Here’s what to watch out for this week in the South Carolina General Assembly:
Trans care ban advances to Senate
Last week the Senate Medical Affairs Committee gave a favorable report on H. 4624, a bill that would ban medically necessary care for transgender youth, block all public funding of gender-affirming care for trans South Carolinians of all ages, and require certain public school employees to “out” students to their families if they request to be called by a different name or pronoun.
This is bad policy built on junk science and hate. The lawmakers advancing it cannot even claim ignorance; medical experts and concerned South Carolinians have packed every hearing to explain the harms of this bill and a near-identical Senate bill (S. 627) that was introduced last year. H. 4624 has passed the House and advanced to the Senate anyway. Now we wait to see when the bill will be taken up for debate in the full Senate. This will be the last stop before the governor’s desk.
If you have not already, you can contact your state senator and ask them to vote NO on H. 4624. Our coalition partners at SC United for Justice & Equality created this action page:
Safe syringe exchanges
Fresh off a recent Senate victory for the medical marijuana bill he sponsored (S. 423), State Sen. Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) will make the case this week for another positive change in drug policy: Legalizing safe needle exchanges.
Senate Bill 854 would establish the “Safer Syringe Program,” authorizing local service providers to distribute sterile needles and provide safe needle disposal. Safer Syringe sites would also be authorized to provide emergency opioid antidotes and training on how to administer them.
Similar programs in other states have led to reductions in transmission of bloodborne diseases and increases in drug users entering treatment for substance use disorder. For more information on the efficacy of needle exchanges, see the Centers for Disease Control website.
Simply put, S. 854 is smart public health policy and a positive step beyond the failed war on drugs. The bill will receive a hearing from a Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee on Wednesday, March 6, at 10 a.m. in Room 308 of the Gressette Office Building (1101 Pendleton St., Columbia).
More public funds to private schools
Last year the legislature passed a school voucher bill that takes public school funds and redistributes them to private schools, including religious ones. This is unconstitutional on its face, and South Carolina families are currently suing to stop the program before it takes effect in the fall of 2024.
Last week a group of lawmakers introduced H. 5164, which would expand the voucher program beyond its initial scope. Whereas the current law only provides vouchers to families whose household income falls below 200% of federal poverty guidelines, this bill would do away with income caps entirely starting in 2026. It would also remove the requirement that vouchers go to students who previously attended a public school.
We’ve seen the outcome in states that adopted similar policies: Taxpayers are now subsidizing the private education of wealthy families who never sent their kids to public schools in the first place. More importantly from a civil-liberties perspective, South Carolina’s voucher expansion would funnel even more funding to private religious schools despite the South Carolina Constitution’s clear prohibition (Article XI, Section 4) on public funding of private and religious schools. The "Education Scholarship Trust Fund” voucher program is a straightforward recipe for civil-rights violations, and it should be repealed, not expanded.
H. 5164 has been referred to the House Education and Public Works Committee. The K-12 Subcommittee will give the bill its first hearing on the afternoon of Tuesday, March 5, in Room 433 of the Blatt Building (1105 Pendleton St., Columbia) following adjournment of the House and the full EPW Committee.
