S.C. Senate President Pro Tem Steps Done

Sen. John Courson abruptly stepped down from his South Carolina Senate leadership post Wednesday, a move he hoped would forestall Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell's planned resignation later this week.

Courson, R-Columbia, said he decided to step down as Senate president pro tem - but not leave his Senate seat - after learning that McConnell still planned to resign his office Thursday. Senate members have asked McConnell to wait until the Legislature wraps up its work in two weeks. McConnell becomes president of the College of Charleston next month.

Courson has repeatedly said he won't leave his Senate seat to temporarily occupy the state's No. 2 spot, noting voters will elect McConnell's replacement in just five months.

Courson said he hopes his decision, which he said McConnell forced him to make, changes McConnell's mind. Without a lieutenant governor or Senate president pro tem, bills wrapped up in the legislative session's waning days may not reach Gov. Nikki Haley's desk because there will be no presiding officer in the Senate to sign them.

And there appears to be no senator willing to become president pro tem while the possibility of becoming lieutenant governor looms.

Every bill must be ratified. That means the House speaker and the Senate leader must verify through their signatures their chambers approved a measure. If the lieutenant governor is not available to sign off, the Senate president pro tem does so. But if Courson lends his signature while the office is vacant, that could mean he's automatically lieutenant governor. Senate Judiciary Chairman Larry Martin said that's how he interprets the state constitution.

Courson's resignation may have stalled McConnell's resignation as hoped. Martin said late Wednesday that McConnell told him he would stay so as not to cause a constitutional crisis in the session's waning days.