© 2025 South Carolina Public Radio
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
The State House Gavel
The State House Gavel shares updates about the South Carolina General Assembly, including legislative actions, debates and discussions. Featuring news and interviews, so you have access to the latest developments in policy and decisions that shape South Carolina’s future.

The State House Gavel: SC House panel scratches off lottery to pay for K-12 vouchers

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney
Published February 20, 2025 at 6:01 AM EST
South Carolina House Education and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, left, committee researcher Pierce McNair, center, and Rep. Jeff Bradley, R-Hilton Head Island, right, listen during a debate in the House on Wednesday, March, 20, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Jeffrey Collins/AP
/
AP
South Carolina House Education and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, left, committee researcher Pierce McNair, center, and Rep. Jeff Bradley, R-Hilton Head Island, right, listen during a debate in the House on Wednesday, March, 20, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Statehouse reporters Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney and Maayan Schechter are back at the Capitol reporting what you need to know when lawmakers are in Columbia. They'll post news, important schedules, photos/videos and behind-the-scenes interviews with policymakers.

Happy Thursday.

As we always like to remind readers, today is the "Friday" of the legislative week. And, as another reminder, we're ending Week 6.

A quick note of some of what you need to know for Thursday:

  • The S.C. House Ways and Means budget-writing committee finalized its version of the $14 billion state spending plan that'll be debated on the House floor beginning March 10. You can find new agency allocations here and provisos (one-year laws attached to the budget every year) here and here. Speaking of the budget, the House is expected to take up H. 3843, which seeks to codify provisos that have been attached to the budget for more than a decade.
  • After the S.C. Senate adjourns, a judiciary subcommittee will return to discuss and amend S. 244, the tort reform bill. And a the chamber's finance subcommittee looking into the $1.8 billion accounting error is calling back Comptroller General Brian Gaines to finish his testimony after Tuesday's meeting ran late.
  • The Senate's Medical Affairs Committee meets at 10 a.m. to decide Gov. Henry McMaster's appointment to run the state Department of Health and Human Services, interim director Eunice Medina, and discuss bill S. 287, which sets regulations for electronic nicotine sales.

You're reading The State House Gavel, a daily reporter notebook by reporters Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney and Maayan Schechter that will preview and capture what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse this year while lawmakers are in session.

As a reminder: Hear something and see something you think would be important for our readers to know about the Statehouse? Have a question about a legislative process or rule? Email us and let us know.

Notebook highlights:

  • S.C. House panel strikes through Senate plan to pay for K-12 school vouchers specifically with Lottery dollars.
  • A social media bill that proponents filed to protect minors' access to social media platforms passed the lower chamber for the second time in two years.
  • A Senate Judiciary subcommittee will hold its first meeting on the House version of energy capacity, and the latest on the V.C. Summer revival debate.
  • The latest in the 2026 governor's race, which only continues to heat up.

House panel amends Senate voucher plan

The S.C. House Education and Public Works Committee on Tuesday explicitly struck the Senate's plan to fund K-12 school vouchers/scholarships with Lottery dollars after a multi-hour hearing that included hours of public testimony.

More specifically, the full committee, chaired by Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, removed the funding source — the Education Lottery dollars — from the bill, S. 62. And the committee added a trustee (this piece is important) to manage the program.

The bill passed out of committee 13-4. All Democrats opposed.

So, the next question: How does the House intend to fund it?

The answer: The general fund (i.e. public taxpayer dollars).

We wrote above that Ways and Means passed its budget on Tuesday, and that included funding for the so-called scholarship trust fund:

  • $30 million in recurring (yearly) dollars
  • $15 million in one-time money

Before we get to your obvious next question, a recap.

ICYMI: The Senate passed its version of the expansive school choice bill last month in a 32-12 vote that would use lottery money to fund the vouchers. It was filed by Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree, R-Horry. The Senate version would allow parents who earn up to 300% of the federal poverty level apply to get about $7,500 in lottery dollars. Up to 10,000 students would be able to apply, but in the next fiscal year the financial threshold would go up to 400% for up to 15,000 students. How much money each student gets would be dependent on how much money is sent to public schools, but would come to 90% of per-pupil costs.

What the amended version does, in part: It would allow parents who are in a federal poverty level apply to get about $6,000, with yearly increases that are tied to increases in state aid to classrooms, to pay for private school tuition or other accepted K-12 costs. The House version also tweaks who has scholarship program priority, and would expand to what's known as universal school choice after 2027, if there's funding.

Background: The Legislature passed a similar law in the last two-year session using general fund dollars in the state budget. The state Supreme Court ruled the spending unconstitutional because the state Constitution includes a provision that says public money cannot be used for the direct benefit of private schools. Lawmakers have knocked back-and-forth the idea of putting the question to voters about whether that provision should be removed by the Constitution.

So back to that obvious question: Why would the state Supreme Court find this potential version constitutional?

Two potential key factors:

  • The installation of a trustee to manage the fund
  • The Supreme Court membership has changed since it found the previous version unconstitutional

What's next: The bill is expected to be debated on the House floor next week. It'll then head back over to the Senate, which will then decide whether to agree with the House version, or disagree and kick it over to a conference committee (negotiation phase).

Parental consent for kids' social media use

A bill, H. 3431, that would require social media companies to verify the ages of its account holders — all aimed at restricting minors’ access to those platforms without parental or guardian consent — passed the South Carolina, 90-17.

The top question of the debate: Does the state government have a role in protecting kids on social media platforms?

Most Republicans and Democrats said yes.

Seventeen, split between some members of the House Freedom Caucus and some Democrats, said no, arguing it's government overreach and would acquire too much personal data.

The bill includes:

  • "Acceptable methods" of getting consent from a parent or guardian
  • What a social media company must do by March 1, 2026
  • A measure that would require that the state education department draft model programs to teach students about online safety (The House Freedom Caucus unsuccessfully sought to remove this measure).

What's next: The bill heads to the Senate. This is the second time the House has passed a similar bill. Last year, after it passed near unanimously in the House with one lawmaker in opposition, but the bill died in the Senate.

In the background of the debate Tuesday, York County Republican Rep. Brandon Guffey, who lost his teenage son to a sextortion scheme, was in Washington on the Hill, testifying about child online safety protections before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

You can watch that hearing below.

Energy full steam ahead

A Senate Judiciary subcommittee will meet for the first time Thursday morning on a House-approved energy bill, H. 3309.

House Speaker Murrell Smith’s bill is a top priority for lawmakers as the Sumter Republican and his colleagues say they are looking to make the state more energy-generating friendly.

This comes as Santee Cooper has received interest from 25 entities on restarting construction of V.C. Summer reactors 2 and 3. Bills that would support that decision, including legislation that would allow the state-owned utility and Dominion Energy to enter into an agreement to build a much-needed gas-fired power plant were moved to the Senate floor.

In the background: Executives are continuing to call for expedited action as delay only increases demand. A bill similar to H. 3309 died in the Senate last year and while there is talk of this process taking up both years of the legislative session, leaders are moving full steam ahead as future population and economic growth hangs in the balance.  

GAVIN JACKSON

2026 watch

We’re still in a watch, not even a warning, in the 2026 governor's race.

Traditionally, we expect to see announcements in the spring and summer before the subsequent June 2026 primary.

Nevertheless — while no one has opened a 2026 gubernatorial campaign account yet — there is still money floating out there.

Especially in the direction of Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette.

The Post and Courier’s Caitlin Byrd first reported that “a network of President Donald Trump's advisers, staff and political consultants are lining up behind South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, launching a new super PAC to boost her prospects as a leading contender if she decides to run for governor next year.” 

Patriots for South Carolina PAC has already raised $5 million.

A Trump endorsement will be one the most critical factors in this statewide race in which many Republican contenders occupy a similar policy lane.

Who we're watching right now:

  • Evette, a self-made millionaire and former president and CEO of Quality Business Solutions in Travelers Rest, was recently spotted sitting in the front row in the East Room when the president signed an executive order banning transgender players on women’s sports teams.
  • 1st District Congresswoman Nancy Mace, a former state lawmaker, who has put her focus over the last year on legislation that targets the transgender community. At that same White House event, Trump acknowledged Mace's work. In a post on X Wednesday, Mace posted the Post and Courier article about the PAC, referring to Evette as a "a nice lady.” 
  • Attorney General Alan Wilson, who also became of a focus of Mace's criticism from a fiery House floor speech — criticisms that Wilson denies — but has kept busy joining other attorneys general in federal-focused lawsuits. Over the past two years, Wilson has also joined Republican efforts to tweak the state's judicial vetting and election process.
S.C. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Gov. Henry McMaster at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday, July 15, 2024, for Day 1 of the Republican National Convention.
Gavin Jackson
S.C. Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Gov. Henry McMaster at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday, July 15, 2024, for Day 1 of the Republican National Convention.

Daily planner (2/20)

SC House

SC Senate

GAVIN JACKSON

Clips from around the state
Tags
SC News SC News
Maayan Schechter
Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter) is a news reporter with South Carolina Public Radio and ETV. She worked at South Carolina newspapers for a decade, previously working as a reporter and then editor of The State’s S.C. State House and politics team, and as a reporter at the Aiken Standard and the Greenville News. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 2013.
See stories by Maayan Schechter
Gavin Jackson
Gavin Jackson graduated with a visual journalism degree from Kent State University in 2008 and has been in the news industry ever since. He has worked at newspapers in Ohio, Louisiana and most recently in South Carolina at the Florence Morning News and Charleston Post and Courier.
See stories by Gavin Jackson
Russ McKinney
Russ McKinney has 30 years of experience in radio news and public affairs. He is a former broadcast news reporter in Spartanburg, Columbia and Atlanta. He served as Press Secretary to former S.C. Governor Dick Riley for two terms, and for 20 years was the chief public affairs officer for the University of South Carolina.
See stories by Russ McKinney