Presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have trumpeted “change” as part of their message to to voters. Actually, Obama trumpeted change — Romney just saw that it worked and “changed” his platform to incorporate change. And that message has apparently resonated with members of the South Carolina General Assembly who have embarked on a surprising series of attempts to bring change to this state.

First, the House introduced legislation to change the way the state chooses constitutional officers. The bill, H. 4620, would allow the governor to appoint the secretary of state, state superintendent of education, commissioner of agriculture and adjutant general.

If passed, it would become a constitutional amendment to be decided upon by voters. Currently the public elects these constitutional officers every four years.

Speaker Bobby Harrell added:

[audio:GovernmentRestructuring.mp3]

The House also passed the “South Carolina Plan” which proposes comprehensive illegal immigration reform.

Jim Harrison, House Judiciary Chairman said, “This is the plan our state needs to combat illegal immigration. Our citizens have told us loud and clear, this is the plan they are backing and want to see passed into law this year.”

The number of illegal immigrants in South Carolina has exploded in the last decade 15 fold from the estimated 5,000 that were here ten years ago. To date, there are an estimated 75,000 illegal aliens residing in our state.

“The South Carolina Plan helps our state fill the void in our illegal immigration laws that the federal government has left us with,” said Harrell. “This is the strongest reform plan ever considered by our General Assembly. If our state does not act on this plan, while our neighboring states do, we could become a safe haven for illegal aliens and our taxpayers will bear that cost.”

Harrell continued:

[audio:SouthCarolinaPlan.mp3]

Along with passing The South Carolina Plan (H. 4400), the House also amended a Senate bill (S. 392) with the more comprehensive House plan and voted to send The South Carolina Plan to the Senate in two identical bills.