State House Update: Senate Briefing, Conservation Bank, and Shoreline Protection
Whew. The State House will be bustling this second week of session with events and legislative action in both the House and the Senate.
The Conservation Bank: This week, Rep. Bingham will introduce a Conservation Bank bill, mirroring Senator Campsen’s bill in the Senate (S.519). This bill will eliminate the sunset, improve the death clause, and increase funding by .05 cents (as recommended by the Wetlands Task Force). Thank you to our bill sponsors and numerous co-sponsors for supporting the conservation of special places in South Carolina. We also appreciate that the DNR Board supports both the Campsen and Bingham bills.
Shoreline Management: The Senate will have a chance this week to restore the permanent baseline language to S.139 from DHEC’s Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) on Shoreline Management’s recommendations. We’ve been talking about setting a permanent baseline to limit seaward development on our shoreline for several Years — and it’s finally time to act. We thank Senator Cleary for pushing for a permanent baseline in keeping with the BRC’s recommendations.
Finally, we hope you can join the Conservation Coalition on Wednesday, Jan. 20th at 10 am in 105 Gressette as Senators Courson and McElveeen host this Year’s Conversations with Conservationists Senate Briefing. Presentations include: Shoreline Management, Conservation Bank, Citizen Rights to Clean Air & Clean Water/Pinewood, Offshore Drilling, and Infrastructure Reform.
CVSC will also host a legislative kick-off party that night from 5-7 at the Blue Marlin’s Vista Room. We hope you’ll join us to toast to a good Year for conservation issues at the State House.