This week in the South Carolina Statehouse, we have several opportunities to write to your lawmakers about bills affecting the rights of tenants, LGBTQ+ people, and academic faculty.
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Last week was an ugly week in the Statehouse. The House passed a bill (H. 4760) seeking to criminalize the medication abortions mifepristone and misoprostol, further endangering the lives of pregnant people in a state with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country. That bill now advances to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee.
Meanwhile a House committee voted to approve a school censorship bill (H. 4757) that would allow parents to exempt their children from any classroom instruction if it conflicts with their “beliefs or practices regarding sex, morality, or religion.” The bill would also forbid classroom lessons on "gender roles or stereotypes" unless a teacher gets parents’ permission five days in advance.
These bills are not laws yet. Please help us keep the pressure on. Here are some important hearings coming up this week.
A good bill for housing justice
On Tuesday, February 10, at 10:30 a.m. in Blatt Building Room 516, the House Domestic Relations, Business & Probate Law Subcommittee will consider House Bill 4270, which would remove eviction filings from public court records after a period of 6 years.
Having an eviction on your record shouldn’t be a permanent barrier to housing, but it currently functions like a “Scarlet E” for many tenants. In South Carolina, an eviction filing stays in the public court record for life, effectively locking people out of applications to rent housing from many corporate landlords. If you are interested in learning more about this bill and about housing justice issues across the state, check out the South Carolina Tenant Union.
This bill has bipartisan support. You can help advance this bill by writing in to the subcommittee at [email protected] or by contacting your state House representative and asking them to sign on as a co-sponsor. Don’t know your House rep’s name or contact information? You can look them up with the Find Your Legislators tool at scstatehouse.gov.
An erosion of academic freedom
On Tuesday, February 10, an hour-and-a-half after the House adjourns in Blatt Building Room 433, the House Higher Education Subcommittee will consider House Bill 4761, which would erode tenure protections at public colleges and universities.
Tenure is a policy that makes some senior faculty positions semi-permanent, protecting professors from political coercion. H. 4761 would require colleges to conduct a “post-tenure review” of each tenured faculty member every six years.
You can write to the subcommittee at [email protected]. Be sure to mention the bill number in the subject line. The subcommittee has set a deadline of Feb. 9 at 12:00 noon for submitting written comments.
Another bill targeting trans South Carolinians
In a state with no shortage of real problems to solve, some South Carolina lawmakers remain laser-focused on making life more difficult for transgender people.
On Thursday, February 12, at 9 a.m. in Gressette Building Room 105, the Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee will consider a bill (Senate Bill 162) that would make it impossible for transgender people to change the gender marker on their birth certificate.
Some transgender people opt to change the gender marker and name on their birth certificate so that their legal records and identification cards can match with their identity. Organizations like the Harriet Hancock Center in Columbia offer legal name and gender marker change programs to help people navigate the paperwork.
- 162would only allow changes to the gender on a birth certificate within 12 months of a person’s birth.It would also define “gender” in state law to reflect sex assigned at birth.
You can submit written comments about this bill to [email protected]. The subcommittee has set a deadline of Feb. 10 at 9 a.m. for submitting written comments.
