S.C. Senate Begins Legislative Session

From Sen. Hugh Leatherman

Today at noon, the regular session of the 118th General Assembly of South Carolina will convene. We have many important issues facing our state, but we will work together, Republican and Democrat alike, to pass legislation that will improve the lives of South Carolinians.

I urge you to stay involved with the legislative process. As your elected state senator, I depend on hearing your thoughts, ideas and concerns. And the more that I know about the different issues facing you, the better opportunity that we will have to work together to improve as a community. After all, I am in Columbia for one reason – to represent the families of the Pee Dee region.

One issue that I have heard from many of you about and one that I have dedicated a lot of time to during the interim is the reformation of the state’s tax code. Earlier last month, I prefiled legislation that creates an 11 member commission, comprised of individuals who have extensive experience with public finance, tax administration, economics and tax law.

The South Carolina Taxation Realignment Commission (TRAC) will fully investigate the current effectiveness of the current tax system’s structure, as well as looking at the impacts of any proposed changes effecting tax revenues, while examining the assessment of state taxes currently levied. In addition, the TRAC will look at sales tax exemptions to examine which need to be retained, modified or repealed.

It is my hope the work of this commission will bring forth recommendations of a more understandable and user friendly tax system for our state.

Once again, if I can ever be of any assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.