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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 senators grill treasurer's office over $1.8B error

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney
Published February 19, 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.

Happy Wednesday.

A few quick notes to lead us in midweek.

  • South Carolina's First Assistant U.S. Attorney Brook Andrews is now acting U.S. attorney after now-former U.S. Attorney Adair Ford Boroughs, tapped by former President Joe Biden, was essentially fired due to the Vacancies Reform Act (otherwise known as President Donald Trump is now in the White House). It's now up to Trump to name Boroughs's successor. Last term, he named attorney and former state Rep. Peter McCoy. Among those under consideration now? Bryan Stirling, director of the state's corrections department. Boroughs spoke to Gavin Jackson last month on This Week in South Carolina.
  • The House's version of the $14 billion state spending plan won't hit the floor until March 10. But, for now, what those line items look like and what provisos (one-year laws attached to the budget) get added or deleted is up for debate in the Ways and Means Committee, which plans to finalize those decisions this week.
  • Gov. Henry McMaster on Tuesday appointed Brigadier General Robin Stilwell to be South Carolina's next adjutant general, succeeding outgoing Maj. Gen. Van McCarty. Stilwell currently is the director of the Joint Staff for the S.C. National Guard. McCarty will stay in the position until the Senate confirms Stilwell.

Notebook highlights:

  • A S.C. Senate Finance Committee panel grilled the state Treasurer Curtis Loftis's chief of staff, Clarissa Adams, for more than three hours about the outside audit and her knowledge of the accounting error.
  • Breakdown of House and Senate judiciary action.
  • Large industrial energy users and a few state senators are pushing "limited retail choice" as the Legislature debates energy capacity.
U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Adair Ford Boroughs speaks with Gavin Jackson on SCETV's This Week in South Carolina on Jan. 22, 2025.
AIMEE CROUCH/SCETV
U.S. Attorney for South Carolina Adair Ford Boroughs speaks with Gavin Jackson on SCETV's This Week in South Carolina on Jan. 22, 2025.

Senate puts treasurer staff in hot seat

The fallout over South Carolina's not-so-mysterious $1.8 billion accounting error is nowhere close to going away.

For nearly four contentious hours on Tuesday, a Senate Finance Committee panel grilled the state Treasurer's Office chief of staff, Clarissa Adams, about her knowledge of the error and the $3 million AlixPartners outside audit that showed that $1.6 billion of that account did not in fact exist.

Treasurer Curtis Loftis did not attend the meeting Tuesday, despite that committee chair Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, said last Thursday he was told Loftis would be in attendance.

Loftis posted on Facebook Feb. 15 that he was on a camping trip.

Adams, placed under oath by senators, stated in her introductory remarks that the state's accounts and investments are properly accounted for, and that there is no "mysterious" bank account and no stolen money. She said the office is committed to implementing the audit's recommendations.

Grooms said his issue was not whether an error was made, but asked why was it "hidden." And Adams responded by saying the error was never hidden, and said there was nothing nefarious and no malfeasance.

Senators sought to settle their questions on a few areas:

  • When did Adams know about the error?
  • Why didn't Adams help bring it to the attention of the Legislature?
  • Why did the Treasurer's Office hire a crisis management firm, and who is paying for it?
  • Why did the treasurer tell senators last year that he was going to release sensitive financial data that created security concerns?
  • What could an investigation, like the ongoing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, mean for the state?

You can watch the full (blockbuster) hearing on the Statehouse website here.

What's next: The Senate Finance subcommittee will meet again after session Thursday to hear from Comptroller General Brian Gaines (who took over after then-Comptroller Richard Eckstrom resigned in 2023 over a larger, related $3.5 billion accounting error). Then, the panel plans to hold a meeting next week and call Loftis to testify.

Calling this meeting into order

There was more than House and Senate floor action Tuesday.

Here's what came out of the chamber's respective judiciary committees, which both met in full on Tuesday:

  • The House Judiciary Committee approved H. 3654 and H. 3048, which deals with guardian ad litem access to child welfare records. and adds background checks and fingerprinting to coroner qualifications, respectively. Both bills now go to the House floor for future debate.
  • Until next time: The House Judiciary Committee also carried H. 3127, which would increase penalties and make it a felony for an aggravated failure to stop for a blue light, such as exceeding 100 mph, and carried over H. 3276, a hands-free driving proposal. Both bills will be part of next week’s agenda.  
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee approved S. 12, S. 51, S. 136, S. 156, S. 157, S. 159, S. 183 — bills dealing with energy, storm damage recovery and drug, gun and retail crimes. The organized retail crime bill, S. 159, mirrors the House version, H. 3523, that was just assigned to committee. Members will use the House bill. The bill to dismiss all charges pending for unlawful possession of a handgun that were nullified by the expansion of gun rights with the 2024 constitutional carry law was also approved. The bill, S. 136, had previously passed the Legislature but was vetoed by the governor. The Senate overturned it, but time ran out in the House.   
GAVIN JACKSON

The cost of 'limited retail choice'

A group of large industrial energy users says it has the “perfect solution” to the problem of a shortfall of energy capacity in the state.

It’s known as “limited retail choice,” and it's allowed in 19 states.

What it seeks to do: It would allow very large energy users (manufacturing plants, data centers, etc.) to buy their power on the open market, and not be restricted to one, local energy provider — which is current law.

Who's behind the push: The "Palmetto Industrial Energy Association" is urging the Senate to include “limited retail choice” in any energy bill that is passed this session. Republican state Sens. Wes Climer, of York County, and Tom Fernandez, a freshman senator from Dorchester County, touted a study Tuesday, which says that not forcing large users to buy power from a single provider would allow them the freedom to shop for the best deal around, and therefore help them economically, benefiting the state.

But utilities and electric cooperatives point to other studies, which say that where “limited retail choice” is allowed, residential ratepayers suffer.

"Our job is to advocate for energy policies that benefit all of our customers, including the hundreds of thousands of South Carolina families and small businesses that depend on us for electricity," said Avery Wilks, a spokesman for South Carolina's electric cooperatives.

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GAVIN JACKSON

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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