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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 House budget chief on priorities, earmarks and Week 2 agenda

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published January 20, 2026 at 6:01 AM EST
South Carolina Republican Rep. Bruce Bannister of Greenville listens on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, in the House chambers in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Jeffrey Collins/AP
/
AP
South Carolina Republican Rep. Bruce Bannister of Greenville listens on Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, in the House chambers in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Statehouse reporters Gavin Jackson 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.

It's Tuesday, Jan. 20.

This is Week 2 of the 2026 South Carolina legislative session.

There are 17 more weeks and, counting today, 51 more days of session.

You're reading the The State House Gavel, your daily reporter notebook by Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson that previews and captures what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse.

ICYMI: Hundreds of South Carolinians descended on the Statehouse complex for the annual King Day at the Dome. And, similar to past years, the event this year served as a must-stop spot for Democrats seeking to test out their message for higher office. This year's out-of-state speakers? U.S. Sen Cory Booker of New Jersey and Congressman Ro Khanna of California — two Democrats who have traveled extensively through the early-voting state state already and are rumored to be possible presidential contenders in 2028.

Notebook highlights:

  • Will earmarks (or community investments as lawmakers call them) return? Here's what the House budget chief says.
  • What's on tap for Week 2
The 2026 NAACP King Day at the Dome on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, on the S.C. Statehouse complex in Columbia, S.C.
LUIS ALFREDO-GARCIA
The 2026 NAACP King Day at the Dome on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, on the S.C. Statehouse complex in Columbia, S.C.

Bannister's bullet points

Last year, about a month before legislators headed home, House and Senate budget chairmen proclaimed no earmarks would be added to the state budget that started on July 1.

Needless to say, it shocked lawmakers in both chambers.

So, a big question this year is will earmarks — often referred to as pet projects, pork, or if you're a legislator, local or community investments — return?

We recently sat down with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bruce Bannister, a Greenville Republican who ascended to the influential position in 2022.

We asked about earmarks, the governor's $1.1 billion request for road money, agency requests and other priorities for 2026.

Will earmarks return?

"We're going to do district investments," Bannister told us.

"Probably will not do nonprofits, probably will limit the amount," Bannister continued. "But we will do member-directed projects" in the budget this year.

Is the Senate on board?

"They would like more accountability," Bannister said. "... Like who is responsible for making sure that it got done the way it was supposed to get done. And we think by sending it to a government agency of some kind, and making them responsible to make sure that it happened, that we cover that."

What are big budget issues that are a priority this year?

Bannister told us raising the state's starting teacher pay to $50,500 — what Gov. Henry McMaster has requested this year — will be part of the spending plan proposed by the budget-writing committee. Additionally, Bannister said he is hopeful his legislation to cut the top income tax rate, and years down the road cut it completely, passes the Senate. The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to take up that legislation today.

The committee will also likely tackle, in some way, he said the Medical University of South Carolina's request for $350 million for a cancer hospital. The governor proposed spending $115 million. Asked whether that amount will be mirrored in the House plan, Bannister said, "I think so."

And there's the more than $200 million for the state's Medicaid program, $102.6 million of which is for maintenance of effort.

Also on the health care front, Bannister said lawmakers are still "wrapping our brains" around reductions in hospital funding on the federal side due to President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill. South Carolina was awarded $200 million for rural health care, part of the federal tax bill.

"So, do I have a solution today? No, but we know it's there and we know that's going to be an issue and we'll continue to make investments," Bannister said. "We're not going to let all the rural hospitals close and have health care deserts there. But at the same time, you can't have a NICU in every county with 4,500 people. That doesn't support the expense. So there's going to be a balance."

That will be reflected in the budget this year?

Bannister said yes.

Bannister also said the House will likely make a "substantial contribution" in state dollars in infrastructure, leading us to our next question.

Will you endorse McMaster's $1.1 billion roads request?

As background, McMaster in his 2026 budget asked the Legislature to spend $1.1 billion — most of that new, one-time money — just on infrastructure, citing rising labor and inflation costs.

Bannister said the budget will likely not include the governor's entire request. What will the final price tag look like? In short, to be determined.

"If we did 500 (million dollars), I wouldn't be surprised if we landed somewhere in that," Bannister told us. "Three hundred million dollars for bridges, another 200 (million dollars) for interstate projects to speed them up or get them started sooner."

Bannister said he didn't think it would be "feasible" for state transportation Secretary Justin Powell to spend more than $1 billion in the next year. He noted it's easier for contractors to budget in smaller amounts and, with that windfall, Powell could "end up with a lot of out-of-state bidders way above what the market should be."

The total price tag is still to be determined

Will a gas tax hike ever return to cover road construction?

"The politics of raising the gas tax is awful," he said. "And it was awful when we did it the first time."

Bannister added, "I'm not going to be a proponent of raising the gas tax, absent a whole lot of outcry from the public saying, 'This is the right way to do it.'"

Will the House restore the $1,000 in-district pay?

In short, it appears so.

Recall, last year state Sen. Wes Climer, a York Republican who is running for Congress, sued after the Legislature raised their per month in-district pay (supposed to cover legislative expenses in a lawmaker's district) through the budget to $2,500 a month.

The state Supreme Court agreed the raise was unconstitutional, but in doing so threw out the entire pay, angering a lot of part-time lawmakers.

The Senate is already making moves to restore the $1,000.

As far as raising it again to $2,500?

Bannister said there's ongoing discussions about the pay, but any raise, like the proposal to restore the original amount, won't be done through the budget but a standalone bill.

Could income tax hit a wall with homestead exemption?

As Bannister's bill to cut the top income tax rate makes its way through the upper chamber, Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, filed a bill to run on the same track: legislation to further expand the homestead exemption.

Instead of $50,000, it would go up to $100,000.
Instead of age 65, the age would be lowered to 60.
All that to the tune of $245 million, according to Senate staff.

"We have been talking to the Senate, Harvey specifically, and other senators who wanted to abandon the income tax and just do property tax," Bannister said. "And we have (given them) all the assurances that we will work with them with the property tax, just like they were working with us on the income tax."

"I think the House members are very much in favor of some property tax relief," Bannister added. "They like that idea."

Do you have any budget concerns?

"My biggest concern is making sure that we take advantage of all the things that we can while we have money so that inevitably when the economy cools and things start slowing down and we don't have those, we've set ourselves up to be in a very good position to kind of use the benefits and the money that we spent to kind of ride through the bad budget times," Bannister said.

"I'd like to see us make really good decisions about how we're allocating the money and fixing the things we need to fix now while we have money."

The full House Ways and Means Committee is expected to meet the week of Feb. 17 on the budget, with the floor debate to follow the week of March 9.

ICYMI: Take a listen to our sit-down with House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, on This Week in South Carolina about chamber priorities and what South Carolinians can expect to see in the final legislative year.

What's on tap for Week 2?

It seems everything and anything.

The Senate plans to spend some substantial time on the floor this week — and maybe next — debating S. 52, a bill senators are hoping will toughen the state's laws over driving under the influence. Senators put the bill on special order, which means it gets a prime debate slot on the calendar.

Because of that, there are a small handful, but still important committee hearings scheduled this week. Here's a glimpse:

Now onto the House, which, politely said, has packed its off-the-floor calendar. In particular, the House Ways and Means Committee, which is busy hearing from various agencies and starting the stages of writing the first draft of the state budget.

On the floor, the House will hold its election on Wednesday for the next chamber chaplain after Chaplain Charles Seastrunk retired from his long-held role in the fall. And, as we previewed last week, there's a question of whether the House will bring up legislation sitting on the calendar to greenlight a future casino.

By no means will this be an exhaustive list, but here's a sample of what is happening off the floor this week:

You can find the Senate and House's full meeting schedule online at scstatehouse.gov.

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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