The first regular session of the 121st South Carolina General Assembly adjourned Thursday, June 4, without reaching an agreement on a budget for the state’s next fiscal year.

The legislature will return to Columbia for a three-day special session starting June 16.

It is also expected to return later in June for a second special session to deal with vetoes and to determine how to use more than $300 million in state surplus funds.

Ethics reform is again in the hands of the Senate after the House voted overwhelmingly to overhaul ethics laws.

House Bill 3722 would give the State Ethics Commission authority to investigate legislators, would amend certain unconstitutional campaign finance definitions, and would remove a lobbyist employer’s ability to pay for American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) conventions.

The Judiciary Committee has reported the bill as favorable with an amendment to remove certain whistleblower protections.

The State Ethics Commission has a new attorney following the departure of Cathy Hazelwood to the Department of Education at the end of 2014.

Michael Burchstead is the commission’s new general counsel after leaving his post as an assistant attorney general under Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Hazelwood’s exit put on hold all hearings requiring an attorney, including a hearing regarding whether Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster accepted $72,200 in improper campaign contributions.

Gov. Nikki Haley and state House Speaker Jay Lucas are attempting to revive ethics reform after the Senate voted down a bill to overhaul ethics laws. Lucas expects the House to pass and send to the Senate an omnibus ethics bill combining several House bills previously passed separately.

House Bill 3722 would give the State Ethics Commission authority to investigate legislators, amend certain unconstitutional campaign finance definitions, and require additional transparency reporting by public officials.

Jay Jordan has won the Republican primary for the vacant seat in House District 63. Unofficial results have Jordan with 1,927 votes, Robby Hill with 1,076, and Elijah Jones with 517.

No Democrats filed to run in the special election on April 14, 2015.

The vacancy was created when Republican Kris Crawford resigned his seat a month after being elected unopposed to a fifth term.

Photo of the South Carolina Capitol Building by Nikopoley on Wikimedia Commons.

The Senate has voted down a bill to overhaul ethics laws. Senate Bill 1 failed by a 19 to 24 vote on Wednesday, February 11.

The main issue Senators could not agree on was whether lawmakers should be involved in the process of investigating themselves. The majority of senators believed an independent panel to investigate senators’ conduct solves a problem that does not exist.

The Senate still has a chance to consider a similar version of the bill passed unanimously by the House.

The State Ethics Commission is losing an influential attorney who was recently silenced by the commission’s director.

Attorney Cathy Hazelwood said she will leave the commission after 15 years of service to work at the Department of Education under Republican Superintendent-elect Molly Spearman.Hazelwood was a go-to source for interpretation of ethics laws and media frequently sought her expertise when ethics complaints were filed against public officials.

However, the commission recently created a policy to channel all media inquiries to the director, Herb Hayden.

The policy came close to a year after Hazelwood publically disagreed with Hayden over how to handle an ethics case involving Governor Nikki Haley.

The commission is advertising for a new attorney to fill the position.

Republican Rep. Kris Crawford has vacated his seat in House District 63, a month after being elected unopposed to a fifth term.

Crawford said the commute to the state capital and his professional duties as a physician were wearing him out.

The primary will be February 24, 2015, followed by a special election on April 14.

A state House study panel considering ethics reforms has endorsed legislation to remove lawmakers’ ability to police themselves on legal issues. A similar bill failed in the Senate during the last legislative session.

The draft proposal unanimously approved by the panel would create a new independent commission to investigate allegations against public officers. Opponents to last year’s proposal believed the measure to be unconstitutional since the state constitution explicitly requires the House and Senate to discipline their own members.

Additional ethics bills have been prefiled to increase lobbying fees, change reporting dates, and remedy the unconstitutional definition of “committee” for campaign finance purposes. The decision to push several separate bills rather than an overall ethics reform measure is a significant difference from last session.

The state’s Supreme Court has issued a stay allowing voters to choose a House District 114 candidate on November 4, as originally planned. The ruling suspends the recent decision by the State Election Commission to postpone the election for former House Speaker Bobby Harrell’s seat until December.

Although the vote will take place, there is still a possibility the results will not count. The court may rule on the underlying case by deciding to allow the results of Tuesday’s election or to throw out those results and side with the commission’s special election plan.

Independent candidate Tom Ervin suspended his campaign for governor this week and endorsed Democratic Sen. Vincent Sheheen. Ervin, a self-funded attorney and former judge, had the support of just 3.9 percent of likely voters, according to an October 1 Winthrop poll.

The poll also indicated Gov. Nikki Haley led Sheheen by a 43.6 percent to 33.6 percent margin. Haley, the state’s first female and Indian-American governor, beat Sheheen in 2010 with 51.4 percent of votes.

Days after election officials announced no special election would be needed to replace former House Speaker Bobby Harrell in House District 114, the State Election Commission unanimously voted to hold the special election.

The commission reversed the earlier ruling after Harrell submitted a signed affidavit contending he resigned on the nonpolitical grounds of family crisis, including the loss of his job after pleading guilty to ethics violations.

State law allows a political party additional time to field a new candidate if the party’s candidate steps down for nonpolitical reasons. If Democrats do not prevail on appeal, the Republican primary would take place on November 25, followed by a special election on December 9. If a runoff is necessary after the primary, the runoff would be December 9, with the special election pushed back to a date to be determined by the commission.

No special election will be held to replace former House Speaker Bobby Harrell in House District 114. Harrell, who recently pleaded guilty to ethics violations, will remain on the November 4 ballot, but will not be eligible to win the election.

The plea agreement requires Harrell to resign, not seek office for three years, and cooperate in other investigations. The race for House District 114 will be decided between Democrat Mary Tinkler and Green Party nominee Sue Edward.

A constitutional amendment on the November ballot to allow the adjutant general to be appointed has the support of both the Republican and Democratic parties. The adjutant general oversees the state’s National Guard and is currently an elected position held by Bob Livingston, an Army major general.

The parties have jointly launched “Troops Leading Troops,” a social media project encouraging voters to support the amendment.

The adjutant general position will be appointed by the governor beginning in January 2019, if the amendment passes. Party leaders believe the measure would take politics out of choosing the adjutant general and ensure officeholders are adequately qualified.