I had another packed week in the House of Representatives.
On Tuesday night, I had dinner with Mt. Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie and other town officials to discuss local issues. One of their major issues is preventing anymore child luring attempts and their support for my anti-child luring bill.
On Wednesday, we held a joint assembly in order to elect judges for the Court of Appeals, Family Court and Circuit Court. We reelected The Honorable Paula Thomas of Pawleys Island to the Court of Appeals and The Honorable Jan Bromell of Georgetown to the Family Court.
Also, on Wednesday I presented H. 3750, which would modify the current doe deer tag program from eight specific date tags to six specific date tags and two any day tags. This would allow hunters more flexibility in days to hunt does. The bill received a tremendous amount of support and was carried over in order to build a consensus between hunters and the Dept. of Natural Resources.
I presented two bills, H. 3698 and 3700, pertaining to dock and sea wall permitting, from the well of the House on Thursday. Both bills passed unanimously.
On Friday I filed H. 3931, a bill in response to break-ins that occurred in the district during evacuation orders. Entering into anyone’s dwelling, during a declared state of emergency, would be considered felony burglary in the first degree and could be punished with a minimum 15-year sentence, or up to life in jail. Under current law, this crime is only considered felony looting with punishment being in the discretion of the trial court.
The legislative committee studying whether to sell Santee Cooper received a detailed report this week summarizing the top four offers to buy the state-owned utility. Three of the offers would ensure customers who get power from Santee Cooper would pay no more for the failed nuclear plant. My thanks to Rep. Russell Fry, R-Horry, for his service on the committee.
And finally, I was able to assist the Town of McClellanville with receiving high-speed internet service for the first time this week. My thanks to TDS Telecom for their assistance with this important project.
It’s a privilege to serve District 108 in the House of Representatives! Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Rep. Lee Hewitt