Transparency in State Government

Let your State legislators know you want more roll call votes.

SOUTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY SHOULD CALL ROLL

Legislators must be held accountable for their choices, and South Carolinians deserve to know how their elected officials vote. Roll call voting is critical to ensuring open government. Voice votes keep citizens in the dark. In South Carolina, roll call voting in the General Assembly is the exception rather than the rule.

In 2008, when voting on passage of a General Bill or Joint Resolution:

• The South Carolina House of Representatives called roll 8 percent of the time
• The South Carolina Senate called roll 1 percent of the time
• On average, the South Carolina General Assembly called roll 5 percent of the time

Most states in the Southeast mandate roll call votes for their legislatures:

• Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi mandate roll call voting on final passage of all bills

• Tennessee requires roll call voting on every bill including bills making appropriations of public dollars

• North Carolina mandates roll call votes on second and third reading of revenue bills

• Currently, South Carolina mandates roll call voting only on elections by the General Assembly,
taking up the Governor’s vetoes, contested Supreme Court elections, removal of officers and
amendments to the state Constitution

House Bill 5019 was introduced in April. That bill, called the “2008 Spending Accountability Act” would have required a roll call vote for all bills with a fiscal impact. House lawmakers objected to immediate consideration of HB 5019, and the bill was diverted to the Ways and Means Committee where no action was taken.

Representative democracy depends upon citizens’ ability to hold their lawmakers accountable. State government spending has increased by 40 percent in just a few years. Citizens deserve to know when legislators vote to spend public money. They should call roll when they do it.

The link above will provide specific data on the last legislative session. Kudos to the South Carolina Policy Council for compiling this information.
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