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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: Budget chairs say earmarks are back, tax and bathroom use bills advance

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published January 21, 2026 at 6:01 AM EST
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, Sen. talks with Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York, in the Senate chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on Jan. 20 , 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, Sen. talks with Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York, in the Senate chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on Jan. 20, 2026.

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 Wednesday, Jan. 21.

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.

The Senate gavels in at 1 p.m. The House returns at 2 p.m.

The Senate is expected to return back to debate on S. 52, legislation filed by Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, that leaders say will strengthen the state's laws concerning driving under the influence and toughen penalties. The upper chamber started debate on the bill Tuesday, exposing some of the rifts over the bill within the chamber. A handful of Senate Democrats told us they like the goal of the bill, but not so much in its current form. So, we're told to expect debate around amendments to the bill. Thursday may be a lighter day on the floor.

And the House has yet to undergo a lengthy floor debate so far in Week 2. As we've pointed out, much of the work has been located in committee hearing rooms on several high-profile, even controversial bills. We're told not to expect much action on the floor this week. But one thing the lower chamber will do on the floor is hold its election for the next chaplain to replace retired Chaplain Charles Seastrunk, who held the elected role for over two decades.

Notebook highlights:

  • Earmarks are back
  • Legislation that impacts income and property taxes flies through Senate Finance Committee
  • House lawmakers take quick action on expansion of bathroom use
Reporters Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson, host of This Week in South Carolina and the SC Lede podcast.
Andre Bellamy/SCETV
Reporters Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson, host of This Week in South Carolina and the SC Lede podcast.

The return of the earmark

If you caught Tuesday's Gavel, you know that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bruce Bannister shared the news with us that earmarks are returning to the budget this year.

That has now been confirmed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Harvey Peeler, the Cherokee Republican who swore off earmarks last year.

“In some form (earmarks will return),” Peeler told us and other reporters Tuesday. “But nothing like it was before.”

Earmark transparency — legislators call them "community investments" — have been a focus of debate in the Statehouse for the last several years.

The process? Both chambers have done it differently over the years, but simply put, legislators request money for projects back home in their districts and the money gets divvied out and local governments and nonprofits get revenue from the state that otherwise they may not have received.

There's been particular attention and discussion around the merit of nonprofit recipients and both Bannister and Peeler indicated that nonprofits are likely excluded from this year's spending.

Echoing Bannister, Peeler said part of the ongoing conversation is having the earmarks flow through agencies, which, they say, can better ensure its accountability.

So, what changed Peeler's mind?

In part, he said the push by communities for more investment and "dealing with the House."

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

Senate budget writers advance tax bills

Sticking with the Senate and money, the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday advanced two big tax-related bills, dealing with the state's income tax and property taxes for older South Carolinians.

First, the committee in a 19-2 vote approved an expansion of the homestead exemption property tax — S. 768, filed by Peeler — but amended the legislation slightly to respond to the growing influx of older South Carolina residents.

The amended bill would keep the age at 65, not 60 as originally intended, and would increase the exemption to $150,000.

Under the changes, the proposal would also include a five-year residency requirement but grandfather in anyone already living in the state.

The original bill version cost $245 million.

The new one? Nearly $260 million.

At the same time, Senate budget writers in a 20-1 vote approved H. 4216, an income tax bill filed by Bannister, that would lower the top rate of 6% down to 5.39%.

The bill would also slap a 1.99% rate on income up to $30,000.

It eliminates the federal standard and itemized deductions. And it includes a measure that if enough revenue continues to come into the state, then the rate would flatten to 1.99%, then phase out completely.

Under the plan, about 24% of filers could expect an increase.

The "biggest thing in this bill, we get to go from taxing off federal income to adjusted growth," said Sen. Ross Turner, R-Greenville.

House Republican leaders' stated goal?

Make every taxpayer — many don't pay income taxes currently — pay something, what critics of the legislation have argued will hike taxes on mainly low-income people.

"Despite what some may tell you, we have never found a way to make sure that nobody sees a tax increase because of the flip from taxable income to AGI," Quentin Hawkins, chief of staff for the Senate Finance Committee, said during the meeting.

Hawkins added staff could not figure out a way, even with a flush of money, to eliminate increases altogether.

Between both bills, it will cost the state more than $370 million in annual dollars the state is bringing in now.

Both bills head to the Senate floor.

If the Senate passes the income tax as is, the bill will head straight to the governor, who supports the plan.

What else did the Senate Finance Committee do?

  • The committee agreed to carry over and continue work on a bill to further expand the Heritage Act, a 2000 law that protects certain American war, Native American and African American memorials and statues.
  • The committee approved a bill to restore the $1,000-a-month payout lawmakers receive for in-district expenses. Last year, committee member Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, sued the Legislature over an attempt to raise that amount to $2,500 per month. The state Supreme Court agreed the raise was unconstitutional and threw it out, but threw out the in-district expense pay altogether.

Sen. Ronnie Cromer, R-Newberry, asked that it be noted for the record Climer voted on Tuesday to restore the in-district pay.

"Leave a tender moment alone," Peeler quipped, pausing before adding, "but he did vote in favor of it."

Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, speaks in the Senate chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on Jan. 20 , 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, speaks in the Senate chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on Jan. 20 , 2026.

House aims to codify, expand 'bathroom bill'

The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday advanced the bathroom ban bill — H. 4576, filed by Rep. Tommy Pope, R-York — to the floor along a party line vote.

The bill codifies and expands a 2024 budget proviso that requires students use bathrooms, locker rooms and changing facilities at public schools and facilities, such as Williams Brice Stadium, that correspond to a person’s sex assigned at birth.

Opponents of the bill say it'll be difficult to enforce such a measure and only lead to more harassment and challenging situations for people who are transgender. Proponents say it’s a simple matter of protecting private, vulnerable spaces.

The proviso was previously challenged by a Berkeley County student and the case is still under review by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that granted an injunction last fall. The student has since switched to online learning due to harassment.

A similar case, Grimm vs. Gloucester County School Board, was found in violation of Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause.

The U.S. Supreme Court let the ruling stand.

Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to debate an abortion-inducing medication bill — H.4760, filed by Judiciary Chairman Weston Newton, R-Beaufort — today.

The bill reclassifies drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol as a Schedule IV controlled substance, and makes it a felony to illegally obtain either without a prescription.

It is already illegal to prescribe the medication via telehealth.

S.C> Rep. Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg, chairs the Judiciary Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Special Laws Subcommittee on H. 4756 on Jan. 20, 2026. The bill was passed out of the subcommittee and the full House Judiciary Committee that day.
GAVIN JACKSON
S.C> Rep. Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg, chairs the Judiciary Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Special Laws Subcommittee on H. 4756 on Jan. 20, 2026. The bill was passed out of the subcommittee and the full House Judiciary Committee that day. 

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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