Dear friends and neighbors,

This week, the House was back in session after some time off for Easter. As we near the end of the 2021-2022 legislative session, we have been very busy in Columbia. In the coming weeks, we should expect long days on the Floor of passing important legislation and finalizing our state budget as it comes back from the Senate. As a reminder, we have just 3 weeks remaining until the ‘Sine Die’, which is the date that the House adjourns for the remainder of the year.

On Wednesday, we spent over 8 hours on the Floor debating the Critical Race Theory bill. Additionally, we worked hard in committees, reviewing and amending legislation sent over from the Senate. I am pleased to see the Senate working through several important bills sent to them from the House.

Critical Race Theory OUTLAWED in the SC House!
A valuable education gives students the tools to think, rather than telling students how to think. This means keeping politics out of education. After hundreds of amendments and hours of debate, the House voted to outlaw the teaching of critical race theory to keep bias and impartiality OUT of our South Carolina schools.

‘Critical Race Theory’ implies that an individual should be discriminated against because of their race, sex, ethnicity, religion, color, or national origin and that their moral character is determined by these characteristics, too. The “Transparency & Integrity in Education Act” requires that when our rich history is taught, it is taught without bias and age-appropriately. It requires teachers to teach facts without bias and includes a complaint process for when it is not. It ensures that teachers, school employees, or volunteers will not be required to teach children gender or sexuality diversity training.

I was a proud supporter of outlawing this problematic curriculum to protect our children from partisan indoctrination.

Progress On House Bills:

H. 4919 – If you’ll remember, the House passed H. 4919, which is a bill that is essentially an overhaul of the election system in South Carolina to ensure that our system is secure, uniform across the state, and free of voter fraud. This week, the Senate poisoned this bill with unnecessary language, which ultimately ended any chance of meaningful election reform in South Carolina this session. Hopefully, the Senate will realize the importance of protecting our election system and will reconsider passing legislation that puts those safeguards in place. In the meantime, my colleagues and I in the House will continue to fight to protect our election from voter fraud and inconsistencies in South Carolina.

H. 3050 – This bill, which was passed in the House this year, goes to ensure that any non-certified law enforcement officer is accompanied by a certified law enforcement officer when performing his duties. This goes to protect the safety of all involved and received a favorable report from the Senate judiciary committee.

H 3144 – Another great House bill received a favorable report from a Senate Committee this week. The South Carolina Workforce Industry Needs Scholarships (SC WINS) provides certain students attending a 2-year technical college a state scholarship, given they meet certain eligibility requirements.

H. 4918 – I have recently updated you on a House bill that expands the earnings limitation on retired South Carolina police officers who desire to return to work. This was introduced in the Senate this week and I am hopeful that the Senate will approve this bill to help our law enforcement get back to the line of duty (if they so desire).

H 4601 – The House approved a bill that designated ambulance services as essential in the state, meaning that each county must have ambulance services to provide for the emergency healthcare needs in all areas of South Carolina. The Senate Judiciary Committee gave the bill a favorable report, and I hope the momentum will continue until the passage of this bill.