Bill Text: SC H5144 | 2011-2012 | 119th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Use state-funded transportation or security by public officials
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-04-19 - Referred to Committee on Judiciary [H5144 Detail]
Download: South_Carolina-2011-H5144-Introduced.html
A BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 8-13-180 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A PUBLIC OFFICIAL MUST NOT USE STATE-FUNDED TRANSPORTATION OR SECURITY PERSONNEL FOR OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL; TO REQUIRE PUBLIC OFFICIALS WHO USE STATE-FUNDED TRANSPORTATION OR SECURITY PERSONNEL FOR OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL TO QUARTERLY REPORT THIS USE THROUGH THE ONLINE ETHICS DISCLOSURE SYSTEM; TO REQUIRE THE ETHICS COMMISSION AND ETHICS COMMITTEES, AS APPLICABLE, TO REVIEW THESE DISCLOSURES AND IF THE COMMISSION OR COMMITTEE FINDS THAT THE OUT-OF-STATE TRAVEL WAS NOT NECESSARY FOR THE PROPER EXECUTION OF OFFICIAL STATE BUSINESS, THE PUBLIC OFFICIAL SHALL REIMBURSE THE STATE FOR THESE EXPENSES, WITH INTEREST.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 13, Title 8 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 8-13-180. (A) A public official must not utilize state-funded transportation or state-funded security personnel, or both, including State Law Enforcement Division personnel, to travel outside the geographic boundaries of this State except in the necessary and proper execution of official state business.
(B) If a public official uses state-funded transportation or security personnel, or both, to travel outside the geographic boundaries of the State, the public official quarterly shall disclose through the online ethics disclosure system the dates, locations, fiscal impact, and the purposes of the out-of-state travel and the use to which the state-funded transportation and security personnel were put.
(C) The ethics commission or the House of Representatives or Senate Ethics Committee, as applicable, shall review the quarterly disclosures filed pursuant to subsection (B). If the ethics commission or ethics committee determines that the state-funded transportation or security personnel, or both, were not necessary to the proper execution of official state business, the public official shall reimburse the State for the amount of the fiscal impact of the state-funded travel and security personnel, plus interest calculated at a rate equal to the rate of inflation."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
