My week began with Sen. Stephen Goldfinch and I presenting General Assembly adopted resolutions to the Francis P. Bunnelle Foundation and Waccamaw Intermediate School.
The resolution presented to the Bunnelle Foundation declared Tuesday, May 7th as Palmetto Giving Day in Georgetown County and in South Carolina and recognized the Bunnelle Foundation’s important role in leading this event. Palmetto Giving Day is a 24-hour online fundraiser benefitting dozens of area nonprofit organizations. This week the event raised a record $1.2 million.
The resolution presented to the Waccamaw Intermediate School congratulated the school for receiving the prestigious Palmetto's Finest Award from the SC Association of School Administrators for having one of the most innovative and effective educational programs in the state.
After casting nearly 700 votes, the legislative session ended on Thursday, although we’ll return on May 20th for a special session to discuss Santee Cooper, vote on the budget, and receive any vetoes from Governor McMaster.
Although both the House and Senate have passed separate resolutions to pursue a sale of Santee Cooper, which is $8 billion in debt, there are differences that need to be resolved. When we return we’ll consider a joint resolution that would approve seeking binding offers from companies interested in purchasing or managing Santee Cooper.
In this final week, I’m pleased the following bills I either sponsored or cosponsored passed both houses and await Gov. McMaster’s signature:
H. 4239: Allows our struggling shrimpers access to prime inshore shrimping grounds off Horry County.
H. 4380: In the wake of the tragic death of Samantha Josephson, it requires better identification of rideshare vehicles, such as Uber and Lyft.
H. 3145: Protects electric cooperative ratepayers by providing oversight of the state’s 20 electric cooperatives.
As always, please let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Rep. Lee Hewitt