Bill > S0785

This bill, known as the "Remembering Charlie Kirk Act," introduces new provisions for public college and university employees in South Carolina regarding their speech and employment. It allows these institutions to terminate an employee for cause if their speech or expression is reasonably interpreted as being made as an employee on a personal matter rather than as a citizen on a public concern, and if the institution's interest in effective service outweighs the employee's interest in speaking. The bill also outlines specific factors for institutions to consider when evaluating such speech, including its impact on discipline, workplace harmony, job performance, and the university's mission, and whether it condones violence. Employees terminated under these provisions will not have grievance rights. Furthermore, the Commission on Higher Education is tasked with developing a speech code for these employees, detailing their free speech rights and limitations, which all public colleges and universities must adopt and enforce. Failure to adopt the code will result in a monthly reduction of state funding, while failure to enforce it will lead to a ten percent funding reduction per violation. Employees will be required to sign an acknowledgment of this speech code.