Last week was crossover week in the legislature, the deadline for when bills must have passed out of the House and have been sent to the Senate to be considered this session through the normal legislative process.
Any legislation that clears either the House or Senate from this point forward requires a two-thirds majority vote to even be debated by the other body this year, greatly narrowing down bills that can pass both houses this year.
The “Save Women's Sports Act” passed the House last week. I firmly believe that women should be able to participate in sports with a competitive edge and feel comfortable and safe.
Despite nearly 1,000 amendments from the Democrats meant to derail the legislation, the House Republicans fought tooth and nail to outlaw the participation of biological men (who identify as women) in women’s sports throughout K-12 education and college. Now, the bill goes to the Senate, where I hope they will support this measure.
Another hot topic last week was Critical Race Theory, or the curriculum which teaches that people of a certain ethnicity or race should be held responsible or blamed for past oppression of other races.
A bill to outlaw CRT being taught in South Carolina K-12 schools was debated on the House floor last week and was bogged down with over 200 amendments from the Democrats. When we return after Easter, we will continue the debate on CRT, and I look forward to passing a bill to outlaw the curriculum.
The House is constantly working to make the lives of those who served our country easier. including lowering their tax burden. This year, we exempt veterans from state income taxes, and this week, we gave third reading to a bill that exempts disabled veterans from property taxes for the year the disability occurs to allow them to get back on their feet.
I’m appreciative of Gov. McMaster’s op-ed published yesterday in the Post & Courier titled “It’s time for SC to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat in our elections,” in support of election reform and integrity bills passed by the House that I cosponsored. I join Gov. McMaster in the hope the Senate will pass these vital bills.
The House will be on Easter break until April 19th.
I hope you have a good week and a happy Easter. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Rep. Lee Hewitt