Mandy Norell

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Mandy Powers Norrell is the State House’s Git ‘Er Done Gal

Representative Mandy Powers Norrell is an example of a politician that has their constituents’ interests front of mind in all that they do. Hailing from Lancaster, South Carolina, Norrell has proven to be the small town voice of reason within the State House.

Since first being elected in 2012, Rep. Norrell has demonstrated a commitment to helping some of the state’s most vulnerable populations through her efforts fighting domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking — a commitment that has solidified her reputation as someone who stands up for South Carolina.

We’ve written before about representatives who have built impressive bipartisan relationships while in Columbia, but none compare to the record of Rep. Norrell. As the Git ‘Er Done Gal of the State House, she has co-sponsored countless bipartisan bills, including H.4061 which requires education on sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention to be taught in South Carolina schools. Her record of successfully advocating for the safety and rights of the state’s girls and women even led her to be awarded Emerge SC’s Woman of the Year Award in 2019.

And in a year unlike any other, Rep. Norrell has remained as a consistent force for positive change. Just last month, Norrell led the fight to make voting safer for South Carolinians as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. The Lancaster representative introduced H.5305 which expands absentee voting for all voters under the State of Emergency excuse that was enacted over the summer for the state’s primaries. The bill additionally clarified the timeline of absentee voting and helped to demystify a process that often leaves voters in the dark.

Mandy Powers Norrell has fought hard for her district since her very first election in 2012, making it no surprise that she’s recognized by both sides of the aisle as one of our state’s best legislators. While she’s been in office for eight years now, she’s no career politician. She’s down-to-earth, humble, and a champion of the working people of Lancaster. With an outstanding record, Norrell deserves another term as District 44’s representative. Not only is she proven to be effective in the House at passing legislation that matters, the Lancaster native looks out for everyone in the Palmetto State without leaving her hometown roots behind.

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S.C. House Republicans Break the Rules to Force “Permitless Carry” Gun Bill through the House

On April 5th in a vote of 64-46 S.C. House Republicans shoved a bill (H. 3930) through the House to allow South Carolinians to carry guns concealed or open without permits. Though it is alarming that we could now have people strolling through our downtown areas (think Five Points)  with AK-47’s on their backs –with NO FIRE ARM SAFETY TRAINING, even more concerning is the gross abuse of rules they used to pass the bill!

After more than four hours debate on 2nd term abortion methods that took place on March 29th, Republicans moved to invoke “cloture” on House Bill 3930, before discussion of the bill even began!

That’s no way to represent anyone if you ask us. Cloture is a procedural motion which limits the debate to two hours – only one hour for opponents to speak against the bill, and one hour for proponents of the bill. In addition, cloture prevents any new amendments (changes) to the bill from being considered during the debate.

Of course cloture is mainly used by the Majority or Controlling party to limit debate on legislation.

But, the “sheisty” – most would say dirty – maneuvers to shepherd the bill through didn’t start on the House floor.

In fact, they started weeks prior on March 9th when House Republicans held a “surprise subcommittee meeting” for the bill on a Friday (the house convenes Tues-Thurs) giving the two Dems on the subcommittee (Representatives Smith and Norrell), who they knew would be traveling on Friday, less than 48 hours’ notice.

House Dems, who are more and more standing up to misguided GOP leadership, didn’t take the abuse of power lying down.

Representative James Smith sent Speaker Pro Tem Tommy Pope scrambling to the rule book when he made a motion that the bill be sent back to committee because it didn’t have the REQUIRED fiscal impact statement, and could cause a change in how State funds were directed.

So you know, fiscal impact statements are – a statement prepared by the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office that  provides the estimated expenditure costs and the estimated revenue impact to the General Assembly for proposed legislation. 

Back to our story – Pope appeared both frustrated and noticeably unprepared to counter the motion and after several minutes ruled the motion out of order with no real explanation. Really?!!! So forget the rules, and just make it up as you go…

About that rule…House Rules clearly state in section 5-13: “Each bill effecting the expenditures of money by the State shall, prior to receiving second reading, have attached to it in writing such comment of the appropriate state official or office as may appear appropriate regarding the bill’s effect on the finances of the State…Committee chairman shall satisfy these requirements of a fiscal impact statement prior to the bill receiving second reading.”

Seems clear to us…but the Speaker Pro-Tem had no qualms about breaking the rules and ignoring the valid point Smith raised that should’ve kept the bill from advancing…that is if you follow the rules. But we have witnessed Republicans lack of doing so over the years .

But again, GOP leadership knows best; even if ALL of the SC Law Enforcement community was against the bill.

The majority of Republicans in the House pushed this bill forward and now anyone in the State can carry a weapon on their hip at any time.

Sounds fun! Welcome to SC…make sure you’re packing at all times!!!