SCBaptist FINAL LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FOR THE 2024 SESSION

As expected, the last week of the 2024 Legislative session produced a flurry of bills that moved back and forth between the Senate and the House.  The final results reflect a good session for the passage of conservative legislation and for the defeat of harmful bills that would have adversely affected the state. 

The Do No Harm bill (H4624) passed the House Thursday morning by a 67-26 vote.  It will likely be signed into law by the Governor next week.  The bill will protect minors from receiving puberty blockers, cross hormone treatments, and transgender surgery.  The resolution passed by our Convention supporting this legislation played a role in its final passage, as did your prayers, calls, and emails to House and Senate members.  Thank you for staying informed and choosing to be engaged.

On Tuesday of this week, it appeared the Child Online Safety Act would die in the Senate.  But it made it to the Senate floor on Thursday (the last day).  It was amended and sent over to the House.  The House would not concur with the Senate amendments, so they voted to send the original bill back to the Senate without the amendments. In a rare demonstration of bipartisan corporation, a prominent democrat senator, who serves as the Senate Minority Leader, and one republican senator agreed to allow the original bill to come to the floor for a vote without their amendments.  Both indicated the bill was too important to fail to receive a vote.  The bill passed on a voice vote and will be signed into law by the Governor. 

There are four bills we hoped would not be passed before the end of the session. All four failed to come to either the House or Senate floor for a vote.  They will have to be refiled for the 2025 session meaning they will need to go through the entire process again to be considered.  The four bills that failed were medical marijuana (the Compassionate Care Act) Parimutuel betting on horse racing (SC Equine Advancement Act) and two alcohol bills (Alcohol Delivery and Curbside Service Act, Liquor Sales on Sunday).  If you called or in any way contacted your senator or representative to oppose these bills you played a vital role in making sure they would not pass during this session. 

The Judicial Reform bill, also supported by an SCBC resolution, passed in the House and the Senate but they were not able to reconcile the different versions of the bill.  A Conference Committee was formed with three members of the Senate and three from the House to work out the differences.  Hopefully, they will be able to bring the two bills together creating a version that can pass the General Assembly. 

All in all, a very productive session!  Again, thank you for praying and participating in our legislative process.  And be sure to follow my column in the Baptist Courier.  You can check out my podcast by searching for Truth in Politics and Culture with Dr. Tony Beam at Spotify or Apple Podcast. 

He must increase, I must decrease,

Dr. Tony Beam

Policy Consultant

SCBC