If this bill touches the power, why is it too much trouble to remove it?
House Bill 4189 is claimed to be a "technical clean-up" But, yikes, this bill is about a 286-page bill that rewrites law across more than twenty titles of the South Carolina Code. It is the second phase of a process started by Act 60 of 2023, which split DHEC into two new agencies the Department of Public Health and the Department of Environmental Services.
While the stated purpose of H.4189 is to update the law by replacing the name "DHEC" with the new agency names, the bill does far more. It preserves and reassigns sweeping government powers, including emergency health powers [Title 44, Chapter 4, Sections 44-4-500 through 44-4-570], like forced quarantine, isolation, and vaccination authority, without ever questioning whether those powers should exist in the first place. The 3M committee members had the opportunity to repeal these powers during the committee hearing on April 23. An amendment was offered to strike the sections that authorize unelected officials to administer medicine without consent, impose quarantine orders for violating isolation directives without a full trial.
Hold up! An amendment to repeal laws? Yeah, finally! Thank you, Representative Beach!
Unfortunately, during the hearing, after the amendment was offered and explained, the excuses for not adopting it quickly began. Ready for them? Here they are.
The bill is only transferring authority, not creating new powers. (Transferring bad powers is still preserving bad powers.)
Civil liberties are already protected by due process and the right to court review. (In real life, by the time you get your day in court, the damage is already done. You can't undo forced isolation, a shot given under pressure, or lost freedoms.)
Individuals can petition the court for a hearing after being isolated or quarantined. (Afterward doesn’t fix being taken out of work, school, or your home immediately by government order. Suing later doesn’t erase the harm.)
A separate bill could be filed later to address concerns about emergency powers. (There’s no guarantee a repeal bill will pass.)
Lawmakers didn't want to "Christmas tree" the bill with amendments. (Fixing abusive government power isn’t decorating a tree, it’s the very purpose of legislating.)
The powers were already transferred by Act 60 of 2023, so they must continue the process. (Just because a mistake was made once doesn't mean it must be repeated. Lawmakers have the duty to correct wrongs.)
Most quarantine orders are voluntary anyway. (That only proves the dangerous authority isn't needed. If most people comply voluntarily, why keep the legal ability to force and punish?)
Mistakes made during COVID were "good faith efforts," so we should move on. (Moving on without fixing the law ensures those mistakes will happen again.)
(Link to th hearing on Wed, April 23, 2025)
Despite recognizing the immense scope of these powers, the majority quickly moved to table the amendment that sought to repeal them. They justified their action by stating that they intended to address civil liberty concerns in a separate bill at a later time. This response avoided dealing with the core issue during the restructuring itself, effectively preserving the powers under the new agencies.
This bill is not harmless. It demonstrates clearly how deeply the state's agencies are embedded into nearly every aspect of life - - health, education, property, water, business, and even marriage law. Once concentrated under DHEC, these powers are now divided between two agencies, not eliminated. The reach is massive, the control is real, and authority remains untouched.
There was finally an opportunity to uproot the authority that made the 2020 abuses possible. Our legislators could have repealed it right then. But they chose not to. They chose reassignment over repeal.
It should make every South Carolinian think - - if emergency powers that violate civil liberties are allowed to survive "technical clean-up" bills like this, how serious are our leaders about protecting freedom when it matters most?
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not constitute legal or professional advice. ConservaTruth assumes no liability for any actions taken based on this content. Read more.
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