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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: SC's direct car sale bill skids off the tracks

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney
Published February 13, 2025 at 6:01 AM EST
Just shy of its one year announcement anniversary, Scout Motors welcomed partners to Blythewood today to celebrate with a groundbreaking.
Maayan Schechter/X
/
Maaya Schechter/X
Just shy of its one year announcement anniversary, Scout Motors welcomed partners to Blythewood today to celebrate with a groundbreaking.

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, the final day of the legislative week.

It's too cold for a lengthy intro, so we figure we'll just get into what happened at the Statehouse on Wednesday and what you need to know to start your day on Thursday (Apparently, there will be thunderstorms. Thanks groundhog.)

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.

Notebook highlights:

  • A breakdown of what the House passed on Wednesday, which includes its version of the energy capacity bill, and what is coming up on Thursday.
  • The hottest club in the Statehouse Wednesday: the House's Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee hearing on direct car sales. But a flurry of other legislation made its way through the committee process.
  • Planned Parenthood takes South Carolina to court for the third time over the state's restrictive six-week abortion ban.
Russ McKinney, Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson
SCETV
Russ McKinney, Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson

What happened, what's coming next

Let's start with what happened Wednesday in a snapshot.

The big story was in the S.C. House, where H. 3309, the chamber's version of the energy capacity bill, cruised to passage by a vote of 94-11.

The Senate has its own version, and really no matter what is passed — similar to the budget or tort reform — this issue is very much likely headed to conference committee, the negotiation table between the two chambers.

Here's what else the House did:

  • House Education Committee Chairwoman Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, got unanimous support for her educator assistance bill. H. 3196 would make it so teachers would maintain certification with professional development instead of getting recertified every five years. Under the bill, districts would be required to provide the salary schedule before teachers sign annual contracts and be given at least 14 days notice of school assignments. “This is respect that they should have,” Erickson said. The bill also specifies how districts must use non-instructional days: four days professional development; two are staff workdays, self-directed and free from required meetings; four are for teacher planning and parent conferences.   
  • The House unanimously passed S. 253 to spend money on the more than 20 recommendations laid out in the AlixPartners outside audit after the not-so-mysterious $1.8 billion accounting error came to light.

Coming Thursday:

SC House

  • At 9 a.m., a House Regulations, Administrative Procedures, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity subcommittee will discuss several regulations, including on oil and gas exploration and production.
  • At 9 a.m., a House Judiciary subcommittee will meet on four bills that, in part, deal with explicit images of children.

SC Senate

  • At 9:30 a.m., the Senate Judiciary subcommittee will hold its hearing on S. 244 and S. 184, tort reform and dram shop legislation, respectively.
  • After the Senate adjourns, a Senate Finance subcommittee will meet to hear budget requests from the State Fiscal Accountability Authority (SFAA), the administration department and the governor's office. But the panel also will hold the first hearing on S. 318, the Senate's version of the government efficiency proposal, in the style of Elon Musk's DOGE efforts.
Lawmakers at the South Carolina Statehouse on Jan. 29, 2025.
GAVIN JACKSON/Gavin Jackson/SCETV
Lawmakers at the South Carolina Statehouse on Jan. 29, 2025.

Hottest club at the Statehouse: LCI

The House Labor, Commerce and Industry subcommittee's hearing on direct car sales Wednesday had everything: auto dealers, Scout Motors workers, a Tesla representative and so many people stuffed inside one small hearing room that security had to open up an overflow room so people could listen to the proceedings.

In the end, H. 3777 went nowhere after a roughly one-hour seemingly scripted meeting on the legislation that would, if passed, allow certain narrowly defined car manufacturers to sell directly to customers, rather than through car dealerships. Each side was given five minutes per person to make their sell — ping-ponging between direct car sale advocates and auto dealers — that ended with a timer. Lawmakers asked very few questions.

In short: EV car owners and manufacturers asked lawmakers to pass the bill, saying that it would cut red tape regulation and increase competition in the state, all while allowing certain EV owners the ability to buy and service their cars in South Carolina, rather than driving across state lines. Auto dealers argued that Scout, which received more than $1 billion in state incentives to open a plant in Blythewood, was trying to circumvent the franchise system and close down local dealerships, which, they argued, are rooted in the community and often engage in charitable actions.

After the testimony panel's chair and bill sponsor, Berkeley Republican Rep. Mark Smith adjourned debate on the bill.

What's next: Adjourning debate on the bill doesn't outright kill the bill. But, in this case — between the procedural move and the sentiment spoken by members of the panel — the bill as it stands is not going anywhere. Smith told S.C. Public Radio's Maayan Schechter after the hearing there's potentially going to be conversations to find a middle ground.

Read between the lines: Auto dealers have made it pretty clear they're not interested in eliminating the restriction on direct car sales, and Scout has made it pretty clear the bill as written is the best option for the two parties. Remember, Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters he supports H. 3777 as it stands.

Other committee action in the House and Senate:

  • The increasing number of drive-by shootings into homes and cars has law enforcement leaders lining-up behind a House bill that would make the charges a violent crime.
    The bill, H. 3650 by House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, received a favorable report in a House Judiciary subcommittee. SLED Chief Mark Keel testified that a law carrying a felony charge would “help stem the tide of violence we’re seeing in the state.” Dorchester County’s newly elected Sheriff Sam Richardson told the panel that law enforcement is seeing an alarming spike of “reprisal shootings” among young people, and a stronger law would give prosecutors a new tool to use in combatting violent crimes. The bill will next be considered by the full Judiciary Committee.
  • The Senate floor calendar added S. 169, which would allow state Education Lottery players to play the lottery with a debit card, rather than only cash, which is the only legal way to pay for tickets currently in South Carolina.
Just shy of its one year announcement anniversary, Scout Motors welcomed partners to Blythewood today to celebrate with a groundbreaking.
Maayan Schechter/X
/
Maaya Schechter/X
Just shy of its one year announcement anniversary, Scout Motors welcomed partners to Blythewood today to celebrate with a groundbreaking.

Planned Parenthood takes SC to court over abortion ban

The state of South Carolina and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic were back in court Wednesday, as lawyers from both sides debated over the definition of what a "fetal heartbeat" is and when it begins.

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood argue it is around nine weeks, rather than the state law at around six weeks of pregnancy.

State law defines "fetal heartbeat" as “cardiac activity, or the steady and repetitive rhythmic contraction of the fetal heart, within the gestational sac” is detected.

What Planned Parenthood's lawyer said:

  • Catherine Humphreville for Planned Parenthood argued that at nine weeks when a fetus, not an embryo, has developed is when a heartbeat is detected, rather than electrical impulses interpreted on a transvaginal ultrasound as a heartbeat.
    “It (the Legislature) removed the definition of fetal. And so that tells the court that you need to look at the common understanding. And so everything in the record in this case points to the fact that it's only after nine weeks that an embryo becomes a fetus."
  • Justice John Cannon Few: "We’re left with your dependence here, on the interpretation of three words: steady, rhythmic and fetal."
  • Humphreville: "Think that is the core of our argument"
  • Few: "Steady and rhythmic have no medical precision."
  • Humphreville: "Not to my knowledge, no your honor."
  • Few: "You contend that fetal does."
  • Humphreville: "Fetal does have precision. This is, again, uncontested in the record."

What one of the state's lawyer, Grayson Lambert (arguing specifically for the governor's office) said:

  • Justice George James: "The words six weeks are not in the text of the statute."
  • Lambert: "What the statute is doing, Justice James, is not drawing a bright line at a number of weeks or using a number of weeks as a heuristic for a point in pregnancy." 
  • James: "So that gets to the question of, what's a fetal heart?"
  • Lambert: "A fetal heart is a term that is commonly used both in academic publications like I just mentioned, and in common usage in legislative debates in South Carolina and across the country to refer to a point in pregnancy at approximately six weeks when that heartbeat can be detected via ultrasound. But Justice James, I want to just say this, perhaps if you think fetal heart on its face has no clear meaning at best, it has to be ambiguous."

For background: Planned Parenthood said that between Aug. 23, 2023 — when the restrictive abortion law took effect — and Jan. 31, 2024, the health care provider turned away 75% of patients seeking abortions. Of the 906 patients turned away, 86% had pregnancies that were nine weeks or less. In February 2024, Taylor Shelton, who, despite having an IUD, discovered she was pregnant but past six weeks, and Dr. Katherine Farris could not treat her. She eventually made multiple trips to North Carolina for the procedure and the two filed a suit in Richland County's court, which in May 2024 ruled in favor of six weeks setting up the appeal to the high court made up of four men and one woman. 

Catherine Humphreville, for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, gives oral arguments before the state Supreme Court on Feb. 12, 2025, in Columbia, S.C.
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SCETV

Daily planner (2/13)

SC House

SC Senate

GAVIN JACKSON

Freshman spotlight: Tiny mic edition

There are a whopping 32 new lawmakers in the General Assembly.

Thirteen are in the Senate, and 19 are in the House.

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

Next up: State Sen. Jeffrey Graham, a Democrat who represents Senate District 35, covering parts of Kershaw, Lee, Richland and Sumter counties.

Which restaurant in your district would you recommend to visitors: We've got the new place, B. Colson's in Camden. Would definitely be worth stopping in Camden.

What was the last show you watched: There's about three or four different shows that we're watching via Netflix. It's hard to keep up with which ones which.

Clemson Tiger or USC Gamecock: Actually I'm a Presbyterian College grad. USC Sumter's in the district. So today (on Carolina Day) go Cocks!

What do you like to do on the weekend: We love the outdoors, whether it's hunting or camping at a state park.

What do you hope to accomplish this legislative session: Learning the process and how it works. For me, this year, it's making connections among senators and House members, and the state agencies across the state, and making sure that our constituents know we're here to help them with those issues that we have at home.

S.C. Sen. Jeffrey Graham, D-Kershaw
S.C. Sen. Jeffrey Graham, D-Kershaw

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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