Push for hate crime bill isn’t top priority for SC business leaders in 2023, upsetting Democrats
The S.C. Chamber of Commerce is easing up on its push for a controversial piece of legislation that would create harsher penalties for people who commit hate crimes, to the disappointment of some Democratic lawmakers.
The Chamber has removed support for hate crime legislation as a direct item on its legislative agenda this year, although having strongly advocated for the measure in recent years.
Instead, Chamber officials have consolidated the organization’s drive for hate crime legislation under a new legislative priority: economic competitiveness.
“We still support the hate crimes bill,” said Bob Morgan, president and CEO of the S.C. Chamber of Commerce. “But as we look at its prospects, you have to determine what is a point of emphasis, and the opportunity for us is best as it relates to workforce and tax reform.”
But some members of the state’s Democratic caucus expressed disappointment in the move.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job as the minority leader … if I didn’t say that I’m a little disappointed in you for failing to keep the hate crimes legislation on your legislative agenda,” said state Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, during the Chamber’s Business Speaks event last week.
Hate crime laws enhance the penalty for people who commit crimes based on a person’s protected status ⏤ race, age, gender, etc.
South Carolina is now one of only two states that does not have any kind of hate crime law on the books, alongside Wyoming.
Previously, some Democratic lawmakers felt there would be more support from Republicans for passing hate crime legislation last year, thanks to support from the business community.
In the Chamber’s latest competitiveness agenda, which is an outline of its legislative priorities, workforce development, tax reform and economic competitiveness were three of the five goals highlighted.
“As we talk about economic competitiveness in South Carolina and making sure we are a welcoming environment for business and individuals to come to our state, hate crime legislation would fall under that category,” said Will Frierson, vice president of government affairs at the Chamber.
A contentious debate
For years, Republican lawmakers have resisted passing hate crime legislation, saying that federal hate crime laws are sufficient and that South Carolina doesn’t need to add any new laws to the books. Others have said all people should be protected equally under the law, and hate crime enhancements only apply to certain kinds of victims.
Following the 2015 shooting deaths of Walter Scott in North Charleston and nine others at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, said he made a commitment to the victims’ families that he would keep pushing for hate crime legislation.
“When you look at the history of South Carolina, we really should’ve been the first out the gate with a hate crime law,” Gilliard said, adding that the Chamber should’ve continued to follow through in its support for hate crime legislation.
The state House was successful last year in passing hate crime legislation, but the measure ultimately died in the Senate.
“The irony of all this is that when the (bill) sailed through the House, I was elated, but I would have never fathomed that it would get stuck in the Senate considering they had lost one of their own in 2015,” Gilliard said, referencing the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a state senator, who was among the nine who were killed at Emanuel AME.
Republican House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Weston Newton, R-Beaufort, recently told reporters that hate crime legislation this year would depend on where Senate and House Republicans currently are on the issue.
“I still think it’s important that South Carolina send a message that we don’t tolerate that kind of (hate crime) activity in South Carolina,” he said.
Just before the start of last year’s legislative session, the Chamber and more than 80 business leaders from across the state called on lawmakers to pass hate crime legislation. The endorsement came on the heels of a tumultuous year, when protesters took to the streets in cities across America, including Columbia, to call for social justice and equity following the death of George Floyd, a black Minneapolis man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck. That movement drew the attention of business and chamber leaders.
But now that attention appears to have waned.
“Once you start a movement, you have to see it through fruition,” Gilliard said of the Chamber’s decision to drop its push for hate crime legislation. “We can’t stand by idly and watch these hate crimes continue to happen.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 10:57 AM with the headline "Push for hate crime bill isn’t top priority for SC business leaders in 2023, upsetting Democrats."
