First Session of the State Legislature's 125th General Assembly Comes to a Close

And just like that, another legislative session has come and gone at the State House in Columbia. At 5:00 p.m. on the second Thursday in May, the General Assembly is constitutionally mandated to formally adjourn. But that does not mean that work at the State House comes to a screeching halt – there is still plenty of work to do and issues critical to our industry that still need to be addressed. This year was the first time since 1938 that the General Assembly did not have a sine die resolution in place before adjournment, meaning the legislature will be immediately called back to Columbia by Governor McMaster for an "extraordinary session" to reconcile the state budget, tackle bond reform, illegal gun procession, and abortion legislation, among other topics. A sine die resolution is a piece of legislation that outlines which items of business the General Assembly can take up outside of regular session. Sine die resolutions typically include the state budget and other topics of state or national concern. Since legislative sessions at the General Assembly last two years, all legislation introduced this session is still active and the legislature can pick up right where they left off once they formally return to Columbia next January. Let’s jump right in and discuss what made it across the finish line this session and what is still working its way through the legislative process.

The workforce is one of the largest challenges currently facing our industry. One bill which should help raise the state’s low workforce participation rate is H. 3605. The new law will prevent the SC Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulations from using a prior criminal conviction as the sole reason to disqualify a qualified individual from receiving a professional license, if the crime does not directly relate to the license being applied for. With 19% of SC men citing a prior criminal conviction as the sole reason they are not actively seeking employment; this procedural change should bring about a significant increase to South Carolina's workforce.

S. 557, a tax credit for hiring apprentices, got caught in the political crossfire at the end of session, but ultimately did make it to the Governor’s desk awaiting to be signed into law. The House amended the bill with the tangentially related headquarters tax credit, which the Senate refused to consider. The proposal aims to incentivize greater employer participation in apprenticeship programs by increasing the apprentice income tax credit from $1,000 per apprentice to a maximum of $4,000 for adults, or $6,000 for a youth apprentice.

S. 284 made it across the finish line on the last formal day of session this year, but it was not without its challengers. Senator Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) originally introduced the bill with the intention of giving municipalities the authority to use hospitality and accommodations tax dollars for affordable workforce housing initiatives. While the SCRLA did not take a public position on the bill, we found the bill unfair to our industry not only because no other funding sources were considered for these new affordable housing projects, but also because our industry is directly generating the funding source for this new law. Due to industry pressure, the bill was heavily amended and ultimately dropped the use of hospitality tax dollars, capped the amount of accommodation tax dollars allowed to be used at 15%, and included a sunset provision to see whether the law is successful or not before reauthorizing. The ramifications of this law are particularly concerning for municipalities and CVBs that rely on a steady source of accommodations tax funding to market their communities to tourists and visitors. Time will tell how this new law will impact our industry.