S 0558 General Bill, By M.T. Rose
 A Bill to amend Chapter 1 of Title 2, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976,
 relating to the General Assembly, by adding Section 2-1-200, so as to provide
 that an action or vote by a county legislative delegation, county House
 delegation, or county Senate delegation which affects only one county may be
 devolved upon the county governing body if the county governing body agrees to
 accept the action and notifies the Code Commissioner of its acceptance 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 2-1-210, 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 Code Section any action accepted by a county governing body.

   02/22/95  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-6
   02/22/95  Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-6

A BILL

TO AMEND CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE 2, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, BY ADDING SECTION 2-1-200, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT AN ACTION OR VOTE BY A COUNTY LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION, COUNTY HOUSE DELEGATION, OR COUNTY SENATE DELEGATION WHICH AFFECTS ONLY ONE COUNTY MAY BE DEVOLVED UPON THE COUNTY GOVERNING BODY IF THE COUNTY GOVERNING BODY AGREES TO ACCEPT THE ACTION AND NOTIFIES THE CODE COMMISSIONER OF ITS ACCEPTANCE 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 2-1-210, 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 2-1-200. (A) Any action which by statute requires a vote or an action by a county legislative delegation, county House delegation, or county Senate delegation on a matter affecting only one county is devolved upon the county governing body of that county if that county governing body by ordinance or resolution agrees to accept the action and notifies the Code Commissioner of its acceptance. The Code Commissioner shall keep a list of such 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, county House delegation, or county Senate 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, county House delegation, or county Senate delegation where the appointee or person recommended would represent only that county; and

(2) 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 shall be rounded to equal one.

(D) For the purposes of this section, `county legislative delegation' is defined to include 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 2-1-210. (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 shall 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 shall be rounded to equal one.

(C) 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 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.