By Andy Brack | When legislators return to Columbia Tuesday, they’ll be drowning in work to do when the House and Senate gavels clack to open the 2022 session.
Not only do they have to deal with three different budgets, but they have to make sure to deal with reapportionment of legislative districts, set primary elections for 2022 and deal with an array of leftover questions from how to deal with mask mandates, education reform, tax fairness, medical marijuana and more.
“There’s not going to be a lot of time to take up more substantive things,” one state senator said.
On display in the midst of all of this will be a culture war that has ramped up in recent years.
“Whether it [a culture war] is real or perceived is up for debate,” said state Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Summerville. “But for many in our society, it is real and that can not be ignored. One thing is for sure: When beliefs are dismissed, it sets a battlefield. Worse, when one shows contempt for another or their ideas, there is no coming back from that.
↧