FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 
GOP Leadership Statement On “Special Legislative Session”


COLUMBIA, S.C. – The House Republican Caucus leadership issued the following statement Friday about the special legislative session called by Governor Haley on Thursday.

“Since we unveiled our agenda in January, the House has passed a lengthy agenda focusing on job creation and good government reforms, including the four government restructuring items outlined by the Governor,” said House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston. “All four restructuring bills were passed early on in session and three of them have passed the House multiple times.”

The four pieces of legislation mentioned by Governor Haley in her press conference were passed by the House in March with broad bi-partisan support:

• H. 3152 – Governor/Lt. Governor On Same Ticket: Passed March 3rd, 106-6
• H. 3070 – Superintendent of Ed. Appointed by Governor: Passed March 3rd, 82-28
• H. 3066 – Dept. of Administration: Passed March 3rd, 96-13
• H. 3267 – Combining PPP/Corrections: Passed March 31st, 81-2

“These are good government bills, not hyper-partisan issues,” said House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham, R-Cayce. “All of these bills were bi-partisan efforts, which should be clear given the overwhelming support they received from members of both parties."

"The House has worked hard all year to put us in this position, so if the Senate needs a few more days to finish their work on these bills, I'm certainly willing to sacrifice the extra time it takes so that these common sense government reforms can become law.”

House Assistant Majority Leader Bruce Bannister added: “The House worked hard to move government reform from talk to action. As soon as the Senate takes action on any of these items, the House will take swift action to get these items to the Governor’s desk."