Columbia, SC (WLTX, AP) - State senators made short work of their debate on new district lines Wednesday at the State House. The new lines will be for the 46 senate seats and is required every ten years to adjust to the census population shifts. The ACLU wanted 11 black majority districts; the Senate has only created 9. The house gave final approval for the redistricting plans for their 124 seats. In a unanimous vote of 33 to 0 senators approved their new district maps. Senate … [Read more...]

Columbia, SC - June 6, 2011 - South Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell released the following statement tonight following the ruling by the state Supreme Court: "There are two important points to be made about today's ruling by the South Carolina Supreme Court: First, this is a victory for a limited and constitutional government. What we saw today is an example of the system of separation of powers operating the way the founder's designed it. An equally important … [Read more...]

Columbia, SC - June 6, 2011 – Senator McConnell responded to Governor Haley’s response to the lawsuit pending in the South Carolina Supreme Court and to the small percentage of legislators who moved to intervene in the case on her behalf. Senator McConnell said, “I want to make sure the people of South Carolina understand that this petition with the Court is not about finishing our work or about restructuring. It is about doing it in a way that does not violate the Constitution. In … [Read more...]

COLUMBIA -- The appointed time is 10 a.m. Tuesday. By then Gov. Nikki Haley's power play to order legislators back in session will pay off for her or lead to a showdown with the man considered the state's most powerful legislator, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell. McConnell, a Charleston Republican, said the executive order Haley issued Thursday in an effort to force legislators to finish work on her agenda tramples on the state constitution. He said he will fight her in … [Read more...]

Columbia, SC - June 2, 2011 - A compromise was reached Thursday to repeal the point-of-sale tax provision of Act 388. For months, business groups — led by state Realtors — have been trying to end a tax that has unreasonably burdened both businesses and individuals. Counties and municipalities fought the effort, but in the end consented to language that resulted in the bill being passed out of the Senate on the last day of session. “I had every confidence that an agreement could be made, … [Read more...]

Columbia, SC – May 31, 2011 - After extensive debate and a process held up by trial lawyers for months, common sense and South Carolina businesses prevailed on Tuesday as the Senate passed a comprehensive tort reform bill, 39-0. It marks a success for Senate Republicans and South Carolina’s business community, for whom tort reform has been a top priority in recent years. Gov. Nikki Haley has stated that the passage of tort reform is a goal for her administration, recently appearing at a tea … [Read more...]

(Columbia, SC) - Yesterday, the Senate voted to non-concur in a flawed Voter ID bill passed by the House of Representatives. Because of the flaws in the House language and new matter inserted in the supposedly clean bill, the vote to non-concur was overwhelming. Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell issued the following statement: “The Senate’s action to non-concur was necessary in order to save the great and needed idea of Voter ID from flawed House language that could have … [Read more...]