This week’s SCETV teleconference hosted by Lt. Governor Glenn McConnell will feature Senator Kevin Bryant (R-Anderson) and Rep. Jim Merrill (R-Charleston) as they discuss the issue of oversight of the process whereby state regulations are promulgated through the Administrative Procedures Act and its impact on businesses and citizens of this state.

I spoke at Concord Community Church today on John 11, the story of Lazarus. Here’s a video I made with FCPX and used:

2013.02.03.lazarus from Kevin Bryant on Vimeo.

Assault Weapons: Seeing through the Propaganda (by Kelsey Farnham)
The term assault weapon has been tossed around so liberally during the recent 2nd Amendment debate. It has in turn caused many Americans to encompass a misguided view of what legislation is really proposing.
In 1994 Congress passed a Federal assault weapons ban. It defined an assault weapon as “a semi-automatic rifle able to accept detachable magazines and two or more of the following: folding stock, pistol grip, bayonet mount, flash suppressor, grenade launcher.” These so called “dangerous features” and accessories are merely cosmetics. The weapons without these features function no differently than the rifles and shotguns in common use for over 100 years.
The misunderstanding of the term began when the liberal media realized that they could take advantage of the fact that most of the public could not tell the difference between true assault weapons ( Fully Automatic Firearms which are regulated under the National Firearms Act), and their Semi-Automatic look-alikes. Semi-automatics and all other firearms, such as bolt-actions, pump-actions, lever-actions, revolvers, double-barreled shotguns, and single-shot firearms, fire only once when the trigger is pulled. Media programs go so far as to show video footage of fully-automatic machine guns being fired while their reporters talk about legislation related to semi-automatic firearms. Therefore, misleading people into thinking that fully-automatic machine guns are the types of firearms covered by semi-automatic “assault weapon” legislation. “Assault Weapon” propaganda is laced with photographs of fully-automatic machine guns.
The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machineguns versus semi-automatic assault weapons only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these guns. However, television networks and print publications began instilling this sense of fear and confusion in the public by showing fully-automatic military firearms, while talking about semi-automatics. Naturally, because so many Americans automatically believe that what they see in the media as a fair, impartial, and true reporting of the facts, there is now a distorted view of what an assault weapon really is. Unfortunately, in 1994, the media’s plan worked; and the “Assault Weapons Ban” passed.
The term itself is a pure anti-gun propaganda term. It was advanced by and for the anti-gun movement in the late 1970′s and popularized in the early 1980′s. “Assault weapon” is essentially just an excessive, redundant phrase. A weapon, by definition, is a tool used to harm or destroy an enemy, prey, equipment, or structure. All of which sounds like “assault” to me. Colonel Mustard, in the billiard room, with the candlestick, should be accused just as readily for using an “assault weapon” as someone with an AR-15. Let’s get a clue, people.
As the American public, it’s our responsibility to educate ourselves better on issues as important as the 2nd Amendment. Let’s see through all the propaganda and see the truth.
“Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2
SOURCES:
1. Read more at Ammoland.com: http://www.ammoland.com/2012/12/are-we-are-our-own-worst-enemies-at-times/#ixzz2JNgJ0qpB
2. What are assault weapons?: http://www.gunbanfacts.com/get_the_facts/history.aspx
3. Assault Weapons: Propaganda: http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi- bin/archive.cgi/noframes/read/98375
4. Nobody Really Knows What an “Assault Rifle” is, So How Are We Supposed to Ban Them? http://www.policymic.com/articles/21191/nobody-really-knows-what-an-assault-rifle-is-so-how-are-we-supposed-to-ban-them

Today 2013.01.29 the Senate moved to commit s.22 (the Department of Administration bill) to the Senate Finance Committee (sfc) for further study. The sfc wished to examine the bill because Senate Rule 19A states that legislation dealing with the State Budget and Control Board are under their purview.
​As part of the motion the Senate also set a date certain of Wednesday, February 20th for the bill to be considered by the full Senate. By doing this the bill has been placed in Interrupted Debate status thus ensuring s.22 will be under consideration on Wednesday, February 20th and on days going forward until the bill receives 2nd reading.
​Upon receiving 3rd reading the bill will then be placed in the status of 3rd reading Interrupted Debate. Interrupted Debate is important because a single Senator object cannot desire to delay debate and must be considered by the Senate. This was a unanimous consent motion, receiving no objection.

Here’s what’s important to remember about this procedural motion:
1-s.22 is automatically placed in interrupted debate. This status is a higher priority than even bills placed on special order. Special order status requires 31 votes and is sometimes difficult to achieve.
2-A time is set certain to debate the bill. Many folks (including myself) were concerned that committing s.22 to sfc may lead to slowing down or killing its progress. Setting a time certain satisfies this concern.
3-Point of order. If someone made the point of order that s.22 was out of order by the Senate Judiciary Committee based on rule 19*, this point of order could be sustained, thus killing s.22 altogether.

*Rule 19.a – Standing Committees of the Senate. The Standing Committees of the Senate shall be as follows and shall have jurisdiction over legislation, appointments and other matters which fall within the title or titles of the Code of Laws as are herein below enumerated for each of the Committees:

Finance – Titles 1 (State Budget and Control Board), 4 through 6 (bonding authority, taxation, finances), 8 (employment standards, retirement, deferred compensation), 9, 10, 11, and 12

4-sfc cannot amend s.22. Since the restricting bill is a Judiciary Committee Bill, any amendments passed is sfc, will not be applied to the bill without the vote of the full senate.

I was committed to voting against any effort to commit s.22 to sfc unless there was a concrete agreement that it would be back on the calendar. This agreement is much better than I’d hoped and I am comfortable that this agreement will ultimately lead to a full floor debate on s.22.

SHORT SUMMARY OF S. 22
S. 22 would:

(1) abolish the Budget and Control Board effective July 1, 2015 and redistribute its divisions among a Department of Administration, a State Fiscal Accountability Authority, the Office of Regulatory Staff, and DHEC;
(2) create a Department of Administration that would include:
(a) the Division of General Services (with memorandum of agreement).
(b) the State Office of Human Resources;
(c) the Executive Budget and Planning Office as established in Article 2, Title 1;
(d) the Guardian Ad Litem Program as established in Article 5, Chapter 11, Title 63;
(e) the Procurement Oversight Board as established in Article 1, Chapter 35, Title 1;
(f) the Office of Economic Opportunity, the office designated by the Governor to be the state administering agency that is responsible for the receipt and distribution of the federal funds as allocated to South Carolina for the implementation of Title VI, Public Law 97-35;
(g) the Developmental Disabilities Council as established by Executive Order in 1971 and reauthorized in 2010;
(h) the Continuum of Care for Emotionally Disturbed Children as established in Article 13, Chapter 11, Title 63;
(i) the Division for Review of the Foster Care of Children as established by Article 7, Chapter 11, Title 63;
(j) the Children’s Case Resolution System as established by Article 11, Chapter 11, Title 63;
(k) the Client Assistance Program;
(l) the Division of Veterans’ Affairs as established by Chapter 11, Title 25;
(m) the Commission on Women as established by Chapter 15, Title 1;
(n) the Office of Victim Assistance, including the South Carolina Crime Victims Advisory Board and the Victims Compensation Fund, both as established by Article 13, Chapter 3, Title 16;
(o) the Crime Victims’ Ombudsman as established by Article 16, Chapter 3, Title 16;
(p) the Governor’s Office of Ombudsman;
(q) the Division of Small and Minority Business Contracting and Certification, as established pursuant to Article 21, Chapter 35, Title 11, formerly known as the Small and Minority Business Assistance Office;
(r) the Division of State Information Technology, including the Data Center, Telecommunications and Information Technology Services, the South Carolina Enterprise Information System, and the Information Technology Management Office; and
(s) the Nuclear Advisory Council as established in Article 9, Chapter 7, Title 13;
(3) create a State Fiscal Accountability Authority to be governed by: The State Fiscal Accountability Authority would consist of:
(a) the Governor, who shall serve as ex officio as chairman;
(b) the State Treasurer, who shall serve ex officio;
(c) the Comptroller General, who shall serve ex officio;
(d) one member of the House of Representatives, ex officio; and
(e) one member of the Senate, ex officio; and
(4) provide that the State Fiscal Accountability Authority would exercise all functions, powers, duties, responsibilities, and authority related to the issuance of bonds and bonding authority, except for the functions, powers, duties, responsibilities, and authority vested in the Joint Bond Review Committee and to have authority over the following entities:
(a) the South Carolina Infrastructure Facilities Authority;
(b) the Local Government Division in support of the local government loan program;
(c) the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority;
(d) the Division of Regional Development;
(e) Joint Bond Review Committee;
(f) SC Resources Authority;
(g) the Board of Economic Advisors;
(h) the Office of Research and Statistics; and
(i) Insurance Reserve Fund.
(5) establish the Procurement Oversight Board to be administratively a part of the Department of Administration and to consist of 3 members appointed to 4-year terms upon the advice and consent of the Senate as follows:
(a) one member shall be appointed by the Governor,
(b) one member by the Comptroller General, and
(c) one member by the State Treasurer;
(6) set up an Executive Budget and Strategic Planning Office;
(7) create a South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum Commission;
(8) provide for a system for Legislative Oversight of Executive Departments;
(9) contain the State Agency Deficit Prevention and Recognition Act;
(10) set up a Legislative Fiscal Office;
(11) transfer the State Energy Office to the Office of Regulatory Staff;
(12) transfer the regulation of minerals and mineral interests on public land, and the regulation of Geothermal Resources to the Department of Health and Environmental Control;
(13) create a Joint Strategic Technology Committee;
(14) provide for additional members to serve as members of the Charleston Naval Complex Redevelopment Authority, which will also constitute the Charleston Navy Base Museum Authority as a division of the Charleston Naval Redevelopment Authority. The Naval Base Museum Authority would become operative upon the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the RDA and the Hunley Commission, and the Naval Base Museum Authority shall possess and may exercise all powers and authority granted to the Hunley Commission by specific statutory reference in Sections 54-7-100 and 54-7-110;
(15) provide for the Legislative Audit Council to conduct a performance audit during the year 2020; and
(16) make conforming changes in the law or provide for the Code Commissioner to make changes.

SHORT SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE AMENDMENT TO S. 22
The Senate Judiciary Committee amendment to S. 22 would:

(1) provide that the Procurement Services Division of the Budget and Control Board would transfer to the Department of Administration and would eliminate the Procurement Oversight Board;

(2) upon recommendation of the Governor’s office, provide that 3 mandatory progress reports be made to the General Assembly by the Department of Administration concerning the: (a) organizational placement of the Office of Executive Policy and Programs, (b) proposed procedures regarding procurement, and (c) state’s current spending on goods and services;

(3) clarify that funding for the State Fiscal Accountability Authority would be provided through the annual general appropriations act;

(4) replace the provisions creating the Executive Budget Office with language previously in H. 3066 allowing the Governor greater flexibility in organizing the Executive Budget and Strategic Planning Office and provide that strategic planning would be part of the duties of that office;

(5) delete certain provisions of S. 22 so as to preserve existing law concerning the budget process;

(6) provide that the Director of the Department of Administration would serve at the pleasure of the Governor;

(7) delete language concerning taking depositions from the Legislative Oversight provisions;

(8) repeal §§ 11-9-230 through 11-9-270 which allow for loans to be made between agencies in case of deficits;

(9) clarify that the transfer of the Division of General Services (as a whole and not just State Fleet Management) would occur only after a Memorandum of Agreement has been reached to provide for services to all branches of government (technical and clarifying correction);

(10) delete the creation of a Joint Strategic Technology Committee; and

(11) make technical and conforming amendments corresponding to the above changes.