It's Friday, Jan. 30.
There are 15 weeks and 45 days left of the 2026 South Carolina legislative session.
Before we wrap Week 3 at the Statehouse, we're back to talking about weather.
Once again, South Carolina is back in the path of incoming winter weather over the weekend that is forecast to start Saturday with snow and sub-zero wind chills.
Major Winter Storm this weekend for the Carolinas into Virginia with heavy snow, high wind (localized Blizzard conditions), and major coastal flooding. pic.twitter.com/pH3UQus3Oa
— NWS Weather Prediction Center (@NWSWPC) January 29, 2026
Statehouse leaders say they're planning to continue with a normal schedule next week.
And, unlike this week, they say there is not an expectation that Tuesday session will be canceled. But House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, once again emphasized the Legislature will prioritize safety over schedule. So, we're on weather watch.
You're reading 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.
Notebook highlights:
- House moves on legislation to require who can use which bathroom
- What the Senate GOP's leader says about the legislative calendar, and why he called out the state's new liquor liability law
- Is it 2017 again? What's going on with dueling roads bills to ease congestion, modernize DOT and quicken infrastructure projects
House OKs bill to restrict bathroom use based on sex
In an expected vote, the Republican-dominated House passed H. 4756, a bill that restricts bathroom usage based on biological sex at birth, in an overwhelming 96-19 vote that included some Democrats joining their colleagues across the aisle.
The legislation, sponsored by York Republican Rep. Tommy Pope, requires that at K-12 public schools and public colleges and universities using a restroom, changing facility or locker rooms or an overnight dorm sleeping multiple students, must be by biological sex at birth.
In a move to assuage concerns, the House by voice vote adopted a tweak to the bill, proposed by Rep. Tom Harnett, R-Charleston, that requires all public school and college and university buildings to have at least one single-user restroom and changing facility.
It's unclear how much that would cost for every school.
The fiscal impact statement does not account for that change.
The legislation codifies and expands what is already state law right now per a one-year measure attached to the state budget.
Many Republican legislators argued the legislation simply protects students, mainly young women, and does not aim to harm anyone. Across the aisle, Democrats said the proposal lacked any real protections for students if that was the bill's purpose, and criticized the legislation for targeting the transgender community.
Read more here:
- Post and Courier: Statehouse bill advances requiring SC students to use bathroom tied to their biological sex
On the floor Thursday, Rep. Courtney Waters, D-Charleston, urged her colleagues to vote against the bill, saying South Carolina doesn't have to follow the federal government's lead, but rather choose its own policy path. Hear more from Waters and Pope, the bill's author:
What else did the House do Thursday?
- The House voted to retroactively reinstate the $1,000 monthly legislative member payout designated for lawmakers' in-district expenses. The monthly stipend was thrown out last year after the state Supreme Court ruled the Legislature improperly tried to give itself a raise, from $1,000 to $2,500. Lawmakers convicted of a felony in the fiscal year and before the effective date (think former Rep. RJ May) do not get the pay. The House passed the Senate resolution, which means it heads to Gov. Henry McMaster's desk. He is expected to sign it.
- A House Judiciary subcommittee advanced bipartisan legislation Thursday that in part would require magistrate candidates to be screened by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission, and require those judges to be attorneys. The bill, H. 3530, heads to the full Judiciary Committee where its passage is likely. Where it goes if it reaches the Senate? Unclear.
- A House Education and Public Works subcommittee advanced another bipartisan bill — H. 4739 — that would require that all colleges and universities, even private and technical colleges, have a safety training program for students. The bill is expected to pass out of full committee and go to the House floor.
Senate GOP leader on 2026 calendar, liquor liability law
Calendar talk may not be the most fascinating part of the legislative process.
But in the final year of a two-year session it certainly plays an important factor in the conversation.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, spoke to reporters about just that topic as the upper chamber continued its expected lengthy debate over S. 52, legislation to toughen the state's laws over driving under the influence.
And nowhere may the calendar be more of an issue than in the Senate — the so-called "deliberative body" — which tends to take multiple days to debate heavier bills.
As of next week, there are four months left on the calendar. And, as we stated above, in total there's 15 weeks left of the session.
So what's next for the Senate?
There's charter school accountability legislation, followed by the House's income tax plan and the Senate's proposal to expand the homestead exemption
The latter two will be multi-day debates, Massey told us.
After the tax policy debate?
Massey told reporters he expects the next debate to be over regulatory reform, potentially followed by a debate over THC hemp-infused drinks.
"That probably gets us into late March, frankly," Massey said. "The budget's coming soon thereafter (in April)."
Massey said there are opportunities for other bills to come up. For instance, he acknowledged the chamber is likely to deal with a comprehensive infrastructure package. But he stressed the issues mentioned are top priorities for the GOP Caucus.
It wasn't only the calendar on Massey's mind.
Thursday on the floor, Massey addressed his Senate colleagues to share that the state Department of Revenue is having a tough time implementing regulations passed into law last year in the effort to lower liquor liability insurance rates for bars and restaurants.
Massey, in a self-described "I told you so" moment, said he didn't believe the law would have much impact because it's so confusing and complicated.
"When the folks who own the restaurants and bars realize that they went through all that effort and we still didn't address their problem, we're going to hear about it," he added.
Hear more from Massey:
Meanwhile, Massey told reporters that despite the law's effective date on New Year's Day, none of the training programs for bar and restaurant servers had been approved — a dilemma Massey said he and Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York, found out the first week of session.
There are now a few online training programs available.
"They (DOR) understand the importance of making this happen, and they're doing it," Johnson said, noting the deadline for training is March 2 or within 30 days of employment.
As of early this week, Johnson said 222 people had taken the class.
"We need about 20, 30,000 people to take the class," he added.
More information about the training can be found here.
Watch for potholes: House, Senate push rival roads bills
As we close out Week 3, legislation tackling the state's Department of Transportation continues to be in a bit of a stop and go traffic pattern.
On Thursday, DOT Secretary Justin Powell was once again in front of a Senate Transportation subcommittee, answering questions about the chamber's new DOT reform bill, S. 831.
As a recap, Sen. Larry Grooms's bill would:
- Permit tolling
- Allow for express lanes
- Implement county transportation committee reforms
- Start developer impact fees for residential and commercial development to mitigate growth-caused congestion
- Increase fees on electric cars
- Deal with the transportation department's commission
- Seek to strengthen internal audits
- Allow the DOT to enter into public-private deals
- Give the state more control over permitting related to environmental impacts
On the other end of the Statehouse grounds, the House finally dropped its multi-page, comprehensive infrastructure package after months of meetings around the state — H. 5071, which was sent to the House Ways and Means budget-writing committee.
In many ways, the House legislation mirrors the Senate's.
But there is one clear distinction: The House bill would make DOT a Cabinet agency, giving the governor appointment power over the secretary, with vetting and confirmation by the Senate.
On Thursday, state Reps. Shannon Erickson of Beaufort and Heather Crawford of Horry — both chaired the chamber's DOT committee — laid out the priorities in the legislation.
Both emphasized the bill — on a parallel track with the Senate's version — is likely to get changed before it ever reaches the governor's desk.
Listen below:
Statehouse clips from around the state:
- SC legislators call for mandatory safety training on college campuses (SC Daily Gazette)
- SC lawmaker ‘extremely disappointed’ with university leadership (The State)
- SC Senate adopts resolution recognizing Oct. 21 as Ronald McNair Day in South Carolina (SC Public Radio)
- Should SC governor pick state’s judges? Executive role debated in calls for reforms (The State)
- Legislators advance bills to ban all or most ‘intoxicating hemp’ products in SC (SC Daily Gazette)
- Data center regs get bipartisan traction (Kingstree News)
- ‘The Wilson files’: Rep. Mace slams chief rival over data the AG’s office says she mischaracterized (SC Daily Gazette)
- USC president receives pay bump but future raises may slow, SC House Speaker warns (The State)
- Statehouse bill allowing casinos in SC seemingly dead after brief hope of revival (Post and Courier)
- South Carolina House bill targets road funding, EV fees, SCDOT reform (WIS)
