South Carolina S 748: Property assessment for merchants

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 748 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 10, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 748

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 56-3-1910, RELATING TO LICENSE PLATES FOR HANDICAPPED PERSONS, SO AS TO 
REVISE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM "HANDICAPPED" TO INCLUDE CERTAIN PREGNANT 
WOMEN; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 56-3-1960, RELATING TO THE ISSUANCE OF TEMPORARY 
AND PERMANENT PARKING PLACARDS, SO AS TO PROVIDE placards issued to PREGNANT 
WOMEN whose pregnancies are beyond their first trimesters expire twelve months 
after the dates they are issued.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 56-3-1910(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (A) As used in this article, 
"handicapped" means a person who has one or more of the following conditions:

 (1) 
an inability to ordinarily walk one hundred feet nonstop without aggravating an 
existing medical condition, including the increase of pain;

 (2) 
an inability to ordinarily walk without the use of, or assistance from a brace, 
cane, crutch, another person, prosthetic device, wheelchair, or other assistive 
device;

 (3) 
a restriction by lung disease to the extent that the person's forced expiratory 
volume for one second when measured by spirometry is less than one liter, or 
the arterial oxygen tension is less than sixty mm/hg on room air at rest;

 (4) 
requires use of portable oxygen;

 (5) 
a cardiac condition to the extent that the person's functional limitations are 
classified in severity as Class III or Class IV according to standards 
established by the American Heart Association. If the person's status improves 
to a higher level, for example as a result of bypass surgery or transplantation, 
he no longer meets this criteria;

 (6) 
a substantial limitation in the ability to walk due to an arthritic, 
neurological, or orthopedic condition, for example, coordination problems and 
muscle spasticity due to conditions that include Parkinson's disease, cerebral 
palsy, or multiple sclerosis; or

 (7) 
blindness; or

 (8) a woman whose pregnancy is beyond the 
first trimester.

SECTION 2. Section 56-3-1960(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (A) A person who is "handicapped" as 
defined in Section 56-3-1910 may apply to the department for issuance of a 
temporary or permanent placard. A person may be issued a temporary placard if 
the condition causing his handicap is expected to last for at least four 
months. A placard issued to a woman whose pregnancy is 
beyond the first trimester expires twelve months after the date it is issued. No 
applicant may be denied a placard if the applicant follows the procedures 
established by the department and if the application is accompanied by a 
certificate from a licensed physician that certifies that the individual is 
handicapped and whether the handicap is temporary or permanent. The placards 
must indicate that the person is qualified to use reserved handicapped parking 
spaces. Applications for placards must be processed through and issued by the department's 
headquarters. Only one placard may be issued to an applicant. The certification 
procedure shall adhere to the requirements set forth in Section 56-3-1910. In 
conjunction with the issuance of a placard, applicants also must be issued a 
placard registration certificate that must be carried at all times in the 
vehicle driven by or transporting the handicapped individual. The certificate 
will display the name of the individual to which the placard was issued. A 
placard only can be displayed on a vehicle driven by or transporting the 
disabled individual whose name appears on the placard registration certificate. 
The department shall charge a fee of one dollar for a placard. An agency, 
organization, or facility that transports a disabled or handicapped person may 
receive a placard for each vehicle registered upon proper application and the 
payment of the appropriate fees.

SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval 
by the Governor.

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