NEWS BRIEFS: Lawmakers urged to address hate crimes, gun safety bills

S.C. Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, D-North Charleston, speaks at a recent protest rally. Photo by Gavin Shelton.

Staff reports  |  Two state lawmakers said last week that it’s time to move forward promptly with bills to make hate crimes illegal and promote gun safety in South Carolina.

S.C. Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, told sister publication Statehouse Report that a hate crimes bill would go a long way toward race relations in the state. Earlier this year, the bill got important bipartisan support from then-House Judiciary Chair Peter McCoy, “but of course, then COVID-19 hit,” Gilliard said, and that all but ended the session and any pending bill with it more than two months early.   McCoy has since resigned from the General Assembly to become the state’s U.S. attorney.

Gun safety was also pushed in the years after the church massacre, particularly what’s known as the Charleston loophole, which would require gun dealers to wait until a background is completed before selling a weapon. Most bills died in committee.

S.C. Rep. Gary Clary, R-Gaffney, said it’s time for the loophole to be addressed by Congress since it is too mired in partisan politics in the state. A federal bill passed the Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives in 2019, but stalled in the Republican-led Senate.  Arm-in-Arm, a Charleston group founded to push for gun safety changes following the church shooting, is working to overcome the political divide. Founder Meghan Alexander has said new legislation will be pushed in 2021 and the group will continue to hear from gun owners in the coming months. 

Also in the news:

Online help for the needy.  The Lowcountry Food Bank, in partnership with the College of Charleston’s Riley Center for Livable Communities and the city of Charleston, has announced a new online, interactive Charleston Free Food Finder Map. The map helps people in need find free food in Charleston County. People trying to find nearby food pantries can go to https://bit.ly/chs-food-resources and type in their location. 

A dozen cultural organizations get relief grants.  Twelve greater Charleston cultural organizations recently received emergency relief grants through S.C. Humanities including Charleston Friends of the Library, The Charleston Museum, Drayton Hall Preservation Trust, Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society, Gibbes Museum of Art, Historic Charleston Foundation, McClellanville Arts Council, Middleton Place Foundation, Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, Preservation Society of Charleston, South Carolina Historical Society and the Timrod Literary and Library Association in Summerville.  Across the state, 99 organizations received more than $482,000 in funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities through federal coronavirus relief funds.

S.C. sees surge in coronavirus cases. Gov. Henry McMaster has urged “common sense,” not shutdown, as the state is seeing its highest jumps in new cases with 390 on Sunday, 512 on Saturday, 447 on Friday and 361 on Thursday. To date, the state has 14,286 reported cases of the virus. As of Sunday night, 546 COVID-19 patients have died in the Palmetto State. Meanwhile, state health officials warned the public to “hunker down” and to continue to wear masks when out. Read more. Greenville apparently is the state’s new hotspot.

S.C. 9th most dependent on the federal government. South Carolina joins six of its Southern neighbors in the top 10 states most dependent on the federal government, according to an analysis by financial firm SmartAsset. South Carolina, ranked ninth, is joined by West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. South Carolina also has the 11th-highest ratio of earnings for federal workers to private workers; the 16th-highest ratio for federal funding to income taxes paid; and the 18th-highest rate for federal share of state government revenue, at 35.19 percent. Read more. 

Higher gas tax coming July 1. A 2-cent increase in gas taxes will be in effect July 1. The increase is part of the phased increase to the state’s gas tax that was passed in 2017. Read more. 

S.C. congressmen push for rural broadband funding. All nine members of South Carolina’s congressional delegation, from both parties, signed a letter requesting investment in rural broadband expansion. Read more. 

• Have a comment?  Send to:  editor@charlestoncurrents.com