Legislative Update February 24, 2015

Tuition Tax Credits, Vouchers (H.3072) Provides nonprofit scholarship funding to provide grants for defraying educational costs for exceptional needs children Provides tax credits for individuals or businesses that make contributions made to nonprofit scholarship funding H.3072 Introduced and referred to House Committee on Ways and Means (1/13/15)

Appointed State Superintendent of Education (H.3041) Amend Constitution of South Carolina to delete State Superintendent of Education from list of elected state officers Provide that State Superintendent of Education be appointed by Governor H.3041 Reported out Favorably by House Committee on Judiciary (1/28/15) Debate on House Floor started and adjourned until 2/25/15 (2/3/15)

Freedom of Information Act (S.11 and H.3192) Public body must give written public notice, including time and location, of regular meetings at beginning of each calendar year Public body must provide agenda for all regularly scheduled meetings in a publicly accessible place (e.g., bulletin board at meeting place, website, etc.) No additional agenda items can be added without an additional twenty-four hours notice to the public Agenda items added later than twenty-four hours before the meeting can only be added by two-thirds vote of the body, only if an emergency exists S.11 Reported out Favorably by Senate Committee on Judiciary (1/28/15) Approved and read third time by Senate (2/3/15 ) Introduced in House and referred to House Committee on Judiciary (2/4/15) H.3192 Reported out Favorably by House Committee on Judiciary (2/11/15) Approved and read third time by House (2/17/15) Introduced in Senate and referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary (2/18/15)

Freedom of Information Act (H.3191) Cut Freedom of Information Act request time from fifteen days to ten days Establishes “Office of Freedom of Information” within Administrative Law Court to avoid lawsuits Sets limits on cost for document search and copies H.3191 Reported out Favorably by House Committee on Judiciary (2/11/15) Approved and read third time by House (2/18/15) Introduced in Senate and referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary (2/19/15)

South Carolina Jobs, Education and Tax Act (H.3672) Developed over the past few years by coalition of education groups Goal is to provide equitable, stable, and sound revenue source for public schools Will bring transparency and simplification of education funding Property tax relief for business, manufacturing and non-owner occupied properties H.3672 Introduced and referred to House Committee on Ways and Means (2/17/15)

Our Aiken County Schools are Succeeding! North Augusta High School School Improvement Council Riley Award Finalist North Augusta High School Robotics Team State Winner Our Aiken County Schools are Succeeding!