South Carolina General Assembly

South Carolina General Assembly
Government of the United States. · Public domain · source
Name	South Carolina General Assembly
Legislature	South Carolina
House type	Bicameral
Founded	1776
Leader1 type	President of the Senate
Leader2 type	Speaker of the House
Members	170
Meeting place	South Carolina State House, Columbia, South Carolina

Contents

South Carolina General Assembly is the bicameral legislature of South Carolina consisting of the South Carolina Senate and the South Carolina House of Representatives. Originating in the revolutionary era alongside the Charleston Tea Party and the Battle of Sullivan's Island, the legislature operates in the South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina and interacts with institutions such as the Governor of South Carolina, the South Carolina Supreme Court, and federal entities like the United States Congress and the United States Supreme Court.

History

The Assembly traces its roots to colonial bodies including the Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina and the Colonial Assembly (South Carolina), evolving through events like the American Revolutionary War, the 1788 United States presidential election debates in South Carolina ratifying convention, and the crafting of the Constitution of South Carolina (1778). During the antebellum era the legislature engaged with issues tied to the Nullification Crisis, the Compromise of 1850, and the politics of the Plantation economy, influencing figures such as John C. Calhoun, Richard Yates, and Wade Hampton III. Reconstruction brought intervention by the Radical Republicans, the Freedmen's Bureau, and federal amendments like the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Twentieth-century reforms intersected with cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and controversies involving the South Carolina Democratic Party and the South Carolina Republican Party, culminating in redistricting disputes adjudicated by the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

The bicameral body comprises the South Carolina Senate with 46 members and the South Carolina House of Representatives with 124 members, each elected from districts drawn under mandates from rulings like Baker v. Carr and Reynolds v. Sims. Membership qualifications have been shaped by the Constitution of South Carolina (1895), amendments tied to the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and court decisions such as Gomillion v. Lightfoot. Notable legislators have included Strom Thurmond, Fritz Hollings, Elizabeth May (South Carolina), and members linked to local institutions like University of South Carolina and Clemson University. Committees mirror models found in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives with staff from entities like the South Carolina Legislative Council.

Bills may be proposed by members of the South Carolina Senate or the South Carolina House of Representatives and follow procedures influenced by precedents from the Jamestown legislative tradition and modern practice observed in the United States Congress. Legislation proceeds through committee referral, hearings, markup, and floor votes, with executive action by the Governor of South Carolina and potential judicial review by the South Carolina Supreme Court or federal courts including the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Major enactments have addressed issues tied to the South Carolina Department of Transportation, the South Carolina Department of Education, and tax matters referencing the Internal Revenue Service and federal statutes like the Social Security Act. Emergency sessions and proclamations can involve interaction with the South Carolina National Guard and federal agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Leadership posts include the President of the South Carolina Senate and the Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, roles comparable to leadership in the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. Party leaders from the South Carolina Republican Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party control committee assignments, with standing committees such as Ways and Means, Judiciary, and Education modeled after analogous panels in state capitols across the United States. Oversight responsibilities connect to agencies like the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and regional authorities such as the Charleston County council and the Richland County council.

Legislators are elected in partisan elections with districts apportioned following census cycles and legal standards derived from the United States Census Bureau and court rulings including Shaw v. Reno and Shelby County v. Holder. Primary contests involve the South Carolina Republican Party and the South Carolina Democratic Party, and special elections have filled vacancies occasioned by appointments to positions like United States Senate vacancies, governorship successions, and judicial appointments to the South Carolina Court of Appeals. Redistricting controversies have prompted litigation in venues such as the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina and appeals to the United States Supreme Court.

The Assembly enacts laws under the authority of the Constitution of South Carolina (1895) including budgeting via the Ways and Means process, taxation measures affecting interactions with the Internal Revenue Service and federal funding programs, and confirmations of gubernatorial appointments to posts like the South Carolina Public Service Commission and the South Carolina Ethics Commission. It also has impeachment powers echoing provisions in the United States Constitution and exercises oversight of state agencies, education systems connected to Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, and infrastructure projects like the Port of Charleston and interstate corridors such as Interstate 95 in South Carolina.

Sessions convene in the South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina, a complex that houses the South Carolina Senate chamber, the South Carolina House of Representatives chamber, legislative offices, and historic artifacts linked to the Civil War and figures such as Robert Mills and William Henry Gist. The Capitol grounds include monuments referencing the Secessionville battle, memorials to veterans of the World War II and the Korean War, and adjacent buildings like the South Carolina State Library and the South Carolina Archives and History Center.