Legislative Priorities on the Move

Each year at the State House, we work together with our Metro Chamber’s Coalition, made up of Charleston, Greenville, Columbia, Charlotte and Myrtle Beach Chambers, to advocate for South Carolina’s business community. To view the group’s legislative agenda, click here.

The Charleston Metro Chamber was proud to join its partners at the Metro Chamber’s Coalition to author a letter to both the House and Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committees to advance legislation preventing licensing boards and commissions from automatically denying an occupational license to someone with a prior criminal conviction unless that prior conviction was directly related to the license they are seeking. For example, someone convicted of marijuana possession would not be prevented from getting their Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license. The House bill passed 114-0 and will head to the Senate. The Senate version received a favorable report out of committee but has not been voted on the floor yet.

We are currently drafting legislation to expand in-state tuition for military-affiliated dependents regardless of their state of residence. This is an effort to attract and expand our workforce as well as support our military families whose state of residency may change every couple of years. 

Leadership Charleston

This week in Columbia, we had the chance to host a combined State House Day with Leadership Charleston and Leadership Greenville. The classes heard from legislators in leadership like Speaker of the House Murell Smith and Chairman of Ways and Means Representative Bruce Bannister. We talked with our delegation members about what issues they are focused on for this year and members emphasized their desire to hear from their constituents.

During the lobbyist panel, the leadership classes had a chance to hear more about a day in the life of a lobbyist in Columbia. The panel agreed that, often times, lobbyists are the educators in Columbia. In SC, our House and Senate members are part-time and the vast majority of them have full-time jobs in addition to being in Columbia three days a week. This leaves little time for them to be knowledgeable about every issue. Similarly, the business community does not always have the time to pay attention to every detail of every bill. As the Chamber’s lobbyist, it is my job to monitor these issues in Columbia and to keep the business community and our delegation informed.

During lunch we heard from leadership with the State Republican and Democrat Parties. They talked about the work they do to get candidates elected and the challenges they face in identifying excellent candidates. The newly-elected Superintendent of Education, Ellen Weaver, stopped by to share her vision for SC education, which includes an emphasis on reading on grade level and preparing students to become tomorrow’s workforce.

We wrapped up the day back at the State House with Lt. Governor Pam Evette. The Lt. Governor shared her strong desire to continue to make SC one of the best states in which to do business.

It is always fun to bring Leadership Charleston to the State House and we look forward to doing it again next year!

Bailey Vincett
Director of Government Affairs