1. 2012 Legislative Session Debriefing
Moderated by Duane Cooper
SCSBA Legislative & Advocacy Coordinator

2. Education related bills that passed in 2012
SC General Appropriations Bill (H.4813)
Charter Schools Reform (H.3241)
Jason Flatt Act (H.4690)
School Flexibility Joint Resolutions
Retirement Reform (H.4967)
Equal Access to Interscholastic Activities (S.149)
Multi-lot Discount (A179, R207, H3934)
Bath Salts & Synthetic Marijuana (H.3793)
Government Owned Communications Service Providers (H.3508)
Teacher Contracts (H.3028)

3. 2012-13 General Appropriations (A0288, R0330, H4813)
Highlights of budget
$6.7 billion total spending plan
provides $48 million to school districts specifically to increase teachers' pay by 2 percent
give a 3 percent pay increase for most state employees
covers state employees' rising health insurance premiums
adds $153 million to education funding to increase base student costs by $132 to $2,012
gives an additional $5 million for charter schools organized under the statewide charter district
covers a $36 million drop in federal money for special needs students (IDEA)
$20 million lost for hold harmless funding to ensure no district lose money due to changes in the calculation of the Index of Taxpaying Ability (ITA).

4. 2012-13 SC General Appropriations Bill cont’d
Temporary provisos of note from budget
1.33 (Sale of school district property) was deleted this year
1.43. (School district furlough) amended this year to add restriction that districts may only furlough employees in the event of a mid-year state budget reduction in funds to districts
1.80. (SDE: Education Foundation Supplement) was deleted this year
1A.16 (Teacher supplies) language deleted allowing districts to withhold teacher supply funds and apply them to decrease furloughs or protect teaching jobs
1A.56 (Teacher salaries/SE average) added language requiring a 2% salary raise as well as a step increase and included a waiver process for the step increase
70.29 (Teacher salary study committee)
(School transportation decentralization study committee)

5. 2012-13 SC General Appropriations Bill cont’d
Governor vetoes overridden by General Assembly
Veto # 1- eliminates funding for Arts Commission (23 jobs)
Veto # 4- eliminates funding for Writing Improvement Network
Veto # 5- eliminates funding for Geographical Alliance
Veto # 7- eliminates $10 million of the funding for the 2% teacher pay increase
Veto # 11-eliminates $200,000 in funds for Education Oversight Committee (EOC)
Veto # 21-deletes $500,000 in grants for Arts Commission
Veto # 68-deletes $100,000 in funding for School Improvement Council (SIC)
Veto # 70-deletes $1.25 million for the Governor’s School for Arts & Humanities

6. Charter Schools Reform (H.3241)
Higher education sponsorship
Charter students eligible to compete and participate in extracurricular activities, including athletics, at resident public school if that activity or athletic team not offered by the charter school they attend.
New law covers:
conversion charter schools
single gender charters
increases application process timeline
charter school contract
schools of choice

7. Jason Flatt Act (H.4690)
Requires two hours of training in youth suicide awareness and prevention for teachers as part of the required five-year teacher recertification process.
Training only required for middle and high school teachers.
Training is as an effort to help teachers with identifying possible warning signs of students who may be contemplating suicide.

8. School Flexibility Joint Resolutions
Extended Date for Issuance of Teacher Contracts H.4905
Boards must notify teachers in writing concerning their employment for the school year by May 15, 2012.
Suspension of District/School Report-card Printing Requirements H.4904
The South Carolina Department of Education is not mandated to provide printed copies of the 2012 district and school report cards.
Districts or schools are not required to advertise 2012 report card results in the newspaper.

9. Retirement Reform (A278, R323, H4967)
Increases employee contribution rates from 6.5 percent to 8.0 percent in 0.5 percent increments annually from July 1, 2012 to July 1, 2014.
Sets employer contribution rate at 10.6 percent beginning July 1, 2012 with increases to 10.9 percent by July 1, 2014.
Eliminates TERI program for new employees and completely phases out the program by June 30, 2018.

10. Retirement Reform cont’d
New/future state employees
Average compensation will be based on the five highest years of earnable compensation
Payments for unused annual leave will no longer be included in Average Final Compensation (AFC)
No service credit will be awarded for unused sick leave at retirement effective July 1, 2012
Eight years of earned service is now required to become vested in the system

11. Retirement Reform cont’d
To retire and receive full benefits a member must meet the “rule of ninety” - age, plus number of years of service must equal 90 (for example: a person age 60 with 30 years of service would meet the rule)
Restricts return to work program; starting in January 2013, if an employee retires and comes back to work at their same job, the individual will have to forfeit their retirement checks once they have earned $10,000 in salary

12. Equal Access to Interscholastic Activities (S.149)
Allow participation by home school, Governor’s school students in such activities at their resident public school
“Interscholastic activities” defined to include, but not be limited to, athletics, music, speech, and other extracurricular activities. Does not define extracurricular activities.
Student notification to superintendent

13. Equal Access to Interscholastic Activities cont’d
Other requirements
must reside within attendance zone
Governor’s school students
residence
Governor’s school team/squad
student meets all district eligibility requirements with exception of school or class attendance requirements, and class and enrollment requirements of associations administering the interscholastic activities.

14. Multi-lot Discount (A179, R207, H3934)
The discount was enacted by lawmakers to ease the tax burden on developers because of the national real estate crisis occurring the past several years.
SCSBA fought the legislation because of the Board of Economics (BEA) fiscal impact statement citing a $5.6 million fiscal impact on local governments.
Homebuilders and Counties reached a compromise. SCSBA did not support the compromise

15. Multi-lot Discount cont’d
Highlights of changes to the law include:
A three-year extension from years of the multi-lot discount for developers and homebuilders
Builders with one year left on the discount in years will receive an additional three years of the discount; however, no refunds will be allowed
During the three-year extension, qualified builders and developers can sell lots to other builders and/or developers and the discount transfers to the new owner
Rules related to the taxation of owner-occupied properties are tightened by stating no member of a household receiving the owner-occupied property tax rate can claim another property as his/her legal residence
The loophole involving properties with multiple owners is closed; for a resident owning less than 50 percent of a property, only his/her share of the property would be taxed at the discounted or lower rate

16. Bath Salts & Synthetic Marijuana (H.3793)
South Carolina became the 38th state to ban specific substances commonly used as the main components of the designer drugs bath salts and synthetic marijuana.
South Carolina law states that a person who manufactures, distributes or possesses either drug can be found guilty of a felony and can be punished with up to15 years in jail time and/or hefty fines.

17. Government Owned Communications Service Providers (H.3508)
Previously small and rural communities were able to apply for federal grants to help provide broadband services to areas within their community if commercial broadband providers declined to expand services to those areas.
Commercial providers complained that existing law established an unfair advantage because they (commercial providers) cannot compete with government subsidized services.
The new law greatly restricts or prevents local government from building next-generation networks, even in cases where private providers refuse to service. In addition, the new law puts current projects already in work in jeopardy.

18. Teacher Contracts/Induction Period (A231, R283, H3028)
Extends induction year contract period from one year to now one year up to three years
At the end of each year, district
May employ teacher under another induction contract,
May employ under an annual contract, or
Terminate employment
Terminated teacher may seek employment at another district at induction contract level

19. Education related bills that failed in 2012
School Bus Privatization H.4610
Freedom of Information Act Reform H.3235
Unexcused absences from school H.4764
S.566 Bullying / Harassment
Driver's Licenses Privileges and School Attendance H.3164
Farm to School H.4200
Criminal Awareness Training S.1042
School Start Date H.4953
2012 Tax Reform Bills
Tuition Tax Credit / Voucher Bills H.4894
Open Enrollment Program S.1267
Economic Development and Education Investment Act H.5145

20. Education Topics We Could See in 2013
Public Education Funding
Economic Development and Education Investment Act H.5145
SCSBA/SCASA Funding Plan
2013 Budget (BSC increases)
Teacher Salary Schedule Study Committee
Bus Decentralization/Privatization Study Committee
Teacher Evaluations / Pay for Performance
Vouchers / Tuition Tax Credits
Public School Choice
Government Restructure
Consolidation

21. Election Year 2012 Five representatives:
There will be at least 9 new members to the SC General Assembly.
Four senators:
Tom Corbin (replaces Phil Shoopman – District 5)
Ross Turner (replaces David Thomas – District 8)
Tom Young (replaces Greg Ryberg – District 24)
Sean Bennett (replaces Mike Rose – District 38)
Five representatives:
Leola Robinson-Simpson (replaces Karl Allen – District 25)
Raye Felder (new District 26)
Heather Crawford (replaces Thad Viers – District 68)
Weston Newton (new District 120)
Bill Bowers (combined seat due to redistricting – District 122)
There will be at least 49 competitive races for the November General Election; 15 senate races and 34 house races.

22. Suggested Advocacy Action Items
Invite legislative delegation members to special back-to-school events and/or to a scheduled board meeting before the start of the 2013 Legislative Session. (Remember to inform them of our legislative priorities for 2013 and to thank them for the work they did on public education issues during the 2012 Legislative Session.)
Establish or review the board’s policy on advocacy. An example of updated advocacy policies can be viewed at
Appoint a Board Legislative Contact (BLC) for the 2013 legislative session. Please forward updated 2013 BLC information to me.
Update your local grassroots advocacy network roster and send members Legislative Session 2013 prep-information.

23. Questions / Comments

24. SCSBA Legislative & Advocacy Contacts
Duane Cooper – Legislative & Advocacy Coordinator;
Debbie Elmore – SCSBA Communications Director;
Scott Price – SCSBA General Counsel & Chief Lobbyist;