Confederate Flag SC, S.C lawmakers are confident a bill to remove the Confederate flag from the State House grounds could reach Gov. Nikki Haley's desk by the end of next week, several said Tuesday.
The Legislature reconvenes Monday.
Lawmakers expect the Senate to give final approval to a flag-removal bill - sponsored by state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw - by Tuesday. The House then could push Sheheen's proposal to Haley by Thursday.
The bill takes effect with the signature of the governor, who called for moving the flag last week.
"It doesn't have to take several weeks to do this," said House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville.
But some serious hurdles could slow the debate, re-ignited after nine African-American parishioners were gunned down June 17 while attending a Bible study at a historic Charleston African-American church.
In a statement a week ago, House Speaker Jay Lucas said he would refer flag bills to the House Judiciary Committee "where they will go through the appropriate process." That could add weeks to the deliberations.
Lucas' office did not address Tuesday if the Darlington Republican would support allowing flag bills to go straight to the House floor. The speaker "is confident that a swift resolution will be reached," said a spokeswoman for Lucas, who has not shared his opinion on removing the flag.
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, said Tuesday that delaying a vote only would increase the chances of violence over the flag.
One man was arrested Monday night after pro- and anti-flag protestors clashed at the State House. Also on the Capitol grounds, a vandal threw a red paint-filled balloon Tuesday at the statue of Ben Tillman, a white supremacist who was a governor and U.S. senator.
"It's July and hot, and the world is watching," Rutherford said. "It will only get worse. If we don't act, we are encouraging problems."
Rutherford said he expects Lucas will not delay action on flag.
Last week, the 123-member House voted 103-10 and the 45-member state Senate voted 42-3 to debate the flag. Those overwhelming votes - and subsequent polls of lawmakers by news outlets - indicate there is the two-thirds support required in the House and Senate to take down the flag.
"The speaker works for the body," Rutherford said. "I don't know of a single member who wants to talk all day on this."
Bannister said he expects the House to take up the Senate proposal once it comes across the State House lobby.
The House can wait for the Senate bill.
The House will vote Monday on 87 budget vetoes that Haley unveiled publicly Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Senate plans to meet Monday to consider Sheheen's flag bill, taking the crucial second of three votes required for the measure to move out of that chamber to the House.
Passage out of the Senate is expected even though Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman has not signaled his opinion on the issue. The Florence Republican said Tuesday that South Carolinians will learn his position when he casts a vote.
Flag-removal supporters may have averted a potential obstacle in the Senate.
State Sen. Lee Bright, a Spartanburg Republican who has started an online petition to keep the flag on the State House grounds, said Tuesday that he has no plans to filibuster Sheheen's move-the-flag bill.
Bright said does want people to understand that not all people see the Confederate flag as a symbol for hate, adding: "I hate how these creeps have misused these emblems."
Accused church shooter Dylann Roof was photographed holding the Confederate flag. Roof's friends say he wanted to start a race war.
Bright said he would introduce two amendments to Sheheen's bill, one to let South Carolinians vote on removing the Confederate battle flag and another to stiffen penalties for defacing State House monuments.
Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, said he plans to introduce an amendment to fly the South Carolina state flag in place of the battle flag next to the Confederate soldiers' memorial.
"The South Carolina flag shows how we have come together as a state after (the shootings)," said Courson, who backs moving the flag.
Sheheen's bill, however, would remove the flagpole. The Democrat's bill would move the flag to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, located at the State Museum, a mile away from the State House.
State Rep. Kenny Bingham - a Lexington Republican who supports moving the flag, saying it has become a distraction - said he would like to see the Civil War banner taken down in a way that honors those who fought "for their government at their time."
The battle flag was removed from the Capitol dome by Citadel cadets in 2000 and raised in front of the Confederate soldiers' memorial by a color guard of re-enactors before a crowd of 3,000.
"It was put up in an honorable way, and that's the way it needs to be done," Bingham said, referring to the flag's removal.
Haley's office did not address Tuesday whether the governor has an opinion on a ceremony to remove the Confederate flag or whether another flag should be flown on at the flag pole near the soldiers' memorial.
"Gov. Haley remains focused on working with legislators to remove the flag from the grounds, healing our state and moving forward," press secretary Chaney Adams said.
The Legislature reconvenes Monday.
Lawmakers expect the Senate to give final approval to a flag-removal bill - sponsored by state Sen. Vincent Sheheen, D-Kershaw - by Tuesday. The House then could push Sheheen's proposal to Haley by Thursday.
The bill takes effect with the signature of the governor, who called for moving the flag last week.
"It doesn't have to take several weeks to do this," said House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville.
But some serious hurdles could slow the debate, re-ignited after nine African-American parishioners were gunned down June 17 while attending a Bible study at a historic Charleston African-American church.
In a statement a week ago, House Speaker Jay Lucas said he would refer flag bills to the House Judiciary Committee "where they will go through the appropriate process." That could add weeks to the deliberations.
Lucas' office did not address Tuesday if the Darlington Republican would support allowing flag bills to go straight to the House floor. The speaker "is confident that a swift resolution will be reached," said a spokeswoman for Lucas, who has not shared his opinion on removing the flag.
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, said Tuesday that delaying a vote only would increase the chances of violence over the flag.
One man was arrested Monday night after pro- and anti-flag protestors clashed at the State House. Also on the Capitol grounds, a vandal threw a red paint-filled balloon Tuesday at the statue of Ben Tillman, a white supremacist who was a governor and U.S. senator.
"It's July and hot, and the world is watching," Rutherford said. "It will only get worse. If we don't act, we are encouraging problems."
Rutherford said he expects Lucas will not delay action on flag.
Last week, the 123-member House voted 103-10 and the 45-member state Senate voted 42-3 to debate the flag. Those overwhelming votes - and subsequent polls of lawmakers by news outlets - indicate there is the two-thirds support required in the House and Senate to take down the flag.
"The speaker works for the body," Rutherford said. "I don't know of a single member who wants to talk all day on this."
Bannister said he expects the House to take up the Senate proposal once it comes across the State House lobby.
The House can wait for the Senate bill.
The House will vote Monday on 87 budget vetoes that Haley unveiled publicly Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Senate plans to meet Monday to consider Sheheen's flag bill, taking the crucial second of three votes required for the measure to move out of that chamber to the House.
Passage out of the Senate is expected even though Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman has not signaled his opinion on the issue. The Florence Republican said Tuesday that South Carolinians will learn his position when he casts a vote.
Flag-removal supporters may have averted a potential obstacle in the Senate.
State Sen. Lee Bright, a Spartanburg Republican who has started an online petition to keep the flag on the State House grounds, said Tuesday that he has no plans to filibuster Sheheen's move-the-flag bill.
Bright said does want people to understand that not all people see the Confederate flag as a symbol for hate, adding: "I hate how these creeps have misused these emblems."
Accused church shooter Dylann Roof was photographed holding the Confederate flag. Roof's friends say he wanted to start a race war.
Bright said he would introduce two amendments to Sheheen's bill, one to let South Carolinians vote on removing the Confederate battle flag and another to stiffen penalties for defacing State House monuments.
Sen. John Courson, R-Richland, said he plans to introduce an amendment to fly the South Carolina state flag in place of the battle flag next to the Confederate soldiers' memorial.
"The South Carolina flag shows how we have come together as a state after (the shootings)," said Courson, who backs moving the flag.
Sheheen's bill, however, would remove the flagpole. The Democrat's bill would move the flag to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, located at the State Museum, a mile away from the State House.
State Rep. Kenny Bingham - a Lexington Republican who supports moving the flag, saying it has become a distraction - said he would like to see the Civil War banner taken down in a way that honors those who fought "for their government at their time."
The battle flag was removed from the Capitol dome by Citadel cadets in 2000 and raised in front of the Confederate soldiers' memorial by a color guard of re-enactors before a crowd of 3,000.
"It was put up in an honorable way, and that's the way it needs to be done," Bingham said, referring to the flag's removal.
Haley's office did not address Tuesday whether the governor has an opinion on a ceremony to remove the Confederate flag or whether another flag should be flown on at the flag pole near the soldiers' memorial.
"Gov. Haley remains focused on working with legislators to remove the flag from the grounds, healing our state and moving forward," press secretary Chaney Adams said.
Blogger Comment
Facebook Comment