Fast Facts

South Carolina Policy Council

1323 Pendleton St., Columbia, SC 29201 803-779-5022 scpolicycouncil.com

Tuesday, February 15, 2011 Last Wednesday (February 9, 2011) a Senate Judiciary subcommittee passed both a constitutional amendment and an enabling statute addressing the Legislatures process for recording votes. Neither would require lawmakers to vote on the record this legislative session. Below is an analysis of the recent Senate legislation:

What happened?
Two measures passed from Subcommittee to full Judiciary Committee. (1) The Senate panel passed a constitutional amendment (S.288) that would give the General Assembly the power to enact a law requiring on-the-record voting. The constitutional amendment doesnt require any votes to be put on the record. It simply gives the General Assembly the authority to pass a bill requiring on-the-record voting. Whether they pass that legislation is up to them. (2) The Senate Subcommittee also passed a bill (H.3004) that would require the Legislature to put far more votes on the record. But heres the catch: the Subcommittee amended the bill to say it wouldnt take effect until the constitutional amendment is ratified. The amendment to the bill which wasnt written at the time it passed, and even now is only in draft form means the earliest this legislation could take effect is two years from now.

So where does that leave on-the-record voting?

First, the constitutional amendment would have to be approved by a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Then, voters would have to pass the constitutional amendment, and that likely wouldnt happen until the 2012 general election. After that, in 2013, both chambers would have to ratify the amendment again. And finally two years from now, the Legislature would have the ability to pass a bill requiring on-the-record voting. However, there is no guarantee that the bill that could go into effect in 2013 will read as it currently stands. Further, the constitutional amendment could very well end up triggering other measures that weaken the current legislation.

What didnt happen?

The Subcommittee did not vote to require on-the-record voting.