Two bills being considered by the General Assembly could make significant changes to the State Election Commission. Author: Julia Kauffman (WLTX) Updated: 6:27 PM EDT April 7, 2021
COLUMBIA, S.C. There are efforts across the nation to make changes to election laws, including in South Carolina.
Two bills being considered in the General Assembly could make changes to the State Election Commission, which is the agency that oversees elections in the Palmetto State.
The first one, called House Bill 3444, aims to make all election procedures uniform in every county.
The Republican-backed bill would give complete authority to the Election Commission to regulate rules in every county election office.
South Carolina senators want say in who runs election agency
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said the goal is to gain more legislative oversight of the Election Commission. Author: Associated Press, Jeffrey Collins Published: 11:56 PM EDT April 1, 2021 Updated: 11:56 PM EDT April 1, 2021
COLUMBIA, S.C. South Carolina senators have approved a bill that would end the terms of the five members of the State Election Commission and force the state’s elections director to resign. The Senate would then get to approve who takes those roles.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said the goal is to gain more legislative oversight of the Election Commission. But some senators pointed out the elections board was explicitly structured decades ago to be independent.
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Alabama
Montgomery: The state said it was distributing its first COVID-19 vaccine doses to prisoners Wednesday, the Alabama Department of Corrections announced. The Alabama National Guard was expected to deliver about 1,400 doses to the Bullock Correctional Facility. Prisoners are not required to get the shots. The doses were first allotted to a National Guard-run clinic aimed at vaccinating rural communities. In a statement, ADOC said attendance at those clinics last week was limited by severe weather. The state Department of Public Health notified ADOC that a surplus of defrosted Pfizer vaccines needed to be used. Prisoners and other populations in group settings are prioritized under federal vaccine guidelines because of the risk congregant settings pose for the highly infectious coronavirus. Families of prisoners last year said
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COLUMBIA, S.C. The South Carolina Senate unanimously passed a proposal that would require all schools to provide in-person classes five days a week starting as soon as April 12.
The proposal passed Wednesday would also require schools provide five day a week classes next school year too.
“There is significant support across party lines to get children back in school as soon as possible. All of us recognize the significant loss of the children not being in school, said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield.
The proposal would also ban districts from making teachers give instruction both virtually and in person unless there are “extreme and unavoidable circumstances” and the district would then have to pay the teacher more.