Acknowledging the direct linkage between the State's ability to sustain economic growth and the quality of its education systems, the legislature concentrated much of its initiative into the Education Accountability Act of 1998, a comprehensive legislative package designed to establish academic standards and to monitor compliance and performance.
The Act requires the establishment of detailed grade-level standards in specific subjects and requires assessment of students' and schools' success in meeting the standards. Performances are measured and reported annually both in terms of meeting standards and also in improving performance year-to-year.
The legislature also launched programs to ease the cost burden of post-secondary education and to induce South Carolina's high school graduates to remain in the State for their college education. The Legislative Incentives for Future Excellence (LIFE) scholarship program offers direct academic scholarships to qualified students. A program of tuition tax credits is available for those not qualifying under the LIFE program.
The State continued its commitment to providing tax relief for homeowners. During 1997-98, $276.973 million was returned to homeowners in the form of property tax exemptions. For the 1998-99 fiscal year, the General Assembly has provided for $292.651 million in tax relief under the residential property tax relief and homestead exemption programs.
The General Assembly adopted several significant health care insurance provisions addressing access to emergency medical care, broadening of health care benefits, and privacy of genetic information. One major initiative provided an additional $11 million in funding to be used for nursing home beds and for additional community long-term care services.
A further crackdown on driving under the influence of alcohol was adopted and directed toward youthful drivers. The new legislation takes a "zero tolerance" approach which makes it automatic that drivers under the age of 21 who test with a blood alcohol level of .02 or higher will have driving privileges suspended for three months. The legislature is also exploring modification of the State's current requirement that bars and restaurants use mini-bottles for the sale of alcoholic beverages. Such a change would require a Constitutional amendment and could be submitted for public vote in the year 2000.