The State House Gavel: GOP, Dem leaders sound off post-sine die

Happy Friday.

The 2025 regular South Carolina legislative session has ended.

But it's not technically over just yet.

First, we want to say thank you to all of our State House Gavel readers over the past five months who have followed our reporting since its inception. We are taking a short break, but plan to return later this month with more Statehouse coverage.

As we've reminded readers, the General Assembly is expected to return to session later this month to finalize the state's more than $14 billion state spending plan sans earmarks that takes effect July 1.

The Board of Economic Advisors, the state's revenue forecasters, will release new budget dollars on May 20.

And lawmakers will return May 28 .

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 House and Senate Republican leaders lauded passage of liquor liability and energy bills in the 2025 session. And what they hope to accomplish next year. And facing GOP supermajorities in both chambers, what House and Senate Democratic leaders said about the session.
• Gov. Henry McMaster's appointment for director of the social services department has been confirmed.

SCETV

The South Carolina legislative session was dominated by a few key priorities saved over from years past that Statehouse leaders zeroed in on pushing through the finish line:

• K-12 private school vouchers
• Energy
• Liquor liability with joint and several liability measures
• Fetanyl-related homicide and other drug and crime-related bills, such as revenge porn and failure to stop blue lights
• The consolidation of three health care-related agencies

All have been or will be signed into law — what Statehouse leaders said were serious accomplishments of the year.

That does not include spending in the state budget that will be dealt with later this month, which, in part, includes a measure to lower the state's top income tax rate.

So what do the Republican leaders in both chambers plan to get done next year?

Here's Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield:

One big difference between the House and Senate this year is what both chambers did over Treasurer Curtis Loftis and his involvement in the $1.8 billion accounting error.

Recall: The Senate voted 33-8 to remove Loftis for "willful neglect of duty" for his failure in part over not telling the General Assembly about the error's existence. The House declined to take action.

House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, told reporters after session Thursday that the "House believes that removing him is not the appropriate action to take." Instead, he said, voters should decide.

"There's not the will to remove the treasurer," Smith said per discussions with the entire House body, including members of the Democratic Caucus and hardline House Freedom Caucus.

"We're better suited to defend this SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) investigation, and the people will speak on the treasurer next primary season or next November," Smith said.

Here's what Smith said he hopes to prioritize in 2026:

Asked about the future of more tort reform discussions, Smith said he believes the issue of joint and several liability is settled.

But he and others want to bring insurance companies to the table — one hole in the debate that critics of broader tort reform said should have been part of the talks this year.

Smith said a House Labor, Commerce and Industry study committee will meet in the off year to try and get insurance companies to answer questions about soaring rates.

In the final week of session, the House also passed an income tax plan that lowers the top rate to 5.39%, with the goal of eventually eliminating the tax altogether. The Senate will take up the bill next year.

Despite successes over energy, liquor liability and health care consolidation — bills that had lingered prior to the session — Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto, who questioned whether the liquor liability/joint and several bill will accomplish what it sets out to do, said the session had been rather uneventful.

The K-12 voucher bill was opposed by Democrats, who argued, for a second time, that state money should not be funneled to private school tuition costs.

The Senate has 34 Republicans to 12 Democrats, giving Republicans a supermajority for the first time.

Hutto said the two parties regularly work together on legislation, but acknowledged the membership decline had impact, particularly in the committee vetting process.

"We were fewer in number, but were able to get our voice heard," Hutto said. "... We're not Washington. They understand that our voice needs to be heard."

One clear omission from the year, Hutto said, was an effort by the Senate to pass a hate crimes law.

South Carolina is one of two states without a ban on the books. The House has twice passed a hate crime ban, only for the bill to languish in the Senate.

June will mark the ten-year anniversary of the Emanuel AME Charleston church shooting that killed nine Black churchgoers, including a former member of the Senate, Sen. Clementa Pinckney.

Here's Hutto:

"The reality is that bill does not have sufficient support in our caucus to bring it up," Massey told reporters about a hate crimes law. "If it did, it would have already come up."

Meanwhile, like Hutto, House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, sounded off on the absence of earmarks, or "community investments," in this year's state spending plan, the lack of a hate crimes bill and other sports wagering bills that he said would bump up state revenues.

Here's Rutherford on the session and hopes for next year:

RUSS MCKINNEY

Tony Catone, Gov. Henry McMaster's pick to lead the state Department of Social Services, was confirmed by the Senate to lead the child-welfare agency permanently.

"Since taking over as acting director, Tony Catone has shown the steady leadership, deep institutional knowledge, and commitment to service needed to successfully lead the Department of Social Services forward," McMaster said in a statement. "I have full confidence that he is the right person to build on the agency's critical work to strengthen families and protect our most vulnerable children and adults."

Catone was one of two Cabinet directors confirmed this month.

Last week, the Senate confirmed Myra Reece to head the new Department of Environmental Services, one of two agencies created by the breakup of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Dr. Edward Simmer, McMaster's nominee to lead the public health department — what was also part of DHEC — was not confirmed despite the governor's public and private pushes.

Under the law that broke up DHEC, Simmer can stay interim director until the governor nominates someone new. McMaster's office nor the governor has indicated action to do so.

And, as of sine die, the governor has signed 45 of 81 bills into law.

Still waiting on McMaster's signature includes the hands-free driving bill, the capital reserve fund, and bills on bear hunting and personal delivery devices.

• SC’s 2025 legislative session marked by late-hour deals on liquor insurance, energy (SC Daily Gazette)
• SC House speaker says its up to voters on whether Treasurer Loftis keeps job (The State)
• Lawyers for man executed by firing squad in South Carolina say bullets mostly missed his heart (AP)
• Last day of first of two-year SC legislative session (WSPA)
• 2025 legislative session in SC closes with flurry of activity and major debates on the horizon (Post and Courier)
• South Carolina legislature ends its 2025 session with some wins and some uncertainty (AP)
  Federal Agency visits Limestone University amidst closure (Fox Carolina)
• AG, advocacy groups push Columbia in opposing directions on conversion therapy (The State)
• Plan to help SC bars, restaurants with rising insurance costs headed to governor’s desk (WIS)
• Police chase and revenge porn bills head to Gov. McMaster’s desk (WLTX)
• SC lawmakers lag behind on rural maternal health crisis. What are the solutions? (Post and Courier)