State Bill of the Month — December 2023: South Carolina HB 4643

TPA’s State Bill of the Month for December 2023 is South Carolina’s HB4643, which would require county councils to develop and update a searchable budget database website, and to provide that certain council meetings be made available to the public via a livestream. The bill was introduced by State Rep. Melissa Oremus (SC-84). This legislation would require counties to create a budget database website for county expenditures, and to livestream and record future county council meetings.

Background:

State open meetings laws have been updated since their inception. Laws requiring city and county budgetary and meeting proceedings to be livestreamed are less common. New York was the 50^th state in the country to pass an open meetings law in 1976. In June 2023, a study found that 77% of counties were not livestreaming their public meetings. Local government public policy across the country tends to affects voters more directly on a day-to-day basis. It is important for those constituents to have a mechanism to hold their local public officials accountable.

HB4643 is now in the South Carolina’s House Committee on Ways and Means.

South Carolina legislators are fighting to increase transparency for taxpayers at the county level. As the saying goes, sunshine is the best disinfectant. Increasing transparency among local governing bodies ensures public officials are held accountable by their constituents. 

HB4643:

HB4643 would require county councils to establish a budget database for taxpayer use. Furthermore, the legislation would require certain county council meetings to be recorded and livestreamed, and to keep an archive of those recordings for taxpayers’ benefit. This is a common practice at the federal and state level and is becoming increasingly common among municipal and county governing bodies across the country. 

This is why TPA is proud to make HB4643, introduced by State Rep. Melissa Oremus (SC-84), its Bill of the Month for December 2023.