Hill did not join the overwhelming majority of his colleagues in wearing a face covering on the floor of the statehouse when lawmakers began their session in Columbia last week, and he is opposing a proposed rule that would require people to wear masks at meetings of a legislative committee on which he serves.
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Rep. Jonathon Hill posted a copy of a letter from McMaster that Hill says went out to the legislature Thursday afternoon. “Returning before May 14 for session, even briefly, could place the health and safety of [the legislature] at an elevated risk…,” the letter states. “However, I believe - and hope that by late June that risk will have diminished to the extent that businesses and activities in your state may be safely resumed.”
3 Upstate legislators urge Gov. McMaster to allow SC businesses to reopen during pandemic
Despite projections of a coming surge in COVID-19 cases, half of the state's hospital beds are empty and Hill cites that as evidence that "as far as the virus is concerned, the worst is behind us. The economic worst is yet to come," Hill warned. "I think that's time to let folks who are comfortable going to work to go work and let those who want to stay home or take added precautions to do so."