SOUTH CAROLINA OFFICE OF PUBLIC POLICY

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE AND ALERT

There are three bills that we should aware of and act on this week:

H3014 Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crime Bill – This bill in now focused on major crimes.  Last year’s version of this bill included penalties for stalking and would have allowed right of action or a right to sue if someone was offended or felt threatened by speech.  All of those provisions that would have created issues for the Church have been removed.  What is left is the Supreme Court’s Bostock language on the definition of sex.  The word “sex” in the bill would include “sexual preference and sexual identity.”  Please click the link below to read a Heritage Foundation article by GianCarlo Canaparo on how the Bostock definition of sex is already being used in court cases against common sense laws that are unrelated to hate crimes.

H3514 SC Equine Advancement Act – The name of this bill is deceptive.  It is akin to calling a documentary on the Titanic “The History of Ice Bergs in the North Atlantic.”  The purpose of this bill is to open the door to pari-mutuel betting in South Carolina.  We worked long and hard to rid South Carolina of video poker.  This bill would be a welcome mat to the return of legalized gambling in South Carolina.  It would make betting as easy as touching a link on your tablet or smart phone.  Pari-mutuel betting would not stay limited to horse racing for the purpose of building up the Equine industry.  It would quickly morph into all manner of sports betting, which would then grow into casino gambling.  Gambling is not a “slippery slope,” it is a cliff that would lead to a sea change in South Carolina culture.  Click on the link below to read the text of the bill:

S424 – The Compassionate Care Act – This is a Senate bill that has the same type of deceptive language that is used in the House “Equine Advancement Act.”  The purpose of this bill is to legalize the use of medical marijuana.  Since marijuana is still a schedule 1 narcotic, the use of marijuana for so-called medical purposes would require an entire dispensing system that bypasses the normal prescription process for medication.  Marijuana has not been and not likely to be approved by the FDA for medical use.  The true purpose of this bill is to set up the system for and open the door to recreational marijuana.  Click on the link below to see evidence presented in the Harvard Review that medical marijuana leads to substance abuse.

To find your state Senator or Representative, go to www.scstathouse.gov and put your information in to find your Senator or Representative.  PLEASE CONTACT THEM TODAY about these issues that are currently being debated.

He must increase, I must decrease

Dr. Tony Beam

Director

The SCBC Office of Public Policy