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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: Trump cuts come for SC, Mace goes after AG

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,

Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney

Published February 11, 2025 at 6:01 AM EST

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 back to Week 5 of the South Carolina legislative session.

It's Tuesday, and both the S.C. House and Senate gavel in at noon.

This is The State House Gavel, a daily reporter notebook by reporters Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney and Maayan Schechter that previews and captures what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse while lawmakers are in session.

We mentioned this in last Friday's Gavel but it's appropriate to mention again.

The flu is running quite rampant through the Statehouse, and it's a good reminder that if you don't feel well, stay home (please).

Notebook highlights:

We break down what's on the House and Senate calendars, and why every X post on S.C. politics seems to be about state Sen. Shane Massey's tort reform legislation.
New week means new bills. Like the calendar, we break down what new legislation could pop up soon in a committee hearing near you.
In its continued cost-cutting efforts, the Trump administration is targeting National Institutes of Health grants, which fund research and scientific studies at medical schools and research universities. Two of the largest recipients of those grants in South Carolina? The University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace took to the House floor to go after potential 2026 GOP gubernatorial rival Attorney General Alan Wilson over what she called his failures to prosecute sex crimes. Wilson responds.

Senate's tort reform tango, House all in on energy

Between the three of us, we've covered the Statehouse for well over a decade, perhaps two decades.

And if we had to say we've learned one thing, it's this: We can walk in with a perfectly devised schedule and plan, only for it to go completely sideways. We're going to aim for the former.

First, we'll start with the Senate.

The upper chamber is not expected to take the floor for long periods of time this week, given the Senate still has most of its legislation currently residing in a committee, like tort reform.

Last week, senators and the captive audience of attorneys, hospital officials, restaurant and bar owners, and victims' rights advocates underwent several hours of back-and-forth over S. 244, comprehensive tort reform legislation sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield.

Hearings over the bill continue at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

One issue that might be discussed is the apparent coordinated X posts over the last few days targeting Massey, who is also an attorney.

I’m not sure why my mentions are blowing up, but there appears to be a coordinated X effort that has transpired over the weekend targeting Sen. Massey’s legislation by some of the most random accounts. pic.twitter.com/oBP81mxg57
— Maayan Schechter (@MaayanSchechter) February 10, 2025

Over in the House, meanwhile, the chamber is expected to set the stage to debate its energy capacity bill, H. 3309, on Wednesday — known as *the* lengthy debate day.

The House passed similar legislation last session, but the Senate had other ideas and eventually the debate went nowhere.

The upper chamber does have its own energy plan, and so we expect the Senate to move on its own version soon. If both chambers do indeed pass their respective bills this session, the two chambers will likely come to the negotiating table to hash out their differences.

In short: this debate isn't close to over.

House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter is the primary sponsor of the “Ten Year Energy Transformation Act’ that is pending in the SC House of Representatives (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Introductions of note

A new week means new legislation in the Statehouse.

And while pre-filing generally steals the headlines before the legislative session begins, what's filed during the session is just as important to pay attention to.

Here's what lawmakers put on the desk last week:

SC House

Don’t call it a chemtrail bill. Anderson Republican Rep. Thomas Gilreath's proposal — H. 3915 — would make it unlawful to intentionally inject, release, or disperse, by any means, chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus and energy frequencies manipulation within the borders of the state in the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of storms and the dimming of the sunlight.
Anderson Republican Rep. April Cromer filed H. 3916, which would allow for over-the-counter sale of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, two drugs that some believe could help with COVID.
House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, introduced a bill requiring the state treasurer to issue additional annual reports to lawmakers, including one that accounts for the revenue or losses from investments for the previous fiscal year and any other information relating to state revenue which the treasurer deems pertinent and of value to the General Assembly amount, account, fund or combination, which is new, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for — like $1.8 billion. The bill, H. 3925, would also require the treasurer to ensure the accuracy of treasury cash and investment data in the reports and in any systems or books-of-records.
Greenville Republican Rep. Bobby Cox filed H. 3930, which would prohibit any government entity or official from keeping any list, record, or registry of privately-owned firearms or the owners of those firearms, except for that in a criminal investigation and prosecution.
H. 3936 by Pickens Republican Rep. Phillip Bowers would create the "Illegal Immigration Information Reward Fund" within the State Law Enforcement Division to be used exclusively to provide a $500 reward to each resident that provides information to SLED that leads to the apprehension and deportation of someone in the state illegally.

SC Senate

Anderson Republican Sen. Richard Cash introduced his “Unborn Child Protection Act” — S. 323 — that would continue to restrict abortion access in the state and outlaw abortion medications like mifepristone. It would outlaw assisting women in getting abortion access outside of the state, and would eliminate abortion exceptions up to 12 weeks for rape and incest and fatal fetal anomaly.
York Republican Sen. Wes Climer introduced S. 306 that would give taxpayers credits if their child attends a K-12 private, parochial or homeschool.

A copy of the South Carolina House's 2024-25 budget sits on the desk of a member on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Trump admin targets NIH funding

The Trump administration cuts are starting to hit close to home.

For background: On Monday, 22 states sued the Trump administration after the National Institutes of Health announced Friday it was cutting overhead payments for indirect medical and scientific research costs at a cap of 15%. Later Monday, a federal judge issued a restraining order, but, as HuffPost reports, that order affects the 22 states that sued. Additional lawsuits have been filed.

Moving ahead: The cuts mean a great deal for South Carolina universities and colleges, which receive in some cases thousands of dollars and in other cases millions of dollars every year to conduct scientific and medical research.

We reached out to the University of South Carolina, the state's flagship college, to ask about potential impacts and were sent a letter from the school's vice president of research, Julius Fridriksson, to faculty and staff on Monday.

"While we are still assessing the potential financial impact of this new rate structure, NIH awards represent USC’s largest source of federal support and payments for indirect costs help fund the critical infrastructure needed to conduct our work. We are hopeful that the reduction in funds could prove temporary; however, we are planning for any eventuality and remain committed to growing our future health research endeavors," Fridriksson wrote in part.

"Because of the longstanding support of agencies like the NIH, American research universities are second to none when it comes to important scientific discoveries. USC is actively working alongside other higher education partners, including MUSC and Clemson University, to strongly advocate on behalf of the lifesaving research conducted at our institutions."

In short: USC is still assessing impacts. But the loss of these NIH funds for indirect costs would be a financial blow, and not just to USC but to other colleges that get these federal dollars, including the Medical University of South Carolina and Clemson University.

In fiscal year 2024, all three schools together were awarded more than $200 million. In fiscal year 2025, it was more than $24 million.

And those awards cover a range of work and research, from aphasia to alcohol and colon cancer research.

Coincidentally, Tuesday at the Statehouse is "Carolina Day."

FILE - The administrative building of the National Institutes of Health is shown in Bethesda, Md., Aug. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

In her words, Nancy Mace goes 'scorched earthed'

Congressman Nancy Mace's hour-long speech from floor of the the U.S. House of Representatives Monday night was unlike anything we have seen emanate from a C-SPAN broadcast.

And if it was any indication of how the 2026 governor's race might go, South Carolina's reputation as a home for political blood sport might seem like a tame description.

Before her speech, Mace said in a release her remarks are protected by the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause.

Mace outlined a personal story of allegedly discovering a ring of sex crimes committed against her and other women by four men, including one personally close to her, calling them each by name with a large poster board that displayed their pictures.

.@RepNancyMace begins her remarks on sexual assault: "Today, I'm going scorched Earth. So let the bridges I burn this evening light our way forward."

Full video here: https://t.co/WOiLXSnRRi pic.twitter.com/d4itDNItqL
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 11, 2025

Then, after a large photo of Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson was placed beside her, Mace accused South Carolina's top prosecutor of failing to prosecute the crimes and for repeatedly failing female victims over the course of his career.

A reminder: Mace serves in the U.S. House with Wilson's father, 2nd District Congressman Joe Wilson. Both Mace and Alan Wilson are possible candidates in the 2026 governor's race. Neither have announced yet that they will run.

While none of these allegations mentioned by Mace Monday have been publicly reported, the 1st District congresswoman stated she has evidence to back her story up.

"I will burn the system to the ground if I have to," she said.

In response, Wilson's office issued its own lengthy statement, saying the attorney general's office has not received a report or request for assistance, nor did the office have any knowledge about the allegation until Mace's public statements.

(Editor's note: This X post should say the statement came from Wilson's office, not him personally.)

SC Attorney General Alan Wilson’s statement in response to Congresswoman Nancy Mace’s speech on the House floor.

Wilson says his office has not received any reports or requests for assistance, and that they were unaware of the allegations until her public statements. pic.twitter.com/8iYem12IV4
— Maayan Schechter (@MaayanSchechter) February 11, 2025

The State Law Enforcement Division, South Carolina's top law enforcement agency, said in a statement provided to media later Monday that the department did open an investigation on Dec. 14, 2023, into allegations of assault, harassment and voyeurism after being contacted by U.S. Capitol Police.

SLED said the subject of the investigation is Patrick Bryant, Mace's ex-fiancé, who has denied the allegations to local media.

“Since that date SLED has conducted multiple interviews, served multiple search warrants, and has a well-documented case file that will be available for release upon the conclusion of the case. This active and ongoing investigation is complex and has involved multiple lawyers," SLED said.

Once the investigation is done, the case file will be sent to a prosecutor for review, SLED said.

FILE - Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC., speaks during the Republican National Convention July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Daily planner (2/11)