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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: SC lawmakers meet to elect judges

GAVIN JACKSON

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.

Welcome to Wednesday.

We're looking at another busy legislative day at the Statehouse.

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

The S.C. House and Senate both gavel in at 11:45 a.m. before the two chambers meet for the Legislature's second joint assembly. But for 32 freshmen, this will be the first time they vote on a flurry of judicial candidates — from the state Court of Appeals to local judicial circuit seats.

As a reminder: Last year, the Legislature passed a new law that tweaks the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, the committee that screens interested candidates, vets and nominates judicial candidates to be voted on by the full General Assembly. While signed into law last year, it doesn't take effect until July so none of the changes were implemented for this slate of candidates.

Also, Tuesday we reported that the House GOP Caucus met for lunch and planned to discuss the ongoing $1.8 billion accounting error situation and Treasurer Curtis Loftis, one of three state officials tangled up in the now-not-so mystery money and the only one of the three who has not resigned.

We were told the conversation was a bit of a "vibe check" that didn't land on any resolution, yet, but did include an endorsement of the recommendations spelled out by the outside audit firm which definitively said that most of that money was never real.

We're told these conversations are not close to being wrapped up though, as lawmakers wait to see what the Senate does next.

Sine die in February? Not exactly. But the Senate did pass a sine die resolution on Tuesday. For those of you that don't pine for the last day of the legislative session every year, "sine die" (Latin for "without a day" as in a day to return) is the final day of session before lawmakers return for sometimes many more days of legislative work. But what they can address in this post-session period is typically very limited and must be outlined in an annually-passed resolution. The Senate bill is more restrictive than usual and even last-stage-of-the-process conference committee negotiations beyond the final day of session are a no-go. The budget is excluded from this, of course.

So, that means that any bill not wrapped up with a bow by the end of the regular session would not pass this year. This is the first of a two-year session, so it doesn't mean any unfinished bills are dead. It just means we'll get to it next year — unless lawmakers amend the sine die resolution to allow for more post-session work.

Notebook highlights:

  • S.C. Senate gives final, perfunctory, OK to the K-12 school voucher bill, but will it survive a chance in the House?
  • If you weren't in either House or Senate judiciary committee hearings Tuesday then where were you?

LEDE IN: A new episode of theSouth Carolina Lede is out that looks at Sen. Lindsey Graham’s latest decisions on Cabinet confirmations, tariffs and Department of Justice activity in Washington. Also, Statehouse reporters Maayan Schechter and Jeffrey Collins provide insight on the first month of the legislative session and the governor’s annual address.  

ICYMI:Saturday’s Lede pod featured our latest deep dive on the $1.8 billion accounting discrepancy. The pod features extended soundbites from state financial officials, including Treasurer Loftis, who recently testified before a House Ways and Means panel. Find the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts or on NPR One. 

Lottery-funded voucher bill heads to uncertain House

The S.C. Senate gave its typical perfunctory third vote to the K-12 school voucher bill, S. 62, after it secured the critical second vote — 32-12 — last Thursday.

Remember: The Legislature passed a private school voucher bill in the last session. It went to the state Supreme Court, which said you cannot spend taxpayer money on private institutions. This time, the Senate took another strategy: Spending state Education Lottery dollars instead.

The vote Tuesday was once again mainly down political party lines, with the exception of Sen. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg.

Martin is a former school board member. He continued to make his case Tuesday by mentioning the state's lottery revenue drops in a back-and-forth with Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun.

  • Sen. Martin: "Do you think something’s changed — that it’s not coming but pretty soon our state’s general fund will have to step in?"
  • Sen. Ott: "Nothing has shown that absolutely our general fund is going to be impacted by this legislation."
  • Sen. Martin: "It’s going to be upwards of $110 million in fiscal year 26-27. ... That’s what worries m, that we're going to be back and were going to be here trying to fix DJJ, and I'm going to ask you to unanimously, as this Senate has done in a bipartisan matter, to support law enforcement. When you start tapping that general fund, tens of millions of dollars makes a difference."

Looking forward: As we've reported before, the House has yet to offer indications that they're on board with the Senate's version. House leaders have told reporters that they're reading the bill, and there's still a chance the House attempts to draft its own proposal.

South Carolina Sen. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg, asks a question as the Senate as it debates the state's nearly $11 billion budget for the next fiscal year on Monday, June 21, 2021 in Columbia, South Carolina. The spending plan provides raises for most state employees. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Jeffrey Collins/AP
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AP
South Carolina Sen. Shane Martin, R-Spartanburg, asks a question as the Senate as it debates the state's nearly $11 billion budget for the next fiscal year on Monday, June 21, 2021 in Columbia, South Carolina. The spending plan provides raises for most state employees. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Judiciary hearings steal the show

The Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Horry Republican Sen. Luke Rankin held its first full meeting since the election of 13 new freshmen to the upper chamber.

There was the introduction of staff, and a joking attempt to introduce the Statehouse reporters.

But there was also business:

  • First, the committee did carry over its energy-related bills, S. 12 and S. 51.
  • A favorable report was given to two similar bills — S. 143 and S. 180 — that expand the definition of “household member” to include people who are or have cohabitated together and people who are presently or have formerly been in a dating relationship. By expanding that definition, which the S.C. Supreme Court has upheld, and providing a definition of dating relationship in line with federal language, the bills seek to provide protective orders to those who face violence in dating relationships with the assistance of a family court judge. 
  • Charleston Republican Sen. Chip Campsen’s bill to make the comptroller general an appointed position, S. 35, moved to the floor. Campsen said he's introduced the bill for years but that it only gained steam after former Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom resigned in 2023 following a $3.5 billion double counting error that was on state books for years. The bill passed the Senate unanimously in March 2024.  
  • The bill S. 38, which would consolidate special elections in the state to five designated days throughout the year instead of what seems to be every Tuesday also moved to the floor. Instead, a special primary election would be required on the 11th Tuesday, following the declared vacancy; a runoff, if necessary, two weeks later; and on the 20th Tuesday, the special election. Curve ball: If the date for a special election to fill an unexpired term of office is 100 days or less from the date a general election is to be held for the office, then no special election or primary must be held for the office — with the exception of unexpired terms for U.S. House seat. 
  • Bills S. 28 and S. 29 dealing with child sexual abuse material were also approved by the committee. 
South Carolina Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, right, talks to Senate Judiicary Chariman Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, left, during a recess in a conference committee meeting over a bill on how judges are screened, Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
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File — South Carolina Sen. Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, right, talks to Senate Judiciary Chairman Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, left, on Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

What about the House?

We did not forget about the lower chamber, which also held a series of judiciary committee hearings on Tuesday.

  • A subcommittee sent several bills to the floor, including the retail theft bill — H. 3523 — that would create offenses and penalties for organized retail crime, and H. 3007, which would add South Carolina to 27 other states in calling for a constitutional convention restricted to proposing a constitutional balanced budget amendment under Article 5 of the Constitution. Thirty-four states are required to call for a convention and whatever comes out it would require 38 states to ratify. Another bill, H. 3008, would also call for a convention of states, but to file a congressional term limit amendment. There are 28 state legislatures under Republican control, 19 under Democratic control and two are split. (There's never been an Article 5 convention in America’s history.)

What lawmakers are saying:

  • Rep. Jay Jordan, R-Florence, on H. 3007: “This is a very narrowly tailored piece of legislation. We are not calling for a pure convention of states.”  
  • Rep. John McCravy, R-Greenwood, on voting no: “This could result in a runaway convention where other amendments would be proposed.”  
  • Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D-Charleston “I’d like to highlight this opportunity to say I agree completely with Rep. McCravy (on a balanced budget amendment and concern of a runaway convention).” 

Meanwhile, another House judiciary subcommittee chaired by Spartanburg Republican Rep. Travis Moore adjourned debate (carried over) H. 3399, filed by York Republican Rep. Brandon Guffey that aims to protect minors from "unfiltered" devices, like cellphones and tablets.

In part, the bill would require cellphone and tablet companies to enable and passcode protect filters to help block material lawmakers say isn't suitable and can be harmful to minors.

The proposal also would subject companies to criminal and civil liability. (Utah has the most comparable law, according to staff.)

For background: Guffey has made this particular issue his cause when his 17-year-old son, Brandon, died by suicide after a sextortion scheme by a Nigerian citizen, who has since been extradited to South Carolina and faces federal charges and life in prison.)

A lobbyist for NetChoice, a tech industry trade group, called the proposal too broad and put the onus more on parents to be more involved.

In response, Guffey grew visibly angry and likened NetChoice (which brought a lawsuit over Utah's law on First Amendment grounds) to Big Tobacco.

"I don’t see this as a violation of any part of the First Amendment," Guffey said. "... I hope you don't end up having to lose a son like I did."

Guffey argued it is the government's job to act.

"If we can't protect our children, then what are we doing here?" Guffey said.

The bill was carried over for another future hearing.

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.

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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.