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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: As Statehouse defrosts, Week 4 begins

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published February 3, 2026 at 6:01 AM EST
Snow still remains on the S.C. Statehouse and the complex on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Columbia, S.C.
GAVIN JACKSON
/
SCETV
Snow still remains on the S.C. Statehouse and the complex on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Columbia, S.C.

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, Feb. 3.

Welcome to February and Week 4 of the legislative session.

There are 15 weeks and 45 days left to pass bills into law.

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.

We hope everyone — and everything — has sufficiently thawed out from the weekend's weather. And while we would never position ourselves as meteorologists (looking at you too Punxsutawney Phil), for now the rest of the month looks clear — weather wise.

Notebook highlights:

  • A January in case you missed it recap
  • What's on tap at the Statehouse for Week 4
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.

ICYMI at the Capitol: January edition

It was an incredibly busy January inside the Statehouse.

A handful of new lawmakers, both Republican and Democratic, joined the House and Senate chambers, including the return of a familiar face.

Gov. Henry McMaster, South Carolina's longest-serving governor in state history, gave his ninth and last State of the State speech.

And icy winter weather closed one day of the legislative session.

Here's a brief January recap, in no specific order:

  • In a 96-19 vote, the House passed a bill to the Senate that would require bathrooms and locker rooms at K-12 public schools and public colleges and universities be restricted to biological sex. The bill — H. 4756 — would also require all buildings to have a single-user restroom/changing facility.
  • The House and Senate sent legislation to the governor's desk to retroactively restore the $1,000 monthly payout to lawmakers to cover in-district expenses.
  • Both chambers have dropped dueling comprehensive infrastructure bills — S. 831 and H. 5071 — that in part would seek to ease congestion and modernize how the state transportation department does business.
  • A handful of House legislators have already announced plans they won't run for reelection this year: Reps. Davey Hiott, R-Pickens; Spencer Wetmore, D-Charleston; Jermaine Johnson, D-Richland; and Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken. The House is up for reelection in November.
  • Legislation to greenlight a future casino in South Carolina — H. 4176 — is all but dead after the House sent the bill back to committee. Speaking of on life support, Republican efforts to close political primaries and require party registration in South Carolina hit a wall after the majority party failed to agree on a path forward.
  • The House elected a new chaplain, Jeff Lingerfelt, to succeed Charles Seastrunk, who served in the role for more than 20 years.
  • The Senate started debate over legislation — S. 52 — to toughen the state's laws over driving under the influence. Senators are expected to wrap up that debate early this month.
  • McMaster released his 2025-26 executive budget that includes spending millions of dollars on roads, land conservation and education, including requests to raise starting teacher pay above $50,000 and offer free breakfast to all K-12 public school students.
  • The House fast-tracked a bill, H. 4902, to limit public disclosure of college and university revenue-sharing and name, image and likeness deals with college athletes.
  • Senate and House budget chiefs have confirmed that earmarks — one-year spending by lawmakers on local projects — will return this year. But both chairmen say there will be limits, like eliminating nonprofits.
  • Legislation to cut the top income tax rate from 6% to 5.39% and raise the rate to 1.99% for anyone earning up to $30,000 is on pace to hit the governor's desk this year. The Senate has filed its own tax bill, expanding the homestead exemption law to $150,000 for anyone at least age 65, but with limits for newcomers.
  • Former state Rep. RJ May is headed to prison for nearly 18 years after the Lexington Republican was convicted on five counts of distributing child sex abuse material. He is appealing that decision.

For more, tune in to This Week in South Carolina's Friday episode with host Gavin Jackson and SCETV's Maayan Schechter, The State's Joseph Bustos and Associated Press's Jeffrey Collins.

What's on the Week 4 agenda — so far?

Both chambers gavel in at 2 p.m. — not noon — today.

The Senate is expected to return to its weekslong debate over DUI legislation after a bipartisan working group of senators passed an amendment last week to enhance DUI penalties and close potential loopholes in the law that drivers may use to avoid conviction.

Meanwhile, the House, with a clear calendar, may start new debates over other high-profile and controversial legislation:

Like last month, the House and Senate appear to be starting the month by keeping the interested public, lobbyists and reporters — OK lawmakers too — busy in committees.

Key takeaways for the week, starting with the Senate:

  • Wednesday:
    • A Senate Education subcommittee will meet at 10 a.m. on S. 692, dealing with certain allowed expenses through the state's Education Scholarship Trust Fund, the state's private school voucher law.
    • An hour later, another Senate Education subcommittee will meet on House-passed legislation that requires school districts to consider a parent's request for a private provider to help their child with "medically necessary services" during school hours.
    • And, at the same time, a Senate Transportation subcommittee will meet again on Sen. Larry Grooms's comprehensive DOT bill.
  • Thursday:
    • A Banking and Insurance subcommittee meets at 9 a.m. on S. 342, a bill that seeks the actions of pharmacy benefit managers, or "third-party middlemen" between pharmacy customers and insurance companies.
    • Joel Anderson, Gov. Henry McMaster's appointment to run the state Department of Corrections, will be screened at 9 a.m. before the Senate Corrections and Penology Committee.
    • A group of the Senate's Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to discuss S. 821, legislation to tamp down on false, misleading or deceptive lawyer advertising practices.
    • The full Senate Medical Affairs Committee meets at 10 a.m. to decide whether to approve bills that, in part, focus on teledentistry and that would create a newborn ombudsman in the health and human services department.
    • Sen. Tom Davis's bill, S.867, which outlines a framework for regulating data centers in South Carolina, has its first hearing after the Senate adjourns in a Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources subcommittee.

Now onto the House:

  • Tuesday
    • The full Ways and Means Committee meets at 1:30 p.m. to vote on three bills, including H. 5006, which creates a small business property tax exemption.
    • The full Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet after the House adjourns to mainly discuss bills regarding magistrate judges.
    • Ways and Means budget subcommittees will meet Tuesday on state aid to classrooms, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the comptroller general, the State Election Commission and other agencies.
    • A House Education and Public Works K-12 Subcommittee will meet after the House adjourns in part to decide whether to approve a bill dealing with workforce readiness for public and charter high school students.
    • The full Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee (3M) meets Tuesday afternoon to in part discuss bills dealing with parental rights and the prohibition of doctor noncompete contracts.
  • Wednesday
  • Thursday
    • A Judiciary subcommittee is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. on two bills dealing with increasing penalties for someone convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor and social media platform regulations.
    • Ways and Means budget subcommittees will meet on provisos and requests from the Judicial Department, the Department of Environmental Services and the Administrative Law Court.

For both chambers, the Joint Bond Review Committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday after the hearing was rescheduled.

House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, in the House chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on Jan. 28 , 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, in the House chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on Jan. 28 , 2026.

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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