Current Status Bill Number:58 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19970114 Primary Sponsor:Rose All Sponsors:Rose Drafted Document Number:s-res\rose\res1145.mtr Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 11 SJ Subject:County legislative delegations, appointment power, weighted voting formula; General Assembly
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate 19970114 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ
referred to Committee
View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.
TO AMEND CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE 2, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY ADDING SECTION 2-1-250, SO AS TO PROVIDE A PROCEDURE FOR THE DEVOLUTION OF APPOINTMENT POWER AFFECTING ONLY ONE COUNTY FROM A LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION OR A HOUSE OR A SENATE DELEGATION TO A COUNTY GOVERNING BODY, WITH CERTAIN EXCEPTIONS, IF THE COUNTY GOVERNING BODY AND THE RESPECTIVE DELEGATION MUTUALLY AGREE TO TRANSFER THE AUTHORITY AND THE CODE COMMISSIONER IS NOTIFIED; AND TO FURTHER PROVIDE THAT IF SUCH ACTIONS REMAIN WITH THE DELEGATION, THEY MUST BE CARRIED OUT BY USE OF A WEIGHTED VOTING FORMULA; BY ADDING SECTION 2-1-255, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT AN ACTION OR VOTE BY A LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY REPRESENTING A MULTI-COUNTY AREA MUST UTILIZE THE WEIGHTED VOTING FORMULA; AND TO DIRECT THE CODE COMMISSIONER TO MODIFY ALL CODE SECTIONS WHICH ARE INCONSISTENT WITH THIS ACT AND TO INDICATE IN THE NOTES FOLLOWING A CODE SECTION ANY ACTION ACCEPTED BY A COUNTY GOVERNING BODY.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 1, Title 2 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 2-1-250. (A) Except for the appointment of magistrates as provided in Section 22-1-10, the appointment of members of county boards of registration as provided in Section 7-5-10, the appointment of county commissioners of election as provided in Section 7-13-70, and an action concerning a special purpose district or natural gas authority, any action which by statute requires a vote or an action by a county legislative delegation on a matter affecting only one county may be devolved upon the county governing body of that county if:
(1) the delegation affirmatively votes, using the weighted voting formula provided in subsection (C), that the action be devolved upon the county governing body; and
(2) the county governing body by ordinance or resolution agrees to accept the action and notifies the Code Commissioner of its acceptance.
The Code Commissioner must keep a list of these notifications and shall include the information in the statutory notes in each cumulative supplement and revised volume of the Code of Laws of South Carolina.
(B) Any action which by statute requires a vote or an action by the county legislative delegation on a matter affecting only one county must utilize the weighted voting formula provided in subsection (C). These actions include, but are not limited to:
(1) all appointments not devolved upon the county governing body which either are made or recommended by a county legislative delegation where the appointee or person recommended would represent only that county;
(2) an action concerning a special purpose district or natural gas authority which by statute requires a vote or an action by a county legislative delegation; and
(3) all other matters not devolved upon the county governing body as provided in subsection (A).
(C) The number of residents in a county comprising the district represented by a member of the Senate must be divided by the total population of that county. The number of residents in a county comprising the district represented by a member of the House of Representatives must be divided by the total population of that county. To determine the relative weight of the vote for the respective House and Senate members, the resulting percentages must then be divided by two and rounded to the nearest whole number, except in those instances below .5 which must be rounded to equal one.
(D) For the purposes of this section, `county legislative delegation' includes each member of the House of Representatives and of the Senate whose district includes any portion of the geographic area of a given county.
(E) Population totals to be used for the calculation in subsection (C) must be based upon the decennial census used to establish the respective House and Senate districts.
Section 2-1-255. (A) Any action which by statute requires a vote or an action by a legislative delegation of the General Assembly representing a multi-county area, including but not limited to, a judicial circuit and a congressional district must utilize the weighted voting formula provided in subsection (B). A legislator may vote only in the multi-county area in which he resides.
(B) The number of residents in a geographic area comprising more than one county represented by a member of the Senate must be divided by the total population of that geographic area. The number of residents in a geographic area comprising more than one county represented by a member of the House of Representatives must be divided by the total population of that geographic area. To determine the relative weight of the vote for the respective House and Senate members, the resulting percentages must then be divided by two and rounded to the nearest whole number, except in those instances below .5 which must be rounded to equal one.
(C) For the purposes of this section, `legislative delegation' includes each member of the House of Representatives and of the Senate whose district includes any portion of the geographic area of a given multi-county area.
(D) Population totals to be used for the calculation in subsection (B) must be based upon the decennial census used to establish the respective House and Senate districts."
SECTION 2. The Code Commissioner is empowered and directed to modify all code sections which are inconsistent with this act and to indicate in the annotations or notes following a code section any action accepted by a county governing body by ordinance or resolution.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.