South Carolina lawmakers are back at work in Columbia, after gaveling into their new legislative session on Tuesday.
Gov. Henry McMaster is calling for hurricane relief money to rebuild roads and bridges, but WIS TV reports the first major debate at the state House this year is set to focus on school funding, as senators will take up a bill to reinstate South Carolina’s private-school voucher program after the state Supreme Court ruled last summer that their plan to give certain families public dollars to spend on private-school tuition was unconstitutional. Some legislators believe they can get around that by funding vouchers with lottery money instead of tax dollars.
Meanwhile, House Republicans plan to focus on income tax cuts according to Speaker Murrell Smith.
"This is obviously a very complex and complicated issue. I think everybody has a goal in mind that we've got to be competitive with our neighbors, and that's what we're concentrating on now," he said.
Both chambers are also looking to pass reforms to increase South Carolina’s energy generation after legislation that passed the House but ran out of time in the Senate last year.
