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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: Feds probe SC accounting error, audit reveals $1.8B source

S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster speaks to reporters on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at the Statehouse about the audit over the $1.8 billion accounting error and Dr. Ed Simmer's appointment to lead the new public health department.
MAAYAN SCHECHTER
S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster speaks to reporters on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at the Statehouse about the audit over the $1.8 billion accounting error and Dr. Ed Simmer's appointment to lead the new public health department.

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, which is actually the Friday of the legislative week.

This is The State House Gavel, a new 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.

House gavels in at 10 a.m., and the Senate starts at 11 a.m.

Notebook highlights:

  • Sen. Larry Grooms calls on Treasurer Curtis Loftis to resign after outside firm releases audit looking into the $1.8 billion accounting snafu. The Securities and Exchange Commission has an ongoing investigation into the related $3.5 billion accounting error that resulted in former Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom's resignation.
  • Gov. Henry McMaster defends his pick to run the newly created Department of Public Health, Dr. Ed Simmer, as critics and some Republican senators say they'll oppose his bid.
  • Staring down Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate, Democratic House Leader Todd Rutherford explains how the minority party should move forward.
GAVIN JACKSON

SC under SEC probe over accounting error

An outside forensic audit released Wednesday details the mysterious $1.8 billion fund in the state treasury was just that — an accounting error.

The firm that did the audit, DC-based AlixPartners LLC, says in its 69-page report that at least $1.6 billion of that money is not real cash.

This saga that dates back to when then-Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, the state's accountant, issued a correction to the state's 2022 annual financial report that the state did not have quite the amount of cash as previously reported. How far off was he? Only $3.5 billion.

Lawmakers began investigating how this happened almost as fast as the beginning of the finger-pointing between the CG and State Treasurer Curtis Loftis, the state's banker. As the Senate seemed poised to begin impeachment proceedings against Eckstrom, he resigned.

And there may be further shoes still to drop.

Until Tuesday, lawmakers had been super mum about an ongoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation over the error.

Statehouse leaders are no longer staying quiet.

SC Sen. Larry Grooms, a Berkeley Republican whose committee is looking into the error, says the state has already paid millions of dollars in attorneys fees dealing with the SEC.

And, Grooms — who was fresh off a trip from Antarctica — says, the state's top prosecutor Alan Wilson is asking for millions more.

He also reupped his call that Loftis resign.

You can listen to the full interview with Grooms Wednesday.

Sen. Larry Grooms gaggles with reporters 1.15.25

Gov. McMaster's reaction to the audit was a bit more reserved.

Reporters spoke to the governor at length about the audit.

In his defense, Loftis put out a statement and video Wednesday.

He says in part, "The citizens of South Carolina can be confident that their money is safe."

On the agenda: A House budget panel will hold a hearing at 11 a.m. today to hear from the outside audit firm and the state administration department. Loftis, we're told, will not testify.

McMaster defends Simmer's bid

Gov. McMaster isn't letting critics — or senators — dissuade him from moving forward with his choice to lead the newly created Department of Public Health: Dr. Edward Simmer.

We asked McMaster Wednesday whether he planned to stand behind Simmer, who faces a tough vetting process before the more conservative Senate Medical Affairs Committee.

After reading through Simmer's resume, McMaster told reporters that Simmer is "imminently qualified" to run the agency.

"I have not found an ounce of truth in any of them (allegations made by critics against Simmer)," McMaster said.

Look back: Simmer formerly ran the state's Department of Health and Environmental Control before it was split up into two agencies. Simmer's tenure over DHEC came after a monthslong search for a director following director turnover amid the COVID pandemic. Simmer was often criticized for wearing a mask at hearings, a mask that he said he wore to protect his wife's health. Some conservative groups have likened Simmer to Anthony Fauci and criticized his stance on vaccinations.

Here's McMaster's full comments below:

Gov. McMaster defends Dr. Ed Simmer for DPH director

A sign against the nomination of Edward Simmer as director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health is held up in the lobby of the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Jeffrey Collins/AP
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AP
A sign against the nomination of Edward Simmer as director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health is held up in the lobby of the Statehouse, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

What will SC Dems do this year?

Democrats are in a bit of a quandary in the Legislature.

Election cycle after election cycle, they've faced severe membership losses. Today, Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers.

So we asked: What are Democrats left to do?

“Take care of the people of South Carolina,” House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford told Gavin Jackson on This Week in South Carolina.

What does that look like? Here's some of what he said:

  • Education: “ Making sure that education is across the board. It is for everyone, not just for those that are attending private school, but for public school students as well.”
  • Energy generation:  ”We've got a big, huge partially finished nuclear plant that we need to look at fixing up to get it to the point where we can start producing electricity from it. That's the only way we're going to get our electricity rates to a point where we can bring in new business.”
  • Partisan politics:  "We are not here to fight with one another. We are not here to play gotcha politics. We are all here to make South Carolina a better place."
  • Criminal justice reform:  "The reality is right now in South Carolina, it costs us about $32,000 a year to house an inmate in the South Carolina Department of Corrections. That is my, in my estimation, is not money well spent on a lot of the drug offenders that we have in there. You have jails around the state which are overcrowded, and the Richland County Detention Center where ... someone died of acute dehydration. We can do better. We have got to look at criminal justice reform and in doing so we can look at DJJ (Department Juvenile Justice) which on any given day, I believe, is supposed to house about 70 of our children and they're housing 140, 144. They are well over capacity and it is a time bomb waiting to happen."
South Carolina House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford speaks against a bond bill in Columbia, S.C. on Wednesday, June 14, 2023.Both state legislative chambers on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would require the payment of a full cash bond to post bail for people charged with a second violent or firearm-involved offense while out on pretrial release for a first offense. (AP Photo/James Pollard)
James Pollard/AP
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AP
South Carolina House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford speaks against a bond bill in Columbia, S.C. on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (AP Photo/James Pollard)

Daily planner (1/16)

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Freshman spotlight: Tiny mic edition

There are a whopping 32 new lawmakers in the Legislature.

And 13 of them are in the state Senate. The House has 19.

It's time you to get to know them, so welcome to our freshman spotlight where we introduce a new member of their respective chamber. (We edit for clarity.)

Next up: Republican SC Rep. Jackie Terribile [Terra-beal].

She represents House District 66, which includes Fort Mill and Tega Cay in York County.

How long did it take for you to find your Statehouse parking spot? It took a while for them to assign the spots. But I'm lucky, I kind of found it right away. I, as the former chair of Moms for Liberty, I was here for the last three years at the Capitol. My representative showed me around, so I was a little bit familiar with the area.

USC Gamecocks or Clemson Tigers? My son goes to Coker University, so I don't have a favorite yet. (Go Cobras!)

What will be your late session night snack of choice? If it is just like I need a quick boost, I'm going to have a Hershey bar, or some Hershey kisses. But what I really should have is something protein packed.

What's one restaurant in your district you would recommend to visitors? Of course I don't want to have favorites. But my favorite coffee spot and breakfast spot is Tega Cay Coffee. It's in Tega Cay. It's a great family-owned business, and we love to go there whenever possible.

If you had any superpower, what would it be? My boys love Spiderman, and so I guess maybe a spidey sense would be a good one. I kind have that mom sense, so I would say spidey sense.

What was your song or artist of 2024? Brandon Lake. I listen to a lot of his music. It's Christian music.

What is one 2025 Statehouse prediction? I think that we're going to see Republicans come together to work together on conservative legislation this year.

S.C. Rep Jackie Terribile
MAAYAN SCHECHTER
S.C. Rep Jackie Terribile

Statehouse clips from around the state

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.
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.
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.