2009 - 2010 Bill Watch

Some of the bills in the 118th South Carolina General Assembly (2009 - 2010)
that were tracked by the South Carolina Hospitality Association and their status.

BILL #	General	STATUS
H.3053	Require cities to base business license fees on the size of the business and not its gross income.  Also exempts wholesale businesses from license fees unless they have a physical presence in the city.	Dead
H.3106	Increases the penalty for price gouging during a state of emergency to $5,000	Dead
S.78	Makes it easier for voters to petition local initiatives	Dead
S.80	Allows voters to sign a petition for voter initiatives to write laws (similar to California)	Dead
H.3042	Would allow ultimate fighting boxing (mixed martial arts) in SC.	Now Legal
S.535	Would allow federally recognized non-profit organizations to host "casino nights" which are currently illegal	Dead
H. 3671	Would elminate Sunday retail blue laws (not alcohol blue laws)	Dead - takes local referendum
H.3489	Tort Reform	Dead
S.350	Tort Reform	Dead
S.391	Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund Restoration and UI rate changes	Passed
H.4503	Would ban phosphates in commerical laundry and dishwashing soaps making it harder to properly clean dishes and linens	Dead
BILL #	Restaurant Specific	STATUS
S.46	Bans trans fats	Dead
S.50	Requires food establishment to post warnings if trans fats are used	Dead
H.3184	Requires retail food establishments and innkeepers to semi-annually shall screen all employees to determine if an employee is infected with a communicable disease that can be transmitted by food and prevent employment of someone with such disease	Dead
H.3997	Provides a one dollar per gallon tax credit for donating used kitchen oils from restaurants to biodiesel producers with a $500 limit per year	Dead
H.4477	Would require restaurants with 10 or more locations within the state to display calorie counts on all items	Dead
BILL #	Alcohol Related	STATUS
H.3036	Requires beer & wine permitted locations to have a fire inspection and certificate of occupancy	Dead
S.20	Changes rules related to obtaining a liquor license and residency requirements	Dead
S.68	Replaces the 5% on-premise mixed drink tax with a 66¢ per liter wholesale tax on all liquor sold in state, including liquor stores	Dead
S.70	Bans local government from setting hours alcohol can be sold	Dead
S.173	Mandate bars and restaurants recycle all glass products (similar to new law in North Carolina)	Dead
H.4211	Allows local governments to determine hours alcoholic beverages can be sold	Dead - already law
H.4516	Requires "non-profit" organizations that obtain temporary alcohol permits to be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c) non-profit	Passed
BILL #	Lodging Specific	SPONSOR
S.39	Lodging establishments cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation	Dead
H. 4025	Places accommodations taxes on timeshare exchange users other than the owner of the timeshare	Dead
BILL #	Employment Related	STATUS
H.3065	Would require employers to give up to 2 hours to allow employees to vote.	Dead
S.28	Establishes a state minimum wage of $6.15 per hour or the federal rate, whichever is higher	Dead
S.316	Constitutional amendment to prevent Card Check in SC	Passed - referendum in Nov. 2010
BILL #	Smoking	STATUS
H.3091	Bans smoking in restaurants and places licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption.	Dead
H.3113	Bans smoking in restaurants and allows stronger local laws	Dead
S.38	Bans smoking in bars and restaurants, exempts private clubs	Dead
BILL #	Tourism Related	STATUS
H.3052	Exempts York County schools from uniform school start date	Dead
H.3100	Eliminates uniform school start date statewide	Dead
S.304	Would allow local accommodations or hospitality taxes to bond "tourism-related" projects	Passed
S. 332	Would allow up to half of local hospitality and accommodations taxes to be used for operation and maintenance of tourism facilities and parks/recreation	Still active as amendment on H.4379
S.483	Would allow municipalities within Horry County to impose a 1% general sales tax, 80% of which must be used for tourism promotion	Passed
H.4037	Would provide that appeals of a decision by the Tourism Expenditure Review Committe go the the appropriate county legislative delegation instead of the Administrative Law Judge Devision - current law renders a legal decision under proposal, politics re-enters the decision.	Dead
H.3709,    H3836	Would allow up to half of local hospitality taxes to be used for transportation needs, including public transportation	Dead
H.3335	Would allow up to half of local hospitality and accommodations taxes to be used for operation and maintenance of tourism facilities and parks/recreation	Still Active
H.4176	Would prevent non-essential travel by state employees through June 30, 2010	Dead
H.4200	Changes to Tourism Infrastructure Admissions Tax Act related to tax credits for new investments	Dead
H.4221	Would eliminte requirement that majority of Accommodations Tax committee members come from area where most accommodations taxes are collected	Dead
H 4229	Would allow municipalities in Beaufort county to impose a 1% general sales tax to be used for tourism advertising and promotion	Dead
H.4904	Would require DOT to develop directional signs for tourism oriented locations	Dead