Title 2, General Assembly

There is created a permanent committee to conduct continuing studies of public and private services, programs, and facilities for the Aging in South Carolina and report its findings and recommendations annually to the General Assembly. Three members must be appointed from the Sen…

(A) There is hereby created a permanent Senate Operations and Management Committee composed of nine members of the Senate appointed by the President whose duties shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) management of the L. Marion Gressette Building and the Senate…

This chapter may be cited as "The South Carolina Federal and Other Funds Oversight Act".

Funds from the following sources are exempt from the requirements of this chapter: (1) general fund appropriations; (2) funds appropriated by a South Carolina local government; (3) nonstate funded research grants and contracts and federal financial aid, including work study, exce…

Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, all agencies and institutions of the State shall cooperate fully with the board in the implementation of this chapter.

If the board does not authorize an expenditure proposal then the proposal must be forwarded to the State Fiscal Accountability Authority for consideration. The authority may overturn the decision by the board and authorize the expenditures requested in the proposal if the authori…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Appropriations act" means the annual general appropriations act. (2) "Agency" means any state office, department, institution, board, commission, council, committee, or other entity of the executive, judicial, or legislative branch. (3) "Block grant"…

The General Assembly shall appropriate all anticipated federal and other funds for the operations of state agencies in the appropriations act and must include any conditions on the expenditure of these funds as part of the appropriations act, consistent with federal laws and regu…

(A) A state agency may receive and spend unanticipated federal funds, and funds from private foundations or industries, which are not included in the appropriations act, but state agencies must submit expenditure proposals to the board and receive authorization from the board bef…

(A) A state agency may spend "other" funds above the amount in the appropriations act and increases in anticipated federal programs if the expenditure of the funds receives the authorization of the board. (B) Authorizations under this section are subject to the following standard…

Agencies shall include estimates of research and student aid funds in the detailed budget statements required in Section 2-65-20 of this chapter. Agencies may not be required to submit the detailed programmatic and financial information required in Section 2-65-20(2) of this chap…

The Comptroller General shall account for and control expenditures of individual federally funded projects for all agencies using the Statewide Accounting and Reporting System. For continuing federal projects, the board shall certify to the Comptroller General the actual funds ap…

(A) All agencies receiving federal grants or contracts shall recover the maximum allowable indirect costs on those projects, subject to applicable federal laws and regulations. All indirect cost recoveries must be credited to the general fund of the State, with the exception of r…

(A) The General Assembly shall designate through the appropriations act an agency to operate each block grant. If a new block grant is approved by Congress after the appropriations act has been approved, it must be approved in accordance with the provisions of Section 2-65-30 (D)…

The board shall design and operate a state process for review and coordination of proposed federal financial assistance and direct federal development by state and local officials as required by Section 401(a) of the federal Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 and federal r…

(A) There is created the Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award which may be presented to no more than four recipients each year by the General Assembly. At the discretion of the awards advisory committee, an additional Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award may be presented to no …

This chapter must be known and may be cited as the "South Carolina Medal of Valor Act of 2012".

(A) There is created the South Carolina Medal of Valor to be awarded to a South Carolinian, or an individual with certain ties to South Carolina, who was killed either while serving in or deploying to a combat zone. The South Carolina Medal of Valor is awarded on behalf of the pe…

Every standing committee of the Senate and of the House of Representatives, in the discharge of its duties, including, but not limited to, the conducting of studies or investigations, is by majority vote of the committee authorized to issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum to …

Every joint study committee created by act or resolution of the General Assembly, in the discharge of its duties, including, but not limited to, the conducting of studies or investigations, is, by majority vote of the committee, authorized to request a standing committee of the S…

The committee, in the discharge of its duties, may administer oaths and affirmations, take depositions, and receive testimony and evidence as necessary in connection with its work, study, or investigation.

Subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum may only be issued upon a majority vote of the members of the committee, must be issued in the name of the committee, and must be signed by the committee chairman or the presiding officer who may administer oaths to witnesses. Subpoenas and sub…

Any person served with a subpoena or subpoena duces tecum may request that the committee issue a protective order, which revokes, limits, or otherwise modifies the subpoena or subpoena duces tecum in order to protect the legal rights of any person or entity. The committee may for…

In case of contumacy by any person or refusal to obey a subpoena, or to testify as directed by the committee, the court of common pleas, upon application of the General Assembly in the case of a joint study committee, or upon application of the Senate in the case of a standing co…

A good faith reliance by the party subject to the subpoena duces tecum, issued pursuant to this chapter is a defense to any action, civil or criminal, arising from the production of records, documents, or other tangible materials in response to the subpoena.

There is created the Research Centers of Excellence Review Board. The review board shall consist of eleven members. Of the eleven members, three must be appointed by the Governor, three must be appointed by the President of the Senate, three must be appointed by the Speaker of th…

(A) The review board may, at its discretion, permit the senior research universities to utilize a portion of the nonstate matching funds of any single award to pay for initial operating costs including, but not limited to, infrastructure improvement, purchase of equipment, and pa…

In addition to accepting and applying nonstate funds, as stipulated in Section 2-75-90(A), to meet the matching requirement of each state award, a senior research university may accept and apply cash equivalent and in-kind donations from nonstate sources. Such donations must dire…

The presidents of the senior research universities shall serve as ex officio nonvoting members of the board.

(A) There is created the Centers of Excellence Matching Endowment. The endowment must be funded annually by appropriations from the South Carolina Education Lottery Account in an amount equal to thirty million dollars annually, except that endowment appropriations may not be fund…

The senior research universities, individually, in conjunction with one or more other senior research universities or with other South Carolina higher education institutions, may make application for awards from the endowment as provided in this chapter.

(A) This chapter is known and may be cited as the "South Carolina Research Centers of Economic Excellence Act". (B) The General Assembly finds that: (1) it is in the public interest to create incentives for the senior research universities of South Carolina consisting of Clemson …

(A) An application for an award from the endowment shall: (1) provide to the review board documentation of private matching funds, on hand, in an amount equal to the amount for which application is made; (2) provide to the review board documentation that all matching funds have b…

Upon a determination by the board that the provisions of Section 2-75-50 have been met, the board must appoint a panel of experts chosen from outside South Carolina for their expertise in the respective research field to review the application. The members appointed to the panel …

Staff and support for the operations of the board and the panels must be provided by the Commission on Higher Education. The Commission on Higher Education shall approve all necessary funds for the prudent operation of the board, including per diem, subsistence, and mileage expen…

If any section, subsection, paragraph, subparagraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this chapter is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such holding shall not affect the constitutionality or validity of the remaining portions of this section, the General …

(A) To meet the endowed professorships matching requirement, a research university may use funds specifically provided for use in the areas provided in subsection (B) that are derived from private or federal government sources, excluding state appropriations to the institution, t…

The General Assembly finds that: (1) a significant part of the state mission in education has been to enhance excellence in higher education for low-income and educationally disadvantaged students; (2) certain institutions have played an integral role in offering higher education…

For purposes of this chapter: (1) "Eligible institution" means a four-year institution of higher learning or an institution of higher learning that is accredited to offer, and is actively offering, at least one nonsectarian program at the baccalaureate level: (a)(i) at which sixt…

(A) There is hereby established the South Carolina Higher Education Excellence Enhancement Program for the general purpose of enhancing the educational opportunities of low-income and educationally disadvantaged students. The program must be administered by the Commission on High…

(A) From amounts appropriated by the General Assembly, the commission must enter into contracts with eligible institutions that are certified by the commission for any of the following uses: (1) purchase, rental, or lease of scientific or laboratory equipment for educational purp…

Any funds paid to an eligible institution pursuant to this chapter but not expended or used for the purposes for which the funds were paid within three years following the date of the contract awarded to an eligible institution must be repaid to the Education Lottery Account imme…

The commission must promulgate regulations and establish procedures to administer the provisions of this chapter including, but not limited to, audits of contracting institutions.

This chapter may be cited as the "State Agency Deficit Prevention and Recognition Act".

It is the responsibility of each state agency, department, and institution to operate within the limits of appropriations set forth in the annual general appropriations act, appropriation acts, or joint resolution supplemental thereto, and any other approved expenditures of monie…

If at the end of each quarterly deficit monitoring review by the Executive Budget Office, it is determined by either the Executive Budget Office or a state agency, department, or institution that the likelihood of a deficit for the current fiscal year exists, the state agency sha…