House advances bill moving voluntary ‘SAFE’ vehicle designation to DMV code after committee amendment

A committee amendment to Senate Bill 585 — known on the floor as the Safeguarding American Families Everywhere (SAFE) Act — was adopted by the South Carolina House, and the chamber gave the measure second reading with consent to a third reading.

Representative Hartnett, explaining the bill, said the amendment moves voluntary “safe” designations for vehicle registrations into the proper DMV code section and described the list of qualifying conditions. “With that change, a person or guardian of someone with listed conditions will be voluntarily added to the safe designation on the vehicle registration,” Hartnett said, naming examples that include autism, Down syndrome, Alzheimer’s and PTSD.

An additional amendment (amendment number 2) that would expand recognition of military service through license plate options was presented by Representative Garvin and adopted on the floor. After the amendments were adopted, the speaker announced the amendment becomes the bill and the House proceeded with the required roll-call for second reading.

The clerk closed the polls and tabulated the vote, after which the House recorded second reading and granted unanimous consent for a third reading. No legal challenges or fiscal notes were raised on the floor during the explanation and amendment debate.

The next procedural step is the third reading, which the House consented to consider at a later moment, consistent with the chamber’s expedited handling of the amended measure.

The clerk’s reading and the members’ recorded votes closed the action for the day.