Two Updates from the South Carolina State House

If me from a year ago were here today to craft this week�s blog, he would probably write about the drama involving Sean Hannity being the mysterious third client of President Trump�s lawyer, Michael Cohen. However, present day me is tired of the tabloid-esque culture of the news that has become commonplace ever since Donald Trump became the centerpiece of our society.

Watching the nightly news has become the equivalent of standing at the check-out line in a grocery store and looking at ridiculous magazines detailing rumors of various celebrities while unloading groceries onto the conveyer belt. It is simply noise and it used to be exciting, but I have stood at the check-out line so many times over the past few years that I have become numb to anything I see as I unload my cart. It is tempting to talk about it but it is in no way productive because it changes nothing about the situation and it will change nobody�s mind.

In more important news, I have discussed two bills at the State House in length during this legislative session: The personhood bill and the bill to close the Charleston Loophole. Both bills have died and I celebrate the death of one while I mourn the death of the other.

Image taken by my phone.

I will start with a celebration. The Personhood bill (S.217) reached the Senate floor in February, where it has sat for two months without debate. Since the deadline to send bills to from one chamber to the other has passed, it will not pass this year. This is one of the few times that I will applaud the General Assembly for their inaction by ignoring this bill because of its obvious problems beyond the abortion debate. It is a bill ardently opposed by all Senate Democrats and generated skepticism among many Senate Republicans. That amount of uncertainty has left the topic undiscussed on the Senate floor even with immense pressure from anti-abortion groups. I observed a rally on the steps of the State House last week featuring Representative Katie Arrington of Summerville calling for the attendees to go after the �snakes� within the General Assembly. I do not have any links for articles about that rally because, funny enough, no news outlets covered it, except me. Arrington was joined by a series of pastors and other organizers who called for the personhood bill to become law. Their efforts failed seeing as no senators were around to hear their calls since they were in session during the rally.

I was at the State House last week, not to attend the anti-abortion rally, but to lobby for the bill to close the �Charleston Loophole� and establish a timeline for clerks of court to report convictions to SLED so a convicted felon cannot leave the courthouse where he was sentenced and buy a gun without being held up (S.516).

Unfortunately, my efforts failed dismally seeing that the bill did not reach the Senate floor and was further dismantled by the Senate Judiciary committee on Tuesday. Since the deadline to pass bills from one chamber to the other was on April 13^th and the Senate Judiciary committee did not meet on that week or the week prior, the bill had to receive unanimous approval by the Senate in order to advance it to the floor. Senators Kimpson and Gregory both attempted this maneuver multiple times but were held up by Senators Martin and Corbin who expressed disapproval. I tried talking to Senator Corbin about the bill but I was only able to get a few sentences in before he quickly walked around the security gate I had to go through.

To add insult to injury, when the Senate Judiciary committee finally met this Tuesday, Senator Wes Climer proposed an amendment to remove the component of the bill that would extend the waiting period and therefore close the Charleston Loophole. The amendment passed by one vote, stripping the legislation of its core intention.

South Carolinians will have to wait until January before any more gun reform legislation will be introduced to the House and Senate. Until then, they can choose who will be leading that debate by voting this November. While the Senators will not be up for reelection until 2020, the entire House is which could have effects on the dialogue within the Senate and pressure them to act. That�s all for this week.