By Herb Frazier  |  South Carolina car enthusiasts who are craving for a convenient way to buy an electric Tesla car in the state will have to keep waiting. A bill that would have allowed makers of new electric cars to sell their products directly to South Carolinians stalled this year at the Statehouse.

Automakers currently can’t sell new cars directly to South Carolina consumers without having a brick-and-mortar dealership in the state, according to state law. Rep. Mike Burns, R-Greenville, introduced a bill last year to make an exemption for electric vehicles. State Sens. Sandy Senn and Chip Campsen, both Charleston County Republicans, co-sponsored an electric car exemption in 2019 , but it also failed to garner debate. 

Burns’ proposed exemption didn’t mention Tesla Motors directly. Several Upstate residents complained to him they couldn’t buy a Tesla in South Carolina because of the law. Tesla currently sells its cars through company-owned sales centers, including those in Savannah and Charlotte. Traditional dealerships, however, are independently owned.

Burns told Statehouse Report that his constituents are “frustrated because there are no [Tesla] dealerships here. The way the law is written [buyers would] have to buy in a state that permits it then import it into South Carolina or buy it directly from the company and then import it in. They felt it was a hassle to do that.”

Although the bill didn’t spark interest in the last legislative session, Burns said “the landscape might be a little different when we go back (in session) next year” as more federal electric-car tax incentives gain traction.

There are slightly more than 11,000 electric cars registered in the state of which about 6,400 are Teslas, according to the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles (SCDMV). By comparison, more than 65,000 electric-gas hybrids are on the state’s highways.

With big automakers selling electric cars and hybrids, Burns said, “that takes some of the sting out of this problem because if you are interested in an electric vehicle, and not specifically a Tesla, then it gives (consumers) a place to shop.” Burn also filed a bill in the House to pilot placing one electric charging station along each of the state’s five interstate highways. That bill also didn’t get a hearing, but it has some interest in a Senate subcommittee, he added.

It is unknown how much revenue the state is losing because of the ban on direct sales of electric vehicles. Buyers pay 5% of a car’s price up to $500 as an infrastructure maintenance fee (IMF). That fee, which replaced a state vehicle sales tax five years ago when the state upped the state’s gasoline tax, goes to the state Department of Transportation, which maintains the roads, said Lauren Philips, SCDMV’s deputy director for legislative affairs. If a South Carolina buyer pays $200 in sales tax for an electric or gasoline-powered vehicle in another state, the buyer is charged $300, she said. If a buyer paid $500 in sales tax in another state, however, no fee is owed to South Carolina, she added.

The ban on new electric car sales directly to consumers is perhaps welcomed news for manufacturers who have business ties with traditional dealerships. Sims Floyd, executive vice president of the South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, did not answer several emails and phone calls from the Statehouse Report.

Chris Marquez, founder of the Facebook group Tesla Owners of Charleston SC, said, removing the direct sales ban should have bipartisan support in the legislature, but it has been “made political by local dealerships and the automobile association. Direct sales is an automobile industry disruption, and those in control fight the consumer, all while claiming to try and protect the consumer. The existing laws were never created to protect the consumer and there are regular examples of the dealership model hurting consumers and limiting competition.” 

Marquez said people in South Carolina are often dismayed and shocked to learn that direct sales and servicing of Teslas is illegal in the state. “Most people don’t even know this is a law,” he added.

Last year, a series of Senate amendments to the dealer-manufacturer law altered the sale of motor vehicles through a dealership. The amendments clarified and strengthened the prohibition on bypassing the dealership. For example, one change made it clear that a manufacturer could not directly lease to a customer. It also explicitly stipulated a manufacturer was not a dealer as defined in the law. 

Veteran South Carolina journalist Herb Frazier is special projects editor with the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment?  Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com

Staff reports  |  The S.C. Senate next week will take up a total abortion with exceptions that passed the House this week on a party-line vote.

On Tuesday, the S.C. House passed a new ban on abortion with two exclusions after a stronger version of the bill with no exceptions was rejected initially by eight votes.  Following complex procedural measures to save the proposal, anti-abortion lawmakers regrouped and the chamber voted 67-38 on a new ban with exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. Under the new proposal, which still needs approval by the state Senate, the exceptions are allowed for up to 12 weeks after conception. 

South Carolina currently has a fetal heartbeat ban after about six weeks with some exceptions.  But that law is under an injunction pending resolution of a court challenge.  In other words, South Carolina women can still get abortions in the Palmetto State pending adjudication of the case.

Next week, the Senate will go into a perfunctory session on Tuesday to accept the just-passed House bill and send it to the S.C. Medical Affairs Committee , which will discuss it at 10 am.  

On Wednesday, the full Senate is expected to take up the measure.  But it’s unclear whether it is assured as state GOP senators have been under a lot of pressure to slow down pending resolution of the court case on the fetal heartbeat ban.  

“There are a lot of signs that it [a total ban] is unpopular and could hurt them,” one South Carolina analyst observed.

For example, Republican and Democratic voters across the country have sent clear signals that abortion bans are unpopular.  In Kansas, voters recently rejected a proposal to strip abortion protections from its state constitution. In Alaska this week, a little-known Democrat beat former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin in a special election for a House vacancy.  It was the first time in 50 years a Democrat won the seat.

Biden urges Americans to protect democracy.  In a major prime time speech delivered Thursday, President Joe Biden urged Americans to continue fighting for democracy and accused Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump of embracing extremism.

Judge rejects Graham’s move to not testify in Georgia. A federal judge in Georgia again rejected an attempt by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to keep from testifying before a special grand jury looking into possible illegal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the Peach State.

CDC recommends new Covid boosters. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced that it encourages U.S. citizens to get the reformulated Covid booster. The new booster is supposed to attack the omicron subvariant that caused previous spikes earlier this year. Some shots are expected to be administered as early as this weekend.

The pandemic set back a decade of progress in education. Recent test scores from 9-year old children have revealed that the pandemic has significantly impacted a decades’ worth of progress in reading and math. These setbacks could have serious consequences for an entire generation of children.

S.C. named one of the states with highest student loan debt. South Carolina has been named one of the top states with the highest numbers of student loan debt in the country by an analyst at the Scholarship Institute. South Carolina ranked No. 5 with an average of $38,915 in student debt.

Gas prices decline heading into the weekend. Gas prices across the state have reached an average of $3.40 per gallon, with some areas dipping below the $3 mark. The decrease is nearly 20% down from July.

SCDOT gets $190 million in funding. The South Carolina Department of Transportation recently received an additional $190 million in federal funding for upcoming road projects. SCDOT said the money will be used on prioritized interstate, bridge, and safety projects that are already underway. 

Feds say court shouldn’t review Roof’s case. The death sentence of convicted murderer Dylann Roof in the 2015 racist slayings of nine worshippers at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston doesn’t merit review by the U.S. Supreme Court, federal prosecutors argued in a brief filed Thursday.

Insider’s Guide to CBD: More people turning to hemp. A detailed overview of CBD, a chemical made from industrial hemp that offers relaxation and relief for many. It’s being sold all over South Carolina. It’s related to marijuana, but different (including legally).

Cartoonist Robert Ariail often interprets things a little differently, but always has an interesting take on what’s going on in South Carolina.  Love the cartoon?  Hate it?  What do you think:  feedback@statehousereport.com .   

By Andy Brack   |  It was a dark day for Charleston in late February 1993 when U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings learned early that the Navy base in Charleston would be closed.  The official announcement wouldn’t come for two weeks, but Hollings immediately called a press conference.  

The people, he told me, deserved to know the truth as soon as possible.  Despite hard work by the community to keep the base off of the Navy’s closure list, he believed in the core of his being that his duty was more than just to share good news.  He had to deliver the bad, too, when it was bad.  That, he said, would let people prepare sooner for what was to come.

And so it is now with a Thursday speech by President Joe Biden in Philadelphia.  He delivered a major prime time address to the nation to let Americans know their democracy was under threat from people who live here who want to take away freedom and the fundamental power to vote.  

We’ve known it for a while.  We felt it as authoritarian rhetoric increased and dominated the political culture during the term of former President Donald Trump, an enabler in chief.  We saw the results of the single-minded pursuit of his quest to keep power in the terrible hours of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.  And now we see how Trump continues to thumb his nose at the peaceful transition of power and rule of law with the seizure of hundreds of top secret documents that he wasn’t supposed to have taken from the White House. 

And now, the current president is calling Trump and Make America Great Again Republicans to task for being a threat to freedom and democracy.  Biden’s done it nimbly before, dancing around the subject in his talk over the soul of America, but Thursday’s speech just as the 2022 election cycle ramps up was a one-two punch to the nose.  He couldn’t have been clearer.  And it’s about time:

“Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundation of our republic,” Biden said. “Now I want to be very, clear, very clear up front.  Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans are MAGA Republicans.  Not every Republican embraces the extreme ideology.  I know, because I’ve been able to work with these mainstream Republicans.”

But the former president and his diehard followers, Biden said, dominate and intimidate the leadership of the party.  

And in echoes of the kind of language his old friend Hollings used 29 years ago Biden said, “These are hard things, but I’m an American president, not a president of red America or blue America, but of all America.  And I believe it’s my duty, my duty, to level with you, to tell the truth no matter how difficult, no matter how painful.

“And here, in my view, is what is true: MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.  They do not believe in the rule of law.  They do not recognize the will of the people.  They refuse to accept the results of a free election and they’re working right now as I speak in state after state to give power to decide elections in America to partisans and cronies, empowering election deniers to undermine democracy itself.”

Extremists who want authoritarians in power want to take the country backwards. They wanted to nullify votes of 81 million Americans, Biden said.  They are a clear and present danger to the unifying democracy always enjoyed in the nation.

Biden urged Americans to unify and shed the hate and division of extremists in the November midterm elections.  We are not powerless.  We should not be bystanders.  

Challenge authoritarianism. Rise above fear. And take off those embarrassing red hats that reflect division.  In fact, throw them in the trash.  Instead, register a neighbor to vote and head to the polls in November to elect reasonable Republicans and Democrats.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper .  Have a comment?  Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com .

Statehouse Report is brought to you weekly at no cost thanks to our underwriters.  In the spotlight today is SC Clips, an affordable, daily information digest that provides you with the South Carolina news you need every business day.  Subscribers receive a daily email news round-up before 10 a.m. that provides a link to each day’s edition of SC Clips. 

Each issue ( click for sample ) provides a concise summary of dozens of the latest newspaper and television reports of news with statewide impact, politics, business and local stories. Readers also are linked to key opinions by South Carolina’s editorial writers.

This was a great story [ Road app puts $700,000 of power in your pocket ].  I tried it on my road which I know is in bad shape.  It came back at 275 inches per mile.  This is going to be a great tool for city and county Public Works departments to prioritize repairs if they want to utilize it.  

– Steve Willis, Lancaster, S.C.

Have a comment?  Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com .  Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification.  Letters are limited to 150 words.

Here’s an interesting perspective of a South Carolina boating scene.  What and where is it? Send your guess – and your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com .

Only three people guessed last week’s mystery photo, “Three holes,” which showed an architectural feature on a Charleston building at the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina.  Hats off to George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Curtis Joyner of Charleston; and Jay Altman of Columbia.

>> Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but  make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!)  Send to:  feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission.  Thanks.

Statehouse Report , founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided to you at no charge every Friday.

We’re proud to offer Statehouse Report for free.  For more than a dozen years, we’ve been the go-to place for insightful independent policy and political news and views in the Palmetto State. And we love it as much as you do.

But now, we can use your help .  If you’ve been thinking of contributing to Statehouse Report over the years, now would be a great time to contribute as we deal with the crisis.  In advance, thank you.

Now you can get a copy of editor and publisher Andy Brack’s We Can Do Better, South Carolina!  ($14.99) as a paperback or as a Kindle book ($7.99). . The book of essays offers incisive commentaries by editor and publisher Andy Brack on the American South, the common good, vexing problems for the Palmetto State and interesting South Carolina leaders.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Yes, add me to your mailing list.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.