For complete analysis by Home School Legal Defense Assocation about pending legislation affecting home schooling click on the state and federal links below.

Click here for Federal Legislation for updates about congressional bills and related activity.

Last updated 12 January 12

The first regular session of the 119th South Carolina General Assembly convened Tuesday, January 11, 2011. However, prefiling began on December 1. SCHEA will monitor all bills introduced in both the House and the Senate throughout this legislative session. Because this is the beginning of a new two year session, any bill introduced now has until May of 2012 to pass. Please check back often as we will attempt to keep this page current. If a bill requires action on the part of home schoolers, SCHEA will send an alert to its membership. If you have any questions about the bills, please feel free to contact SCHEA here. If you do not know who your representative is, go to www.votesmart.org and type in your zip code. You can find all the contact information there for your representative and senator.
	H 4547 H 4576 This is another version of the Educational Opportunity bills we have seen in the past. These bills would allow up to $2000 per student income tax credit for homeschool expenses.
	H 3014 Increases the number of units required for a state high school diploma to twenty, designates a twenty-four credit diploma as an advanced diploma It is still in committee with no action.
	H 3064 Would allow a state income tax credit for a taxpayer who sends his child to private school or home schools his child in an amount equal to one hundred dollars per child to be used for books and supplies. It is still in committee and will probably not move.
	S 562 H 3164 Relates school attendance with the issuance or reinstatement of a beginner's permit, conditional driver's license, special restricted driver's license, and a regular driver's license issued to a person less than eighteen years of age. The wording has been changed so it will not affect the method home schoolers use in reporting attendance. The House bill passed May 19, 2011 and is in Senate committee. The Senate companion version is still in committee. If the House bill continues through, the Senate version will be left alone. This is not a particularly good bill and we will continue to watch it carefully.
	H 4585 & S149 & S171 Would enact the "Equal Access To Interscholastic Activities Act" so as to permit home school students, Governor's School students, and charter school students to participate in interscholastic activities of the school district in which the student resides under certain conditions. All of these bills are still in committee.
	S217 H 3244 Provide that a child must attend school until he attains the age of eighteen, graduates from high school, or receives a high school equivalency diploma; (The Senate version has slightly better wording than the House bill.) They are both still in committee.

When contacting legislators, we all tend to use email. At times, that is a good method. However, according to their own accounts, legislators don’t tend to read their mass amounts of email and give it the consideration that they do to phone calls and letters. Several confirmed that their first choice is a phone call and their second choice is a letter (in a #10 envelope, handwritten address). They also made sure to make it clear that they really do want feedback and people to contact them, but in the above manner.