The State House Gavel: Gov's public health pick fails to advance, GOP pushback pauses tax plan

Happy Friday, and the end of a rather newsy Week 12 of the South Carolina legislative session.

A calendar reminder: There are five more official weeks of session, accounting for 15 days, plus one more day for the Senate's Monday, April 21 hearing over the state treasurer. But the calendar is actually more narrow than that, given House furlough plans and Senate plans to be off the floor to account for Senate Finance Committee budget work.

Sine die is May 8.

You're reading 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 this year while lawmakers are in session.

Notebook highlights:

• The Senate Medical Affairs Committee declined to give a favorable report to Gov. Henry McMaster's nominee, Dr. Edward Simmer, to lead the Department of Public Health.
• Concerns within the House Republican Caucus have now delayed a GOP-pushed income tax rate plan that estimates found would hike taxes for six of 10 filers.
• Senators gave final passage to a large energy bill that its backers say brings a balanced approach to ensuring South Carolina meets its electricity needs.

MAAYAN SCHECHTER

A Senate committee on Thursday voted not to advance Gov. Henry McMaster's choice for director of the newly created Department of Public Health.

In legislative speak, the Senate Medical Affairs Committee declined to give Dr. Edward Simmer a favorable report, giving senators narrow if any room to revive his nomination.

A request to advance Simmer's bid failed 5-12.

All 12 senators who opposed Simmer were Republicans.

Only one Republican, Beaufort Republican Sen. Tom Davis, voted with Democratic Sens. Brad Hutto of Orangeburg, Margie Bright Matthews of Colleton, Ronnie Sabb of Williamsburg and Deon Tedder of Charleston to advance his nomination.

As background: Simmer, a retired U.S. Navy psychiatrist, right now serves as interim director of public health, an agency created after the Legislature split the state Department of Health and Environmental Control into two. In 2021, Simmer was confirmed to run DHEC amid the COVID pandemic after extreme agency turnover. That tenure became the focus of his public health confirmation hearings, as some of the panel's more conservative members questioned Simmer over his stance on vaccines and other COVID-related protocols.

McMaster issued a statement via X shortly after the vote:

What's next: Simmer's confirmation is, in layman's terms, stuck in committee. Like any other bill, the Senate could pull, or recall, Simmer's nomination out of a committee and send it to the floor — but that is a high hurdle to clear.

Reporters spoke to Medical Affairs Chairman Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, after the committee's vote about Simmer's path forward and whether he should seek a top position, perhaps director, of the state Department of Mental Health — as Senate budget Chairman Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, suggested during the hearing.

"I can understand the governor's frustration," Verdin, who voted against moving Simmer's bid forward, told reporters. "From my part, I will continue to try to be a bridge between the legislative and executive branches, to bring the best outcomes, and best results for all the people of South Carolina."

You can listen to some of that interview with Verdin below:

"I've had quite a bit of interaction with Dr. Simmer," Verdin told reporters, adding that Simmer has been "very, very capable in many of the unseen aspects" of formerly DHEC and now DPH's work.

The vaccine question, however, was "paramount," Verdin said — a topic that Verdin said he had discussed with Simmer for months.

Jeffrey Collins/AP

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AP

House Republicans are going back to the drawing board after concerns over the income tax rate plan that estimates said would initially result in a tax hike for nearly 60% of filers.

As of Thursday, nine House Republicans had removed their names as co-sponsors of the bill.

Only last week did Statehouse leaders — from the governor to House and Senate leaders and Grover Norquist — celebrate the proposal that would replace the state’s personal income tax rate structure with a flat 3.99 percent for all filers, then lower it to 2.49 percent if revenue growth is strong every year.

House budget Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, told reporters after the vote that leaders are still committed to getting the bill — H. 4216 — passed this year.

But what that legislation looks like is in question.

Some lawmakers have suggested that the the rate be pulled down immediately to 2.49%, a roughly $2.7 billion budget hit. Others have asked lawmakers to pull it down to zero — what some estimates say would be more than triple that impact.

"How do you do a reasonable deduction in the rate to zero, without signification ramifications in the budget?" Bannister told reporters, noting that 44% of revenue in the budget comes from income taxes.

It's complicated, he said, adding later, "we're looking at all the options."

Here's more of Bannister below:

For now, however, it's unclear what specific plan may be presented. And, with a narrow calendar as mentioned earlier, it's also unclear whether the Legislature will have the time to move a proposal forward before heading home for the year.

MAAYAN SCHECHTER

The Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a major, 72-page energy bill — H. 3309 — that is aimed at ensuring South Carolina can meet energy need demands.

What are the bill's highlights?

• Streamlines the regulatory process for electric utilities seeking to build and operate new power plants.
• Requires regulatory agencies, like the Office of Regulatory Staff and the Public Service Commission, to act on applications to build new facilities within six months.
• Provides for appeals of state regulatory decisions to go directly to the state Supreme Court and be considered as soon as possible.
• Gives state-owned utility Santee Cooper the OK to partner with Dominion Energy to build and operate a new 2,200 megawatt gas plant at Canadys in Colleton County.

Beaufort Sen. Davis — one of 41 senators to back the bill in a key vote Wednesday — called the legislation a "balanced" approach.

You can listen to some of his remarks to reporters below:

GAVIN JACKSON

• Weaver directs SC education department not to use terms about race, gender 'ideologies' (Post and Courier)
• Senate approves major changes in SC energy policy late Wednesday. Here’s what we know. (The State)
• 'We've got to...': Energy Secretary Chris Wright affirms commitment to plutonium pit production (Aiken Standard)
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• South Carolina Republicans rewrote anti-DEI legislation at last-minute. Its impact is unclear. (Post and Courier)
• Should AG Wilson have awarded $75M in legal fees to private firms? Supreme Court to decide (The State)
• Continuing the ‘legacy’ of SC’s CEO important to lieutenant governor as she mulls own bid (SC Daily Gazette)
• A Pee Dee nursing leader has received the Order of the Palmetto, SC's highest civilian honor (Post and Courier)
• South Carolina advocates urge $500K boost for child abuse prevention programs (WLTX)