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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: Senate passes $14B budget that raises in-district pay for lawmakers

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Russ McKinney, Gavin Jackson
Published April 24, 2025 at 6:01 AM EDT
The South Carolina Senate debates the state spending plan on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
SCETV
The South Carolina Senate debates the state spending plan on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

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.

We're all in full countdown mode.

There are now seven days left of the regular South Carolina legislative session until the clock strikes 5 p.m. on 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.

The House gavels in at 10 a.m., and Senate returns at 11 a.m.

The House is expected to continue clearing the calendar, and Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, said the Senate will return to the K-12 private school voucher bill after Democrats requested last week that more time be allowed to review the strike-and-insert amendment negotiated between the chairs of their respective education committees.

Notebook highlights:

  • The state Senate gave final approval to the more than $14 billion general fund budget that includes key differences with the House and new one-year laws, called provisos.
  • A new South Carolina Lede episode walks you back through a slow burn of Monday's removal hearing of the treasurer, and where the process stands in the House.
Russ McKinney, Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson
SCETV
Russ McKinney, Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson

Senate OKs $14B budget

The Senate on Wednesday passed the upper chamber's version of the $14 billion-plus state spending plan in a 41-2 vote.

Opposing passage were Sen. Tom Fernandez, R-Dorchester, and Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Colleton, who sits on the Senate Finance Committee.

The Senate spending plan includes:

  • $80 million for a teacher pay raises, bringing starting teacher pay up to $48,500
  • $21 million-plus for the state's school resource officer program, pushed by Gov. Henry McMaster
  • $10 million for disaster relief
  • $7 million-plus for Family Court management, judicial system and attorney and staff retention
  • $4 million for cellphone interdiction at the state's prisons

There's some key differences in the budget versions over:

  • Tuition mitigation
  • Bridges
  • Tax cuts

The Senate spending plan also made changes to provisos, one-year budget language that usually relates to agency spending, including a raise of in-district pay that can can cover travel, office supplies and other eligible expenses.

The bipartisan proposal to raise in-district expenses from $1,000-a-month to $2,500-a-month passed 24-15. Lawmakers get the taxable per-month payout in addition to their yearly salary of $10,400 and per diems, on top of the pension, or retirement, that they collect.

Lawmakers have long been opposed to raising legislative pay — of any form.

Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, told reporters after the budget vote that he opposed the per-month increase because he "didn't personally feel like I needed to do that. But each senator voted their conscience."

"I'm glad they had a public vote on it," he said.

The Senate also tacked on provisos that included a measure targeting state dollars for mainly the city of Columbia over its conversion therapy ban.

What's next in the process?

The spending bill heads back to the House, where it originated.

And the House, as it does for pretty much every budget cycle, is expected to revert changes back to its original form, and then make further changes.

Then, the budget will ping-pong back to the Senate, where senators will likely reject those changes and vote to "non-concur." That will force the bill to negotiations between three House members and three senators, who will all decide on the final product.

One area the two sides can already agree: no earmarks.

Peeler and House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, agreed to nix earmarks in this year's budget. Peeler has said it was in part because requests were getting out of hand and, in many cases, recipients were becoming too dependent on the state aid.

Instead of funding earmarks, Peeler said that money is now freed up for income tax reduction — a Republican-led priority.

In her remarks against the budget, Bright Matthews railed against the budget process this year, calling it wrong after the particular removal this year of earmarks that helped fuel local projects, especially in rural areas.

More than once, the senator likened the process, run by Peeler, to a dictatorship.

"It's unfortunate, surprising. That's as nice as I can say it," Peeler told reporters. "It's unfortunate that she feels that way."

Peeler said he welcomes future work with Bright Matthews, but also pointed to the bipartisan support the budget received.

That included from Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto of Orangeburg, who, Peeler said, "was the loudest one in favor."

Budget clips:
The State: SC Senate budget locks in teacher raises. What’s different from the House plan?
SC Daily Gazette: SC Senate passes budget with no earmarks but a pay raise for legislators

South Carolina Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, left, and House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, right, talk to reporters after a conference committee reached a budget deal, Friday, June 21, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Jeffrey Collins/AP
/
AP
South Carolina Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, left, and House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, right, talk to reporters after a conference committee reached a budget deal, Friday, June 21, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

New SC Lede drops

On the latest South Carolina Lede episode, host Gavin Jackson explores the historic Senate vote dealing with the removal of state Treasurer Curtis Loftis over the $1.8 billion accounting error.

So, if you missed the entire multi-hour hearing on Monday and need something of a refresher, the Lede has got you here.

The episode includes extended audio from the key players and pointed questions from senators during the removal hearing. 

Where does the process stand now?

The matter's future is still uncertain in the House.

The House Republican Caucus met Tuesday with no resolution on a path forward. There was chatter from lawmakers that the Senate resolution was expected to be read across the House desk, then assigned to a committee. But, according to the House journal, the resolution was not read on Wednesday.

Anyway, if the House does decide to start removal process hearings, they have few days to get the ball moving.

There are so few days left on the calendar and the sine die agreement — the resolution dictates what lawmakers can return after the regular session to take up — is very restrictive so that the Legislature can only return to deal with the budget and bills vetoed by the governor.

Could that be changed?

Maybe, but highly unlikely.

Another question lingering is what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation yields — if it becomes public at all this year — and whether the Legislature would have to respond should the investigation wrap this year with possible fines or actions.

Recall, the feds are investigating the larger $3.5 billion accounting error that was publicly disclosed in 2023 and resulted in the resignation of then-Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom.

The $1.8 billion error is related to the larger error.

“I don’t know what else it would take to make the House act, they know that the treasurer is not performing his job as he should,” Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, said Monday after the Senate's 33-8 vote. “I don’t know what more they need in order to take an active role in investigating and learning what we’ve learned in the Senate.”

Treasurer Curtis Loftis leaves the podium after delivering remarks during the hearing for his removal from office in the South Carolina Senate on April 21, 2025.
Gavin Jackson
Treasurer Curtis Loftis leaves the podium after delivering remarks during the hearing for his removal from office in the South Carolina Senate on April 21, 2025.

Daily planner (2/24)

SC House

SC Senate

SC governor

  • 1:15 p.m. — Gov. Henry McMaster to join Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver for the South Carolina Teacher of the Year ceremony in Columbia
  • 2:30 p.m. — Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to visit the YMCA in Summerville
  • 6 p.m. — Evette to be keynote speaker at the 2025 National Council of Insurance Legislators Spring National Meeting’s Welcome Reception in Charleston

Clips from around the state
Tags
SC News SC News
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
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
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