COLUMBIA, S.C. — If a group of South Carolina lawmakers have their way, additional state regulatory relief will makes its way to small businesses across the state.
The South Carolina House went virtual on Monday as they held the first meeting of the COVID-19 Small Business Regulatory Relief Committee.
The group of five lawmakers, appointed to the Committee, will meet every Monday this month to decide ways to help the state's small businesses get back on their feet, according to the Chairman during the meeting.
“96 percent of the employers in this state are small businesses. So, they're massive as far as the number's concerned, 324,000 to 328,000 businesses in the state of South Carolina. So, we have to do what we can to make that happen,” said Chairman Jeff Bradley during the meeting.
Bradley continued, asking the other committee members to talk to small businesses in their communities about their challenges moving forward.
Richland County Representative Seth Rose said some hazards are already clear.
“The two biggest concerns are one, a lack of demand and two, how are they going to cover payroll? So the biggest issue for me while serving on this committee is how do we instill confidence and address those two concerns?” Rose said in a phone call with WLTX.
Rose asked the committee to consider the same concerns during the meeting.
Other ideas suggested during the virtual meeting included allowing local government to use hospitality taxes for COVID-relief.
The change to state tax law would require lawmakers’ consent, and Rose said he would only want the relaxed hospitality tax rules to apply during emergency declarations.
The group also discussed using the state’s resources to supply protective gear to businesses, business license reform, and allowing e-notarization in the state.
Representative Leola Robinson added the state would need more testing to open its businesses confidently.
“And the people have to be tested, because with testing we can identify those individuals who have been infected. And if we can identify them we can treat them but more importantly we can curve the dangerous spread, deadly spread of this disease,” Robinson said near the end of the call.
The virtual meeting was a sign of the times as lawmakers have had an extended recess for about a month due to the virus.
Lawmakers are expected to return to the State House in person on May 12 to decide a continuing resolution on the budget and how, and if, they'll come back after session would've regularly ended.
An attempt to pass a continuing resolution in early April was unsuccessful, so lawmakers will have to try again.
The Committee’s next meeting will be Monday, May 11.