Action Needed: Legislative Leadership Resurrecting "Health Czar" Bill!

Tell your legislator to change priorities and put small businesses first!

On June 5th, the House and Senate will return to select a new judge for an empty seat and to potentially take up S.915, or as it has been dubbed- the Health Czar bill.

The procedural process to resurrect a bill that’s not on the list in the sine die resolution, after a legislative session has concluded, is almost never used. The last time it happened was almost a decade ago in the Confederate flag debate. But the Governor and House and Senate leadership seem intent on breaking with that precedent. 

The South Carolina Freedom Caucus and its conservative allies have spoken extensively about the issues with S.915 and even proposed solutions to the problems that exist currently within the bill, yet leadership has indicated they are intending to bring it back up for a vote without any positive changes. 

The issues we had with the bill revolved around it being such a large bill that nobody could explain how much it would cost taxpayers, it would allow for Sheriffs to be compelled by the Governor or even an unelected bureaucrat to violate the Constitution and enforce quarantines and mandates, the bill as is would result in no shrinking of government, and it includes no language that would protect medical freedom for the people of South Carolina. All these issues coupled together made this bill unacceptable for the conservative members of the SCFC. 

Today, we want to discuss a separate larger issue the potential resurrection of this bill illustrates: priorities. 

South Carolina politicians have a serious priority issue. Time and again, they prioritize big-spending bills that would grow government and restrict individual liberty rather than prioritizing bills that would cut spending, shrink government, and advance personal freedoms for the citizens of South Carolina. S.915 is the perfect example of this issue of priorities. 

South Carolina small businesses are shutting their doors and closing their businesses left and right due to joint and several liability laws that are disproportionately increasing their costs to run their businesses all for the profit of trial lawyers serving in both chambers and their friends out of chamber. Specifically, restaurants and music venues - many of which have been institutions in our state - are being hit the hardest. This session, several bills were filed to correct this problem and lessen the regulatory burden on our small businesses who, after all, are the economic backbone of our state. Yet, the bills which would have adequately solved these problems were not even given a hearing in committee. 

Last session, the Uniparty prioritized and passed a bill that would give $1.3 billion tax dollars to a foreign-owned corporation to build off-road electric vehicles, and another bill that would give millions in tax incentives to Hollywood movie producers, plus loaded our state budget with millions in pork for special projects. But nothing was done to assist our small businesses.

We have 3 calls to action: 

1. Call your legislator and tell them not to resurrect the Health Czar bill (S. 915). You can find their contact info here.

2. If they do choose to resurrect S. 915, they must also then support bringing tort reform (S.533) to the floor for a vote in order to immediately support small businesses. 

3. Sign our coalition letter calling for the legislature to prioritize helping small businesses here.

 

The only way to ensure the Uniparty acts in the best interests of the people is for the people to get involved. We ask that you use your voice as a taxpayer and resident of South Carolina to hold elected officials accountable for their actions on June 5th by calling them today and telling them your concerns with S.915 and also requesting that they prioritize small businesses immediately by passing tort reform.

For liberty,

SC Freedom Caucus