As those following our page know, South Carolina’s 125th legislative session ends next week. It’s time for the legislators to return to their regular, full-time jobs. It’s time for us to do that, too.
On April 20, 2023, we decided to “make some noise” about the difficulty small bars and music venues had finding affordable, state-mandated, million-dollar liquor liability insurance. We’ve done that. We set up a petition and a GoFundMe account, hosted town hall meetings across the state, and spoke at numerous events. We’ve been blown away by your support, groups raising money to fund our efforts, and sharing our message and content on social media.
In the last year, we learned a LOT about… liquor liability insurance, the venues that need it, how South Carolina politics actually works, and people. Some of the folks we met praised us. Many others said we would never make a difference. Maybe we didn’t. But we did what we set out to do… MAKE SOME NOISE. This is what happened.
Civic and business networking groups began holding meetings to discuss the “venue crisis” in their areas.
Rep. Stewart Jones authored and prefiled The SC Save Our Venues Act (H. 4529). It didn’t see the light of day during this session. However, Sen. Michael Johnson used similar wording in his bill (S. 1048), the Illegal Furnishing of Alcoholic Beverages Liability Act. (That’s a terrible name, BTW).
The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee created an Ad Hoc committee for Liquor Liability Insurance, resulting in Rep. Jason Elliott’s Fair Access to Insurance Requirements bill (H. 5066). The House passed it, but it is yet to be heard by the Senate.
The SC Senate Judiciary Committee created a subcommittee to discuss Joint and Several Liability (S. 533), Liability for the Sale of Alcohol (S. 1048 and S. 1175, the Dram Shop Act), Expanding Tort Claims Act Coverage (S. 543), and State Tort Claims (S. 87).
The Responsible Alcohol Server Training Act (S. 260) was introduced.
A bill (S. 844) proposed that a Study Committee conduct a thorough study and review of SC’s civil justice and insurance laws regarding coverage availability, premium rates, and deductibles.
The SC Justice Act (S. 533), our state’s best chance at reducing liability insurance premiums, made it to the Senate floor. The bill would require anyone found to be at least 50% at fault in an incident to pay up to 100% of the court-awarded settlement for that case. Current law allows anyone with even 1% of the fault to be liable for up to 100% of damages. The bill was narrowly voted down after much debate on the Senate floor by Sen. Shane Massey and Sen. Dick Harpootlian. (The later brags of helping shut down more bars than anyone else. You can watch a snippet of their interesting discussion on our YouTube channel.)
Many organizations have spent decades lobbying for tort reform. So, we certainly can’t take any credit for the work that has been done. But we will smile knowing that our community MADE SOME NOISE.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Finding affordable liquor liability insurance is an even more significant problem for our small businesses now than it was this time last year. At most, 5 carriers are writing those policies in South Carolina. When renewal rates and cancelation notices come in, business owners usually only have 2 weeks’ notice before their policy expiration dates. That’s a short period to either find insurance or shut their doors for good. How many will close before the next legislative session starts in January 2025?
What can you do to help? Continue contacting your legislators and VOTE in the upcoming elections. It’s essential to pay attention to what the candidates are doing versus what they’re saying. We hope you vote based on the issues instead of a specific political party. If we don’t VOTE, we have no say in what’s happening in our state.
We want to extend our sincere gratitude to all of you who supported our efforts over the last year. (We apologize in advance for any accidental omissions.)
- THANK YOU to everyone who signed the petition, joined the Facebook group, and shared our content.
- THANK YOU to those who made financial donations that paid for our website, print materials, and gas money to get us to events across the state and back and forth from our homes to the State House repeatedly.
- THANK YOU to the insurance professionals who contacted us, shared information, and showed up at town hall meetings with a top priority of helping folks understand the issue. These include Anchora Insurance Services, FCI Agency, KSA Insurance, Moss Insurance Group, Horizon Insurance, and Turner Agency.
- THANK YOU to the official and unofficial media outlets that covered the meetings, the bills, and the issue. This includes print, broadcast, and podcasts. These include Fox Carolina News, Access Carolina, WYFF News 4, 7News, Live 5 News, WIS10, Lexington County Chronicle, FitzNews, Upstate Music Mine Podcast, Conversation Mill Podcast, Toke Talk, Upstate Beer Boys, Rob N Todd, The Grey & Jay Show, Sparkle City Sessions Podcast, In The Pits Media, Charleston City Paper, Post & Courier, Greenville, Journal, and InsuranceJournal.com.
- A special thanks goes to Brando Jones Films and Sit N Spin Studios for donating their time and talent to create videos to help explain this complicated campaign. Their professionalism and friendship will be forever appreciated.
- THANK YOU to Upstate SC Business & Brews, Follywood Productions, Beer and Napkins, Larry & Sheree Holms, and the South Carolina Brewers Guild for including us in your events.
- THANK YOU to the organizations who, unlike us, have years of experience and teams of folks to keep issues like ours in front of the legislators. These include but are not limited to SC Policy Council, SC Restaurant and Lodging Association, SC Coalition for Lawsuit Reform, Mom & Pop Alliance, and South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
- THANK YOU to the legislators who voted for S. 533 and those in the SC State House to represent their constituents instead of personal gain. (See image below.)
- THANK YOU to our people… Betty, Lauren, Casey, Aaron, Trisha, Mary, Ben, Steveo, Julie, Tony, EdnaKate, Leslie, Hank, Zenny, and the other folks who helped gather information or put up with our insane schedules (and moods) for the last 13 months.
- Finally, we share a big THANK YOU to the venues… the small bars, pool halls, juke joints, wine bars, taverns, VFWs, American Legions, social clubs, and other places where it’s legal to sell alcohol… IF you can afford the insurance required to do it. Without you, so many people would be without a tribe, a community, a place to be themselves, enjoy themselves, and be accepted. We wish we could have done more to help you stay in business.
South Carolina needs a Bar and Tavern Association to look out for the venues. Unfortunately, that’s not a project we can take on. If you’re you’re up to the challenge, please let us know. We will share the information we have. In the meantime, we welcome you to use the Facebook group Save SC Small Venues & Small Businesses- Address the Insurance Crisis to build your team.
We wish you all the best. Hopefully, we’ll see you at a show sometime. Oh… and DON’T FORGET TO VOTE.
Cheers!
Sheila, Tribble, and Asheton
SC Venue Crisis 