South Carolina lawmakers pushing for roll-call votes

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Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, says he will call for roll-call votes on bills with an economic impact until lawmakers approve a plan requiring recorded votes on bills that spend taxpayer dollars.

But he’ll need four of his colleagues in the state Senate to join him in order to force lawmakers to publicly own up to their votes, rather than allowing them to issue anonymous voice votes. In the House, 10 members must call for a roll call vote.

“The people of South Carolina should be able to hold legislators accountable for the decisions they make at the State House … ,” Mr. Massey said in a statement. “Roll-call votes bring instant accountability.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, and members of the House are currently working on revising the rules to require a roll-call vote on legislation with an economic impact. Mr. Massey’s pledge would “fill the gap” until those changes were approved, according to the statement.

The announcement from Mr. Massey, who represents parts of Aiken, Edgefield and a few other counties, comes on the heels of a report from the Columbia-based, South Carolina Policy Council that found the Senate held roll-call votes 1 percent of the time, and the House did so 8 percent of the time on legislation that passed one chamber or both.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, fired back against the Policy Council’s findings, stressing that the House had, in fact, taken far more roll-call votes, and that each one costs taxpayers $55, due to technology and printing costs.

Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, also defended her chamber.

“I can tell you that things move very quickly in the House,” she said.

“There are times that a voice vote is routine, (such as) first reading of a bill, for instance, and third reading, since our debate happens on second reading, where I would think that there would be the highest number of recorded votes.”

Ms. Erickson supported a bill, H. 5019, by Rep. Nikki Haley, R-Lexington, which required recorded votes for bills that spent the public’s money, but it died in committee this year.

Still, Ms. Erickson said there are opportunities for the public to keep an eye on their lawmakers and for them to participate in the legislative process.

The committee process “is where a lot of the real work takes place and where the public can use its voice, but also, where members quite often take a stand on an issue.”

By Sarita Chourey | Morris News Service
The Augusta Chronicle
August 14, 2008

Posted August 18, 2008 

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