South Carolina

New Developments (updated 6/17/02)

Local option casino boat bills fail to pass: The South Carolina General Assembly adjourned earlier this month without passing either of two measures that would have given local jurisdictions the authority to regulate or ban gaming activity on cruise-to-nowhere vessels.

Senate Bill 1191, sponsored by Sen. Dick Elliott (D-North Myrtle Beach), would have granted local jurisdictions the “sovereign power” to prohibit cruise-to-nowhere operations, power that was delegated by Congress to the states under the Johnson Act (15 U.S.C. 1175, et seq.) as amended in 1992.

House Bill 4387, sponsored by Rep. Chip Campsen (R-Isle of Palms), would have imposed a statewide ban on gaming “cruises to nowhere” while giving county and municipal governments the authority to exempt themselves from the statewide prohibition.