© 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: With ice and snow gone, what's left behind is a packed calendar

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney
Published January 28, 2025 at 6:01 AM EST
S.C. Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, speaks with Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, on Jan. 15, 2025 in the S.C. Senate.
GAVIN JACKSON
S.C. Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, speaks with Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, on Jan. 15, 2025 in the S.C. Senate.

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 Tuesday.

South Carolina lawmakers are back in Columbia for the third week of session after cutting back most of their schedule last week because of snow and ice.

That means many of the hearings canceled last week are rescheduled for this week, resulting in a packed week that also includes Gov. Henry McMaster's State of the State.

That same day, McMaster will become, after nearly 250 years of Palmetto State chief executives, South Carolina's longest-serving governor.

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.

For your planning purposes: McMaster will deliver his eighth
State of the State at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Gavin Jackson will anchor live coverage, which will air on SCETV and South Carolina Public Radio channels statewide and online. The speech, which outline’s the governor’s accomplishments and legislative priorities, runs roughly about 45 minutes and the Democratic response afterward goes for about 10 minutes. We expect to hear the governor outline a lot of the priorities that were in his executive budget, including raising starting teacher pay to $50,000, tax and disaster recovery relief, infrastructure upgrades and an continued focus on conservation efforts.

Notebook highlights:

  • SC lawmaker who lost son to sextortion scheme calls on "big tech" to help protect kids.
  • The $1.8 billion saga stretches into Week 3 with a big House budget-writing committee hearing, and the S.C. Senate is back on its school choice expansion bill.
  • U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham chats with Columbia reporters about Trump, January 6 and other political happenings.
  • The 2026 governor's race has started (we're calling it even though no candidate has officially announced).
Russ McKinney, Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson
SCETV
Russ McKinney, Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson

SC lawmaker fights 'big tech'

Roughly two years after the death of his 17-year-old son Gavin, state Rep. Brandon Guffey on Monday got to see the man behind the fake social media profile who solicited explicit photos of his son and then extorted him and his family for money.

Federal prosecutors have accused 24-year-old Nigerian national Hassanbunhussein Abolore Lawal of posing as a teenage girl on social media and coercing Gavin Guffey to send compromising photos, then extorting and harassing him (and later his family members) to send money.

Gavin died in 2022 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Lawal was extradited to the U.S. on Saturday.

After Gavin's death, as a freshman legislator Guffey passed "Gavin's Law," which stiffens the penalties for sex extortion.

But "big tech" needs to do more, particularly on the federal level, said Guffey, who has lobbied Congress to hold social media companies, like Meta, accountable.

Maayan Schechter asked Guffey his thoughts about the Trump administration embracing "big tech," particularly the owners of Facebook, X and other big social media platforms so prominently in the early days of his presidency.

Catch his response below:

BrandonGuffeyBigTech.wav

S.C. Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-York, stands outside the Columbia federal courthouse on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, holding a portrait of his 17-year-old son, Gavin.
MAAYAN SCHECHTER
S.C. Rep. Brandon Guffey, R-York, stands outside the Columbia federal courthouse on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, holding a portrait of his 17-year-old son, Gavin.

A busy week for the House and Senate

As we wrote above, the S.C. House and Senate took most of last week off to let the roads recover from the ice and snow.

The dilemma for reporters, lobbyists, and statehouse hobbyists?

There's a lot going on this week. Here's what you need to know:

  • House: The House appears to have scheduled every committee meeting for 10 a.m. Wednesday — at least every noteworthy budget hearing. One of them? A Ways and Means Constitutional Subcommittee hearing featuring staff from the auditor, comptroller general and treasurer's offices over the outside audit of the phantom $1.8 billion that was housed on the state's books. Staff have scheduled the meeting for Blatt Building Room 110 (the big, roomy room) which may mean more lawmakers will show up. Last week, we reported that state Auditor George Kennedy resigned, leaving Treasurer Curtis Loftis in the spotlight. On Facebook Sunday, he posted, "Have a blessed Sunday…And please include my staff in your prayers. This will be a difficult week for them."
  • Senate: Senators are expected to return to the private school voucher bill that would use state Education Lottery dollars to fund the grants rather than public tax dollars that the state Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional last year. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, said two weeks ago he hopes to wrap up votes on the bill this week. With the debate in flux and students in limbo, conservative think tank Palmetto Promise Institute announced that private donors have stepped up to raise more than $2 million to cover tuition.
South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis turns to his staff during a state Senate hearing into how $1.8 billion ended up in an account without anyone knowing where it came from or where it went on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Jeffrey Collins/AP
/
AP
South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis turns to his staff during a state Senate hearing into how $1.8 billion ended up in an account without anyone knowing where it came from or where it went on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Graham Meets the (Columbia) Press  

U.S. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday joined NBC’s Meet the Press and CNN’s State of the Union.

More importantly, on Monday morning he was in front of the Columbia press corps, which included our own Gavin Jackson.

For the fourth time in 100 years, Republicans have the House, the Senate and the White House.

And since Graham is perched at “ground zero” chairing the Budget Committee — a post he’s reached after 30 years in Washington in both the House (1995-2003) and Senate (2003-present) — he’s got plans: 

  • On budget reconciliation: "I would like the Budget Committee to pass a budget resolution that would provide $100 billion to secure the border, hire more ICE agents to track down the criminals, create more detention beds so you don't have to let people go. I'd like to give $200 billion to the military so they can modernize, to better compete against China. I want to do that as a single standalone bill. If you do the one big beautiful bill, the tax policy is complicated. I also want spending cuts. Let's put that exercise off to later in the year, because it's going to take till later in the year to figure out how to do it. The $200 billion and $100 billion will be paid for."
  • Two bills vs. House one bill: "I respect (House Speaker) Mike Johnson as much as anybody I've ever met in Washington, but this idea of linking them all together, I think, is a risky idea. … If we don't take advantage of this, we got nobody to blame but ourselves."
  • But when: "So I would like to start this in the next two weeks. I would like by the end of February, early March at the latest to have passed through reconciliation and funding for the border. ... I'm getting so many calls from House members saying, ‘Go do it.’ House members want to go put points on the board."
  • On Trump's pardons for Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police: "I've been in this business for quite a while. From Day One, I've always had the police officers back. I don't want to do anything that would invite violence against those who risked their lives every day to protect us. So I don't like anything, no matter, even if a friend does it that would send the wrong signal. So until I leave this job, I will do everything I can to support the police. And we don't want to encourage violence."
  • On Gov. McMaster's long service: "Henry has been one of the most successful governors since I've been around. And he aggressively recruits industry. He's been strong on keeping us safe. He's made our state a prosperous, good place to do business. He's a handshake kind of guy. I've been in many meetings where Gov. McMaster was trying to recruit somebody to come to our state and I’m just really impressed with him. He's a dear friend, and I think he's going to go down in history as one of the greatest governors we've ever had." 

LISTEN: For more Graham on President Trump's executive orders, to the bipartisan infrastructure law and Inflation Reduction Act check out today’s South Carolina Lede.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Columbia, S.C.
GAVIN JACKSON
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks to reporters on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Columbia, S.C.

The latest in the 2026 gov race

Now that Republican U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace is considering a run for governor (she's running), the race is really, really on.

On Monday, the 1st District congresswoman used social media to troll Republican S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson (another likely 2026 contender. So is Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette).

And, the same day, she spoke at a Richland County GOP event, where she sounded off, almost entirely it seems, on Wilson.

We expect the 2026 GOP governor's race to be crowded, considering it's the first open primary on the GOP side since Nikki Haley's 2010 run. (McMaster ran for his first four-year term in 2018, but was already governor by then.)

The biggest factor for Republicans considering jumping in the 2026 governor’s race will be who gets Trump’s endorsement.

In what appeared to be a response to Mace's comments about Wilson, here's what Dorchester County Republican Chairman Steven Wright posted to X:

ICYMI: SC Dems quiz DNC chairs

Our own Maayan Schechter moderated an incredibly wonky Democratic National Committee chairman forum Friday in Charleston, where six candidates fielded her questions while crammed around an insufficiently-sized table. One of the most important questions asked and mostly answered was did they support continuing South Carolina Democrats' first-in-the-nation primary status? The answers weren’t very clear, though some vowed to do what they could to ensure it remained if not first, an important, early state. At the end of the day, it’s a decision made by the party’s rules and bylaws committee.

The Gavel says: It’s safe to say South Carolina will still be first in the South (it's been that way since 2008). Since 1992, except for Sen. John Edwards in 2004, South Carolina Democrats have successfully picked the party’s eventual nominee. 

DNC members will vote on Feb. 1 to decide chair and other races.

On Monday, six South Carolina DNC members, including state party chair Christale Spain, endorsed Minnesota Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin as the next DNC chair. 

House Majority Leader announces retirement ... in 2 years

House Majority Leader Davey Hiott knows how to make an exit.

Except he's turned his blinker on miles before his turnoff.

The Pickens Republican announced Monday night that he plans to retire from the House of Representatives in 2026 at the end of the two-year session.

In a Facebook post, the GOP leader endorsed Clay Counts to be his replacement.

"While this decision was not an easy one, I believe it is the right time for me to step aside and allow the next generation of leaders to build on our successes," Hiott wrote.

For background: House GOP rules say that members can only serve as caucus leader for four years, and after 2026 Hiott's leadership would be up.

South Carolina Rep. Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, presides over the House as Speaker as the chamber begin debating an abortion bill on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Jeffrey Collins/AP
/
AP
South Carolina Rep. Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, presides over the House as Speaker as the chamber begin debating an abortion bill on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Columbia, South Carolina. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Daily planner (1/28)

SC House

SC Senate

The 126th General Assembly of South Carolina gavels into session on Jan. 14, 2025.
Gavin Jackson
/
SCETV
The 126th General Assembly of South Carolina gavels into session on Jan. 14, 2025.

Statehouse 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