For The Press and Standard
In February, the Municipal Association and County governments visited the State House for their respective legislative days. I was delighted to welcome Mayor Bill Young and City Council members Judy Bridge, James Broderick, and Carl Brown. I also had a chance to visit with County Council members, Bubba Trippe and Scott Biering. We were able to discuss issues of concern and budget needs for 2023-2024.
The House of Representatives has moved a great deal of legislation in the first 2 months of the session. Below is a summary of several important pieces of legislation that I voted for, and we have passed:
I was a co-sponsor of bill H.3197. This bill ensures school districts are protecting parental rights and engaging parents in the decision-making process. This is important as our schools need involved parents to best educate our children.
Additionally, the full House of Representatives - with my support - passed H.3728. This bill will ensure that our public education system is a fair and open system where instruction is without bias and includes a broad scope of history. I especially like that this bill does NOT create extra work for teachers but ensures that we have a transparent policy for teachers, parents, and students to maintain high quality education.
As a fierce defender of life, I proudly voted for passage of the Human Life Protection Act. This bill ensures that life is protected at conception. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House of Representative by a vote of 77-31.
H.3774 will allow a licensed physician to perform an abortion only in cases where a pregnancy results from incidents of rape or incest, when a fatal fetal anomaly is present, or when the life of the mother is at risk.
The bill explicitly protects contraception, in vitro fertilization [IVF], and other assistive reproduction technologies. In addition, biological fathers will be responsible for paying 50 percent of the birth mother’s pregnancy expenses from the time of conception as well as child support to be calculated from the date of conception. The bill now moves over to the Senate.
We also voted to affirm the constitutional right to bear arms. This bill mirrors the freedoms guaranteed by our founding fathers. It will provide more options for individuals and families to protect themselves. H.3594, the Second Amendment Preservation Act, passed the House with a landslide 90-30 vote. I voted for this bill so that South Carolinians who can lawfully own a firearm can freely exercise their constitutional rights.
This bill was developed with the help of SC’s top law enforcement officials to make it tougher on felons who carry guns. For any felon charged with unlawfully carrying a firearm, first-time violators could face up to 5 years in jail, second-time offenders would face 5 to 20 years, and third-time or more violators would face 10 to 30 years.
It is my honor to represent you, the citizens of District 97. Feel free to contact me at RobertRobbins@schouse.gov or 803-212-6973.
