have served here. I wish her all the best in her new opportunities.
I suppose it is convention with people who are in my position leaving under these circumstances to talk about the wrongs that were
But, there were great times here. There were some really fun times here on the floor. I will never forget the time that the Senator from Lexington was railing about something in the budget that he was opposed to and, just as the Senator from Florence is doing to him right now, the Senator from Florence sidled up to him and put his arm around him here at the podium and -- remember this? - the Senator from Florence whispered something in his ear and the Senator from Lexington folded like a bad tent and went right back to his seat. That was fun. I also remember the time we were debating family court reform and the Senator from Charleston, Senator Ford, stood up to ask a few questions that had everybody looking at their shoes and hoping to talk about other things. We had some good times.
We did some good work here in the past eight years, too -- work that you should be proud of. We did important work on funding higher education, endowed chairs, tort reform, and on economic development that will move this State forward -- work that I was honored to be a part of and I wish you all the fortitude to see through in the future.
There is some work left undone. I'm going to count on the Senator from Darlington to make sure that the project we started-- to fund laptops for ninth graders in this State -- moves forward. It is a chance to transform those kids and to have them escape from schools that are not serving them as well as they could. It's a chance for us to help change the game for these kids in the years ahead. I appreciate the early funding for which the Senator from Lexington was also an advocate. It's a matter undone and I would ask that you see it through. There are some other issues that are undone such as establishing a statewide wireless cloud, making South Carolina the first "Hot State" in the nation. We'll work on those in the future.
But, people have always asked me, "Why do you serve? Why did you put yourself through this? Why do you offer for public service?" It was always two reasons -- one, to have the honor to be in the competition of ideas -- a rare privilege in a democracy -- a rare privilege. I hope that when you leave this weekend you will remember it is a rare privilege to have the opportunity to cast a vote and be in the competition of ideas. And, secondly, I came here to create more opportunity for those who will come after me. Because many folks
And, I'll remain optimistic and I'll remain positive about what I and we are going to do here in the State in the future. I hope that my work will reflect the best of what I learned in this body.
I wish each of you all the best. I wish you God's Speed. It has been an honor to be your colleague.
Thank you.
Senators KNOTTS, CROMER and SETZLER proposed the following Amendment No. 6 (5300R001.JMK), which was withdrawn:
Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, page 17, SECTION 17, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL, by striking lines 31 and 32 and inserting:
/ CLASSIFIED POSITIONS 470,416
UNCLASSIFIED POSITIONS 100,875
OTHER PERSONAL SERVICES 1,500
OTHER OPERATING EXPENSES 182,151 /
Amend the bill further, as and if amended, SECTION 2, page 52, by inserting after line 3:
/ SECTION 22 - J04 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
22.52. (DHEC: Certificate of Need) For fiscal year 2008-2009, Sections 44-7-110 through 44-7-370 are suspended. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Senator KNOTTS explained the amendment.
On motion of Senator KNOTTS, with unanimous consent, the amendment was withdrawn.
There being no further amendments, the Bill was read the second time, passed and ordered to a third reading.
On motion of Senator LEATHERMAN, with unanimous consent, H. 5300 was ordered to receive a third reading on Friday, October 24, 2008.
I voted against H. 5300 because of the suspicion that the cuts toward Pardon, Probation and Parole may result in over 70 sexual predators going without electronic monitoring. I supported Senator RYBERG's amendment that would have restored this funding and guaranteed funding of the monitoring program. Out of a budget containing several billion dollars, this amount is a small fraction. However, we cannot take the chance on allowing these predators to go unmonitored and our children fall prey.
Senator MARTIN asked unanimous consent to make a motion that the Senate stand adjourned under the provisions of Rule 1B to convene tomorrow at 11:00 A.M.
There was no objection and the motion was adopted.
At 1:20 P.M., Senator MARTIN asked unanimous consent to make a motion to invite the House of Representatives to attend the Senate Chamber for the purpose of ratifying Acts tomorrow at a time mutually convenient to the Speaker of the House and the PRESIDENT.
There was no objection and a message was sent to the House accordingly.
At 1:22 P.M., on motion of Senator MARTIN, the Senate adjourned to meet tomorrow at 11:00 A.M. under the provisions of Rule 1B.
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