Busy week for local officials coming to Columbia

This week is one of the Association’s busiest of the year with 500+ local officials coming to Columbia for the Municipal Elected Officials Institute today and Hometown Legislative Action Day tomorrow.

For the second year, the Association is offering two classes for the Advanced Municipal Officials Institute for elected officials who have graduated from the Municipal Elected Officials Institute. 

More than 120 elected officials are at the Marriott today split between two Advanced Institute classes focusing on advanced advocacy and another focusing on utilities. And this is in addition to the 130 additional officials who are enrolled in the MEO Institute classes. More than 50 of these mayors and councilmembers will graduate tomorrow from the MEO Institute during the HLAD program

Also tomorrow at HometownLegislative Action Day, more than 500 officials will gather at the Marriott in Columbia to hear from House and Senate leaders and learn more about the five advocacy initiatives for cities and towns. 

Speaker Jay Lucas and Senate President Pro Temp Hug Leatherman will address officials along with two panels of Senate and House members who will discuss transportation, Local Government Fund and other issues important to cities and towns.

Tomorrow afternoon, officials will visit the State House to meet with Senators in the State House lobby. Plus the timing is great for several officials to attend a meeting of the House Ways and Means subcommittee considering H3374, a bill that would change the calculation to determine the Local Government Fund.

After several afternoon sessions covering best practices in permitting, licensing and code enforcement, officials will have the chance to learn about the impact of new government reporting requirements related to reporting relating to OPEB or other post-employment benefits.

The day will wrap up with the traditional legislative reception at the Marriott at 5:30.

Throughout the day, Association staff will be tweeting from the meeting sessions and posting photos from the State House visit. Download the  meeting app and follow @MuniAssnSC and #15HLAD to stay on top of what’s happening all day.