I wanted you to know that after a lot of one-on-one work with my fellow committee members, my bill, H. 4683, for fixing the process for determining beachfront jurisdictional lines was passed out of the Agricultural, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee last week.

SCDHEC is required by law to review these lines every 7 to 10 years based on the average annual erosion rates for all beachfront land and they impact first, and in many cases, second row properties regarding the structures that can be built or rebuilt according to where these lines are established. Most of the 20,000 beachfront property owners were not aware of the line review last year until it was almost too late to comment or appeal.

The bill was amended by the committee and will be debated on the House floor soon. It establishes the beachfront baseline at the 2012 location and mandates December 2023 as when new line review will begin. It improves property owner notification, expands the public comment period and allows owners one year from the date of line implementation to appeal.

Last week, the House overwhelmingly passed reform bills concerning the Public Service Commission and the Conservation Bank.

In response to the nuclear reactor spending disaster, we passed legislation Thursday to reform the Public Service Commission by a vote of 108-1. The legislation effectively fires the commission that approved the rate hikes to pay for the reactor project, strengthens ethical standards to limit outside utility influence, requires stricter questioning of parties by commissioners before making decisions and provides the ability to inspect utility construction sites.

On Wednesday, the House voted 107-3 to reform and reauthorize the state Conservation Bank, which purchases land conservation easements for landmark sites that merit preservation. The bill changes the way the Conservation Bank is governed and requires public access to easements that are purchased.

I'm thankful for the privilege of serving District 108 in the House! Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rep. Lee Hewitt

P.S. I'm up for reelection this year. Please donate to my reelection campaign today by clicking here and make the largest donation that you can afford. I really need your help. Thank you in advance!

I wanted you to know that last week's House session was one of the busiest, mostly because of committee work.

The Agricultural, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee I serve on or one of our subcommittees met every day in an effort to catch up on hearings for bills delayed by House floor debate over the last several weeks on bills related to the abandoned nuclear reactor spending disaster.

I'm pleased the bill I'm the lead cosponsor of, H. 4683, which would reform the process for determining beachfront jurisdictional lines and allow a much better notification and appeals process for property owners, is scheduled for a hearing this Tuesday, February 13th, at 2 pm before the Environmental Affairs Subcommittee on which I serve.

I'm especially pleased that House Speaker Jay Lucas has signed as a cosponsor of the bill, giving the bill his complete support.

Beyond Speaker Lucas' support, it's important the committee receive supportive comments from the public. I urge you to email comments to Committee Chairman Rep. David Hiott at [email protected] no later than noon on Tuesday. Thank you in advance!

Last week I cosponsored bipartisan legislation, H. 4896, that would oppose offshore oil and gas drilling and seismic testing off South Carolina. We cannot afford to risk harming our coastal economy and environment by effectively playing Russian roulette with oil rigs off our coast. Sooner or later our coast will catch a bullet in the form of a major oil spill disaster. The bill has been referred to the Agricultural, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee.

I'm disappointed a bill, H. 3529, to prohibit cities and counties from banning or regulating plastic bags or containers passed the House last week on a 73-41 vote. I think home rule is important for cities and counties - they should have the right to regulate plastic bags and containers if they so choose. Certainly, along the coast, plastics litter has presented not only a visual problem, but an environmental problem that threatens marine life.

On Thursday, it was my honor to introduce Georgetown County's Dr. Gerald Harmon as Doctor of the Day on the House floor. Dr. Harmon is a leader in medical care in our county, state and nation. He currently serves as Chairman of the American Medical Association.

It's an honor and privilege to serve District 108 in the House! Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rep. Lee Hewitt

P.S. I'm up for reelection this year and Democrats say that have a candidate to run against me. Please donate to my reelection campaign today by clicking here and make the largest donation that you can afford. I really need your help. Thank you in advance!

I wanted you to know that the nuclear reactor spending disaster continued to dominate the House session last week.

By a 119-1 vote, the House passed the third utility ratepayer protection bill, which blocks SCE&G from continuing to charge ratepayers $37 million a month for the abandoned reactor project and allows the Public Service Commission to strike down some previous SCE&G rate hikes for the project.

I remain committed to not only protecting SCE&G ratepayers, but also those of state-owned Santee-Cooper.

I spent some time this week with my House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. David Hiott, R-Pickens, preparing for a subcommittee hearing on the beachfront jurisdictional line legislation I introduced two weeks ago.

H. 4683 would reform the process for determining beachfront jurisdictional lines and allow a much better notification and appeals process for property owners. I'm appreciative the bill got referred to a committee and subcommittee on which I serve. I'm hopeful the Environmental Affairs Subcommittee hearing on the bill will be in two weeks.

On Thursday, I was pleased to introduce a Resolution that unanimously passed the House recognizing McClellanville Mayor Rut Leland for his leadership and dedicated service as one of the longest serving mayors (over 41 years) in state history. Last year, I was honored to be with Mayor Leland and his wife Kathy at the unveiling of his portrait at town hall. I'm proud Mayor Leland is a constituent of mine and appreciate the outstanding job he does for the town and coastal area.

On Friday, I attended the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study Policy Committee meeting in Surfside Beach. GSATS is the regional transportation planning agency for our area and I'm pleased to serve on the committee. We heard a presentation from SCDOT on the additional revenue from the gas tax increase and how it can be applied to GSAT's list of road projects. I'm hopeful we'll start seeing results from the extra tax revenue soon.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to serve in the House! Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rep. Lee Hewitt

P.S. Please consider donating to my reelection campaign. With the election this year, I could sure use your help. Please click here today and make the largest donation that you can afford. Thank you in advance!

Last week was rough. I got the flu, but as fate would have it, the threat of bad weather in Columbia caused most activities in the House to be cancelled, so I didn't miss any votes.

Thankfully, I'm much better this week and wanted to let you know about this third week of the House session.

On Wednesday, as the lead cosponsor, I introduced legislation, H. 4683, that will reform the process for determining the beachfront jurisdictional lines and allow a much better notification and appeals process for property owners. These lines impact first and, in many cases, second row properties regarding the structures that can be built or rebuilt according to where these lines are established.

The current law created a crisis last year when many beachfront property owners were unaware of proposed line changes and we worked with SCDHEC to delay implementation. I'm pleased that all of the Horry and Georgetown County House members have signed on as cosponsors. I've been working with Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, on this legislation and he introduced the same bill in the Senate.

Also, on Wednesday I attended Gov. McMaster's State of the State address. I appreciate the Governor's strong message of support for tax cuts, investment in workforce development, school district consolidation to save taxpayers' money, stopping the opioid addiction epidemic and his strong stance against offshore oil drilling off our coast.

Regarding the V.C. Summer nuclear reactor spending disaster, Gov. McMaster said in his address to send him a bill that "prevents ratepayers from being charged in the future for the abandoned reactors." I agree with the Governor and the House passed two bills this week that draw upon the work of the House Utility Ratepayer Protection Committee, which is developing a legislative package of bills to protect ratepayers and prevent another utility spending disaster.

One bill, H.4378, replaces the Public Utilities Review Committee with a new twelve-member Utility Oversight Committee, which is charged with screening Public Service Commission candidates, among other duties. The other bill, H. 4379, creates a Utilities Consumer Advocate within the Attorney General's Office to safeguard the interests of consumers in dealings with public utilities.

Both bills prohibit any member of the Utility Oversight Committee or the Consumer Advocate from accepting anything of value or campaign contributions from utilities.

I hope this weekly update is helpful. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rep. Lee Hewitt

P.S. I can't emphasize enough the need for my campaign to raise more money. According to reports, it's very likely a Democrat will run against me in the election this year. Please help by clicking here today and donating the largest amount you can afford to my campaign. Thank you in advance!

I wanted to let you know about this first week of the new legislative session in Columbia.

We had an unusual start: voting on about 40 vetoes issued by Gov. McMaster back in June. Usually, the legislature deals with vetoes in the same session in which they are issued, but the House and Senate leadership decided to wait in this case.

While I voted to sustain most of the governor’s vetoes, I voted to override his vetoes of $20.5 million for new school buses. I couldn’t support his vetoes of the bus funding in light of the fire hazard of our aging bus fleet. According to a report in The State, “Seventeen buses have caught fire or dangerously overheated since August 2015…some with children aboard.” The problem has to be fixed.

On Tuesday, the House Opioid Abuse Prevention Study Committee, which I was privileged to serve on, issued its final report and recommendations to House Speaker Jay Lucas and effectively introduced a number of bills to address the addiction epidemic. One of the bills is one I cosponsored, H. 4487, which would vastly expedite the regulation of synthetic opioids or “designer drugs” by SCDHEC.

For eight months, the committee held public hearings and working group meetings where we received in-depth testimony from several state agencies, healthcare providers, and families affected by opioid addiction. While there is no silver bullet to end the addiction problem, I believe our recommendations are a big step in the right direction.

On Wednesday, Gov. McMaster committed to ask the Trump administration to exempt our state from the Dept. of Interior’s offshore oil drilling plan, just as Florida was exempted. I applaud the governor’s stance. Offshore oil drilling is a huge threat to our coastal economy and environment and this plan would allow drilling as close as 3 miles to our beaches.

Click here for media coverage of my comments.

Also on Wednesday, I participated in a meeting of the S.C. Energy Caucus, a bipartisan group of legislators who are working to ensure our homes and businesses have access to affordable energy options and focusing on correcting institutional deficiencies that led to the V.C. Summer nuclear project spending disaster. The meeting focused on reform legislation and the need to better plan for our state’s future energy needs.

I hope this information is helpful.

It’s an honor to serve District 108! Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rep. Lee Hewitt

P.S. I’m up for reelection this year, and according to this news report, county Democrats are committed to putting up challengers for all seats, including my House seat. I hate to ask for money, but my campaign needs to raise more money to help fend off challengers. Please help by clicking here today and donating the largest amount you can afford to my campaign. Thank you in advance!

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and have fared the ice and snow safely.

Another session of the General Assembly starts Tuesday and I’ll be making my weekly treks to Columbia for the next six months.

It’s a privilege to represent the citizens of District 108 in the House and I look forward to the session as I believe there is much to accomplish.

I’m working on legislation to change the process for how the beachfront jurisdictional lines are determined. These lines determine whether structures can be built or rebuilt according to where the lines are established and, in many cases, affect even second row properties.

Many property owners were unaware of proposed beachfront line changes last year and we were able to successfully get SCDHEC to delay line changes until the legislature had a chance to consider the issue.

I’m committed to cosponsoring bipartisan legislation with Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, that would oppose offshore oil and gas drilling and seismic testing off South Carolina. We cannot afford to risk harming our coastal economy and environment by effectively playing Russian roulette with oil rigs off our coast. Sooner or later our coast will catch a bullet in the form of a major oil spill disaster.

Last Wednesday, I was in Columbia for a House Opioid Abuse Prevention Study Committee meeting, where we finalized our recommendations for combating the opioid addiction epidemic. While there is no silver bullet to end the addiction problem, I believe our recommendations are a big step in the right direction.

One of the committee recommendations is to pass a bill I have cosponsored and pre-filed, H. 4487, that would vastly expedite the regulation of synthetic opioids or “designer drugs” by SCDHEC.

Currently, when a new unregulated synthetic opioid shows up on the market it takes at least four weeks to be able to list it as a controlled substance. My bill would allow the SCDHEC Director to immediately list it, allowing law enforcement to immediately crack down on its sale.

One of the biggest issues is the failed V.C. Summer nuclear reactor project involving SCANA and Santee-Cooper. In addition to supporting the protection of ratepayers in this spending disaster, I supported the House leadership in asking for a S.C. Law Enforcement Division investigation of SCANA.

On Wednesday I’ll participate in a meeting of the S.C. Energy Caucus, a bipartisan group of legislators who are working to ensure our homes and businesses have access to affordable energy options and focusing on correcting institutional deficiencies that led to the nuclear project spending disaster.

It’s great to be able to serve the district. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rep. Lee Hewitt

P.S. I’m up for reelection this year. I hate to ask for money, but my campaign needs to raise more money to help fend off challengers. Please help by clicking here today and donating the largest amount you can afford to my campaign. Thank you in advance!

Last week Rep. Lee Hewitt was in Columbia for the second meeting of the House Offshore Drilling Ad Hoc Committee.

In this committee video, Lee points out to drilling advocate Bonnie Loomis of the American Petroleum Institute that 5.1 billion barrels of oil have been spilled from offshore drilling, an amount that exceeds the estimate of oil off the Atlantic Coast.

The coast of S.C. cannot afford to risk harming its economy and environment by effectively playing Russian roulette with offshore oil rigs. Sooner or later the coast will catch a bullet in the form of a major oil spill disaster.

I wanted to make you aware of what has happened in the last month.

I’ve worked hard to extend the comment period on proposed updated beachfront jurisdictional lines from SCDHEC that will impact first and, in many cases, second row properties regarding the structures that can be built or rebuilt according to where these lines are established.

SCDHEC is required by law to review these lines every 7 to 10 years based on the average annual erosion rates for all beachfront land. The comment period will end on Nov. 6th, but I’m seeking an extension because so many property owners are still unaware of the proposed changes. I’m pleased that Gov. McMaster is also calling for an extension of time. Click here for media coverage.

I was honored to host the freshman state House members (Republicans and Democrats) for a get together in Murrells Inlet over the Oct. 14-15 weekend. They stayed in the inlet and experienced our dining, fishing and golf. While all had a great time, there were meetings to discuss lessons learned from our first legislative session and plan for the upcoming session in January.

Last week I introduced a bill to the House Opioid Abuse Prevention Study Committee that would vastly expedite the regulation of synthetic opioids or “designer drugs” by SCDHEC.

Rogue chemists slightly change the chemical structure of these synthetic opioids such that they circumvent drug laws. Currently, when a new unregulated synthetic opioid shows up on the market it takes SCDHEC at least two weeks to be able to list it as a controlled substance, while in the meantime it continues to be sold legally and subject to abuse. My bill would allow the SCDHEC Director to immediately list it as a controlled substance, allowing law enforcement to immediately crack down on its sale. Click here for committee video of the introduction.

Also last week I was in Columbia for the second meeting of the House Offshore Drilling Ad Hoc Committee. We heard from SCDNR, SCDHEC, Stop Offshore Drilling in the Atlantic (N. Litchfield’s Peg Howell), S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce and the American Petroleum Institute. I pointed out in this committee video that 5.1 billion barrels of oil have been spilled from offshore drilling, an amount that exceeds the estimate of oil off the Atlantic Coast.

We cannot afford to risk harming our economy and environment by effectively playing Russian roulette with oil rigs off our coast. Sooner or later our coast will catch a bullet in the form of a major oil spill disaster.

It’s great to be able to serve the district in the House of Representatives. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Rep. Lee Hewitt

A short video of Rep. Lee Hewitt's introduction last week of a bill to the House Opioid Abuse Prevention Study Committee that would vastly expedite the regulation of synthetic opioids or “designer drugs” by SCDHEC.

Rogue chemists slightly change the chemical structure of these synthetic opioids such that they circumvent drug laws. Currently, when a new unregulated synthetic opioid shows up on the market it takes DHEC at least two weeks to be able to list it as a controlled substance, while in the meantime it continues to be sold legally and subject to abuse.

Lee's bill would allow the DHEC Director to immediately list it as a controlled substance, allowing law enforcement to immediately crack down on its sale. 

Click here for the bill.

By Charles Swenson
Coastal Observer

As the clock ticks down on the comment period for new lines that will expand state jurisdiction along portions of the Waccamaw Neck’s beachfront, state Rep. Lee Hewitt’s phone continues to ring.

“DHEC’s been calling me every day,” he said.

The Department of Health and Environmental Control announced revised jurisdictional lines on Oct. 6. The deadline for public comment is Nov. 6. A public hearing on the lines is scheduled for Wednesday in Myrtle Beach. By law, the new lines must take effect by Dec. 31. It’s all too fast, officials and property owners say.

“My biggest problem is they’re doing this with no notice,” Hewitt said.

He and state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, last week asked the leaders of the House and Senate to delay implementation of the lines until after the General Assembly reconvenes in January. “Speaker Lucas is with me on this,” Hewitt said, referring to Rep. Jay Lucas.

…Hewitt said he was told Wednesday by DHEC officials that they won’t delay the process.

…Hewitt plans to press the legislature and the governor’s office to delay implementation.

…Hewitt would like the review process extended to a year. [Pawleys Island Mayor]
Otis agreed that would be sufficient time for property owners to understand the process and get the data if they want to challenge the lines.

Right now, Hewitt said, “people don’t even know enough to ask questions at the public hearings.”

Click here for the full article.