Happy Thursday and welcome to May.
There are four days left of the legislative session.
A reminder: The House gavels in 10 a.m. and the Senate returns at 10:45 a.m. The two chambers will meet in a joint assembly at 11 a.m. to elect three members of the Public Service Commission, which oversees utility rates:
- 2nd Congressional District for a term that expires June 30, 2026
- 4th Congressional District for a term that expires June 30, 2026
- 6th Congressional District for a term that expires on June 30, 2026
Also, Vice President JD Vance is in the Lowcountry Thursday to tour the Nucor Steel plant in Berkeley County with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.
It is Vance's first trip to South Carolina as vice president.
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:
- Senators confirmed Gov. Henry McMaster's pick to lead the new Department of Environmental Services, and other Senate highlights.
- The House will start part of its last week in session debating a revised income tax plan after its first try received loud opposition. We also reveal the status of tort reform legislation, with reaction from the chair of the House Judiciary Committee.
- The "Educator Assistance Act" is headed to the governor's desk.
Senate confirms environmental pick
The Senate voted 29-9 to confirm Myra Reece’s nomination to be director of the state Department of Environmental Services.
The new department is formerly part of what was the Department of Health and Environmental Control, or DHEC, where Reece was a veteran environmental director.
Reece's confirmation is a needed win for Gov. Henry McMaster, whose pick to lead the public health department Dr. Edward Simmer failed to advance out of the Senate Medical Affairs Committee.
Reece has faced some criticism, but nothing like the mobilization against Simmer. Among her loudest critics was wealthy beachfront owner Rom Reddy, who was fined nearly $300,000 for building what regulators say was an illegal beach seawall in front of his home.
His trial is expected to start May 6, The State reported.
State Sen. Wes Climer, the York Republican who chairs the committee that vetted Reece, said on the floor Wednesday that Reece is "qualified on paper," highlighting her leadership roles and decades with DHEC.
But he questioned her stance on policy decisions, and said she takes a "relatively dim view" of the rights of private landowners.
Twenty-nine senators disagreed.
As did McMaster.
"There is no one more qualified or better positioned to continue leading the Department of Environmental Services forward and into the future than Myra Reece," the governor said in a statement after her confirmation. "Today, the state Senate joined a long list of leaders from business, environmental, and agriculture organizations in confirming this fact. I am confident that under Myra Reece’s leadership, the agency will continue enforcing our state's laws as written, thereby protecting both our state’s natural resources and our booming economy."
McMaster has another Cabinet nominee waiting in the wings.
Tony Catone, the governor's nominee to lead the Department of Social Services, is scheduled to have his first hearing before the Senate Family and Veterans' Services Committee May 7.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, said the expectation is that the Senate will vote on his confirmation May 8, what is sine die.
What else the Senate did Wednesday:
- In a 40-0 vote, the Senate amended H. 3276, the hands-free driving bill that would prohibit drivers from scrolling through their phone while driving. The bill goes back to the House.
- The Senate gave second reading to H.3127, which ups penalties for not stopping for law enforcement, but held amendments for third reading — what will be the key vote.
"Right now, we have several incidents that are occurring throughout the state where suspects are running from law enforcement, and they're getting a slap on the hand and then they do it again, and again and again," Sen. Brian Adams, R-Berkeley, said. "What they're doing is putting innocent peoples' lives at risk, when all they have to do is stop and obey the law."
The state of income tax and tort reform
Lawmakers will try again next week, the final week of the legislative session, to lower the state’s income tax rates.
On Tuesday, the House plans to debate a bill — an amended H. 4216 — that they say would put the state on the path of eliminating the tax altogether.
Fast facts:
- Lawmakers threw out their original plan that would have lowered the top rate to 3.99% after estimates said it would raise taxes on nearly 60% of filers.
- Under the new plan, starting in 2026, the top rate would drop to 5.39% at a $400 million cost.
- Filers with taxable income less than $30,000 would pay 1.99%.
- Income of $30,000 or more would pay a top rate of 5.39%.
- If the state continues to see strong revenue growth, then the two rates would collapse into one, and could eventually lower to zero.
- Under this new plan, only 24% of filers could expect an increase.
House leaders told reporters Tuesday this is a more responsible, and more rational, way to slash the income tax.
"The original idea was to get the lowest possible rate with a flat tax, so everybody was treated the same," House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, said.
That plan would have raised taxes for a majority of filers, what resulted in loud opposition from particularly state lawmakers.
"When you have resistance like that, you back up and find a different path," Bannister told reporters.
But the plan won’t become law this year.
The Senate's chief budget writer, Cherokee Republican Harvey Peeler, told reporters earlier this month that they'll look it over after session and take it up next year.
More clips:
- SC Daily Gazette: House GOP advances new plan for SC income taxes that has fewer paying more
- The State: New SC tax reform plan could lower rates, but 24% of filers would pay more money
- Post and Courier: SC Statehouse trying again with new income tax plan that will benefit most taxpayers, they say
That brings us to tort reform and liquor liability.
The House and the Senate are in a bit of a tug-of-war.
But negotiations are ongoing between the chambers.
As a brief refresh: The Senate passed a larger tort reform package — S. 244 — that dealt with victims, liquor liability, joint and several liability, trucking, manufacturing, hospitals and other sectors. The House passed a more narrow liquor liability bill, H. 3497. Neither bill has gained much traction in the opposing body.
And, in response to that stalemate, the House has slapped its liquor liability bill onto a handful of Senate bills with days left.
So what's the future of the tort reform bill?
To start, the House Judiciary Committee's tort reform ad hoc will meet at 8:30 a.m. Thursday on liquor liability and tort reform. (There will be an overflow room and the hearing will be livestreamed.)
Separately, there is an Insurance Rate Review Ad Hoc Committee hearing Thursday afternoon. It'll be livestreamed.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Weston Newton, R-Beaufort, told us the larger tort reform package will not become law this session. What has a chance, he said, is what he has coined "liquor liability plus."
"It's (S. 244) entirely too big for us to address in the amount of time" available, Newton said.
Hear more from Newton below:
Educator Assistance bill heads to gov
A top 2025 priority for House Education and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Shannon Erickson is heading to the governor's desk.
The Beaufort Republican said she has been pushing passage of the so-called Educator Assistance Act — H. 3196 — for her entire 18-year legislative career.
“It's about respect,” Erickson said about the bill to help teachers, which was amended by the Senate and the House agreed to the changes Wednesday. “It's about them being treated like a profession that gets certified, gets a license, goes to work.”
The bill would:
- Provide teachers with clear and detailed contracts (that include salary)
- Fine a board of trustees that fails to approve teacher contracts in a timely manner
- Allow teachers to have permanent certification if they complete annual professional development.
The bill, with the governor's expected signature, would take effect for the 2026 school year.
Daily planner (5/1)
SC House
- 8:30 a.m. — Blatt 516 — Tort Reform Ad Hoc on 3497
Agenda Available
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - 9 a.m. — Gressette 209 — Public Utilities Review Committee Meeting
Agenda Available - 9 a.m. — Blatt 427 — 3M Full Committee on 221, 3453, 4165, 4342, 4343, 4385
Agenda Available
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - 10 a.m. — House in session
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - After the House adjourns — Blatt 403 — Insurance Rate Review Ad Hoc Committee
Agenda Available
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - 1 p.m. or after the House adjourns, whichever is earlier — Blatt 516 — Judiciary Domestic Relations, Business and Probate Laws Subcommittee on 415
Agenda Available
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only
SC Senate
- 9 a.m. — Gressette 308 — Family and Veterans' Services Child Welfare Subcommittee on 331
Agenda Available
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - 9 a.m. — Gressette 207 — Senate Corrections Committee
Agenda Available
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - 9 a.m. — Gressette 209 — Public Utilities Review Committee Meeting
Agenda Available - 10 a.m. — Gressette 308 — Senate Medical Affairs Committee
Agenda Available
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - 10:45 a.m. — Senate in session
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only
SC governor
- 1:45 p.m. — Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to tour Nucor Steel Berkeley with Vice President JD Vance and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin
Clips from around the state
- A Lowcountry task force fighting human trafficking is changing lives (SC Public Radio)
- Limestone University board votes to close 179-year-old college in Gaffney (SC Public Radio)
- SC State University leader to get $80K raise. Winthrop president to get $30K hike (The State)
- New law helps SC students gain ‘real-world experiences’ (WIS)
- Scout Motors eyes SC and other states for a corporate headquarters with 1,000 jobs (Post and Courier)
- How DOGE humanities grant cuts are affecting non-profit programming in South Carolina (Greenville News)
- Trey Gowdy and Bakari Sellers call for due process and common ground at Wofford College event (Post and Courier)
- Bills to improve SC road safety move closer to governor’s desk (WIS)
- South Carolina bill would ease child abuse data subpoenas (WLTX)
- SC High School League under fire again from lawmakers. The latest on sweeping bill (The State)
- DOGE hits Greenville Co. as abrupt cuts to federal AmericCorps aid in SC slashes jobs and programs (Post and Courier)
