It has been brought to my attention that I have not sent out a legislative update lately and some people have missed receiving those.

Back in June, I was asked to serve as chairman of a House Republican Caucus commitee whose purpose was to study tax reform and develop recommendations for our Caucus agenda.

Since the beginning of August, we have had eight meetings in Columbia with four of those meetings happening in the last four weeks. We had three public meetings where we heard from tax reform groups, economists and CPAs. We then continued with private meetings so that we could openly discuss options.

I have purposely not published details of these meetings out of respect to the other committee members and the Caucus. Once we make our recommendations to the Caucus, they will determine whether or not to make them official agenda items.

It should be noted that the eighteen members of the committee have dedicated a lot of time during our “off” season to this issue – and they did it without mileage or expense reimbursement.

Personally, my time spent on this subject has been very beneficial. I have studied the tax reform studies from several states along with our own TRAC report. It has been a great learning experience and I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as chairman.

After the Session ends, those of us who have jobs have to catch up on work which explains why I have not been making regular updates. However, that does not mean that I have not been busy on the political front. Below are a couple of committees that I am involved with -

Caucus Tax Reform Advisory Committee

 The House Republican Caucus formed a committee this summer to make tax reform recommendations for next year’s agenda. Eighteen members make up the committee with me as the chairman.

 We have had three public meetings to date with tax reform groups and CPA’s. I have asked the members to review the TRAC report. I have also supplied them with similar reports from other states so that we can understand what other approaches to tax reform are being considered. We will be hearing from two economists before we form our recommendations. I have put great effort into building the necessary foundation for each member to be able to address a very complex subject.

 I have not commented specifically on what recommendations that the committee might possibly make. We expect to make a report to the Caucus by December.

 House Pension Review Committee

 Though I am not a member of the Ways & Means Committee, I have been sitting in on their ad-hoc committee meetings to study the state retirement system. As the owner of a pension compliance firm, I actually have some understanding of the problems facing the system.

 Currently the system is $17 billion underfunded which means that reforms must be made sooner rather than later. We expect to review several recommendations from the plan’s consulting actuaries this October.

The 2011 legislative session finally came to an end this week after the House and Senate put the finishing touches on a Congressional redistricting plan that adds a 7^th Congressional District to our state.

First, a little history and background.

Every 10 years, the General Assembly must re-draw the House, Senate, and Congressional districts based on the U.S. Census data. This year, the Census Bureau determined that South Carolina’s population grew enough to get a 7^th Congressional District – something our state has not had since 1933. (The final holder of the seat was Hampton Fulmer, the then-Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.)

South Carolina also had 8^th and 9^th Congressional districts before the Civil War. The Census Bureau notified us late last year that it would re-establish the 7^th District, sparking the debate as to where to put the new district. Most of the state’s growth over the last several years was centered along the coast – in particular the area in and around Myrtle Beach. House Republicans believed from the beginning that a Horry-Florence-Pee Dee-centered district made the most sense.

A small group of Senate Republicans disagreed and succeeded in drawing a Senate plan with the district centered near Beaufort that could have thrown the Congressional map to a panel of Federal judges that would have been tasked to draw our Congressional districts.

The compromise approved this week came after months of public input and work put in by state lawmakers. This compromise took the House and Senate plans into consideration – along with the extensive input offered by the public and our Congressional Delegation– to formulate a compromise that best represented our entire state. 

House Speaker Bobby Harrell said in a statement this week: “This plan is fair, legally sound and truly represents the will of our citizens and communities of interest around our state.”

Since the House Judiciary Committee first started working on redistricting, the House worked hard to have the most inclusive, responsive and transparent redistricting process our state has ever gone through.  House members and the public had multiple chances to weigh in on the debate throughout the process.

The Congressional plan now goes to Governor Nikki Haley’s desk for her signature – her spokesman said this week that she would sign the plan.

We are confident that the new district drawn will also be a conservative Republican district. An independent demographer wrote this week that “it is my opinion that the new 7^th District as drawn in the compromise plan reflects the most conservative demographics to ensure the best opportunity to elect additional Republicans.”

The state House of Representatives plan approved last month, and signed by Governor Haley, creates four new districts located in Berkeley, Horry, Beaufort, and York counties. Four districts – 2 Republican, 2 Democrat – were “collapsed” to accommodate those new districts.

One final note on redistricting: The addition of a Congressional seat also increases South Carolina’s influence in the presidential election since delegates to the Electoral College are based on the number of Congressmen and Senators from a particular state. We will grow from 8 to 9 electoral votes in the 2012 election. States consistently won by Republicans in the last decade will gain a total of 6 electoral votes.