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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: House OKs bill giving gov power over judicial screening, NIL bill advances

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published February 12, 2026 at 6:16 AM EST
The South Carolina Statehouse on Feb. 10 , 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
The South Carolina Statehouse on Feb. 10 , 2026.

It's Thursday, Feb. 12.

Week 5 of the 2026 legislative session has almost wrapped.

The House returns at 10 a.m.

The Senate gavels in at 11 a.m., when the chamber will get back to debate over S. 768, Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler's property tax reduction bill. The legislation sponsored by the Cherokee Republican would expand the state's homestead exemption law to $150,000 for anyone age 65 and up, with limits on new residents.

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.

A couple of news items before we "gavel in" this Thursday.

First, Gov. Henry McMaster has finally made his endorsement clear for who he wants to be South Carolina's next governor.

In an interview with Associated Press reporter Meg Kinnard, McMaster's Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette shared a video message from the state's top executive, saying, "With Pamela Evette as our next governor, we'll keep winning."

The pair — McMaster chose the Travelers Rest businesswoman as his running mate before his first term in 2018 — are scheduled to appear together at an event in Columbia today.

Second, though the topic was not up for debate inside the Statehouse, local to state leaders Wednesday reacted to news reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had entered a lease in a prominent down Columbia building.

Local leaders, including the mayor, said they were unaware.

“In South Carolina, state and federal law enforcement agencies coordinate, communicate, and collaborate with one another on a daily basis on serious matters of public safety and national security," Gov. McMaster's office said Wednesday. "There is no expectation that federal law enforcement agencies notify the Governor’s Office in advance of making routine day-to-day administrative decisions.”

Notebook highlights:

  • House passes bill to give governor more appointment power in judge selection process
  • University and college athletic directors push for limited disclosure of NIL and revenue-sharing contracts with athletes
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, talks with (from left) Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, Senate Clerk Jeffrey Gossett and Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, in the Senate chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on Feb. 11 , 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, talks with (from left) Senate President Thomas Alexander, R-Oconee, Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, Senate Clerk Jeffrey Gossett and Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Charleston, in the Senate chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on Feb. 11 , 2026.

Should gov pick judge screening panel? House says yes

The House on Wednesday passed legislation that would give the governor full appointment power over who sits on the judicial screening panel.

The 86-25 vote on H. 4755, filed by Rep. Gil Gatch, R-Dorchester, fell mainly on political party lines, pushing the bill over to the Senate.

The proposal removes legislators from the 10-member Judicial Merit Selection Commission, or JMSC, which screens and approves candidates for a handful of judicial seats, from family and circuit courts all the way to the state Supreme Court.

Instead, the JMSC would expand to 12 seats and the governor would choose all the members.

None can be a legislator, and the spouse or family member of a sitting lawmaker would also be ineligible.

The legislation requires term limits, and also notes that factors like race, gender, religion or any other "diversity, equity, and inclusion criteria" cannot be used in the process of nominations and appointments.

And, under a change made Wednesday, the bill would require the Senate (which chooses magistrate judges) to send magistrate candidates to the JMSC for a review of their qualifications. The JMSC would then send their report to the governor and Senate, the governor would make the appointment and the Senate would decide whether to confirm.

Why the push?

As you'll recall, a newly passed law changing the makeup of the JMSC — giving the governor some appointment power — only took effect last year.

But, since, there's been a push — by the conservative hardline House Freedom Caucus, Attorney General Alan Wilson, the governor, and other outside groups — to strip lawyer-legislators entirely from the screening panel.

Removing the Legislature altogether from the judicial election process, as some have called for, requires a much heavier lift: changing the state constitution.

The legislation now goes over to the Senate, where the bill does have support. Though it still remains a question as to whether the chamber takes a real bite at the bill before the year ends.

Other House notes:

  • In a unanimous 103-0 vote, the House passed H. 5006, sponsored by Rep. Brandon Newton, R-Lancaster, which would offer small businesses a tax break, exempting the first $10,000 from business personal property taxes and offers a tax break to certain companies if their headquarters are located in South Carolina.
  • A House Ways and Means subcommittee heard more testimony over the chamber's state Department of Transportation modernization bill, H. 5071, sponsored by Education and Public Works Chair Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort. The House version is slightly different than S. 831, sponsored by Senate Transportation Chair Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, which sits on a parallel track in the upper chamber and will be heard by a subcommittee this morning. The House bill includes changes to:
    • Restructure the agency and make it a part of the governor's Cabinet
    • Remove two at-large members of the DOT Commission
    • Update tolling statutes, increase biennial registration fees on electric vehicles, and add a fee of 4.5 cents per kilowatt-hour on electricity at publicly accessible charging stations
    • Provide greater oversight of county transportation committees and strengthen internal audits
    • Incentivize local governments to take ownership and maintenance responsibilities of state-owned roads
S.C. Rep. Micah Caskey, R-Lexington, answers questions from Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley, about an amendment to the Judicial Merit Selection Commission bill, H. 4755, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.
MAAYAN SCHECHTER/SCETV
S.C. Rep. Micah Caskey, R-Lexington, answers questions from Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley, about an amendment to the Judicial Merit Selection Commission bill, H. 4755, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.

Senate panel OKs NIL bill as some voice concerns

South Carolina could very soon join other states that limit the public disclosure of name, image and likeness and revenue-sharing contracts between colleges and universities and college athletes — an expansion of state law that universities say without could put them at a real competitive disadvantage.

Athletic directors from the state's major universities and colleges have asked South Carolina lawmakers to pass H. 4902, saying it strikes a balanced approach by protecting individual student-athletes, while allowing the public to know the aggregate total spending per year.

"For programs like Coastal that compete nationally, disclosure of individual agreements would create immediate and material competitive harm," Chance Miller, vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics and University Recreation at Coastal Carolina University, wrote to Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree, R-Horry. "If South Carolina public institutions are required to disclose individualized terms while peer competitors in other states are not, our student-athletes and our programs would be put at a clear disadvantage in recruiting, retention, and roster management."

"This approach preserves appropriate public accountability without exposing sensitive, individualized financial information," University of South Carolina's Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati wrote to Hembree.

"Subjecting these agreements to public disclosure would raise serious privacy concerns for our student-athletes, potentially exposing them to undue public scrutiny and creating risks that extend well beyond the playing field," Clemson University's Athletics Director Graham Neff wrote Hembree.

The Senate Education Committee advanced the legislation, sponsored by House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, Wednesday by voice vote to keep those contracts private.

The vote was not unanimous.

Sen. Everett Stubbs, a York County Republican, voted to send the bill to the Senate floor but said he had serious hesitation.

You can listen to Stubb's remarks at the hearing below:

S.C. Sen. Everett Stubbs, R-York, on NIL bill 2.11.26

The bipartisan-backed bill has hit the fast-track in the General Assembly, bypassing traditional hearings for public testimony.

The House, which passed the bill, completely skipped the committee process, putting it on the floor without much notice.

The Senate Education Committee held a full committee hearing over the bill but skipped the subcommittee stage — an issue raised by Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson.

Instead, the committee took written testimony, which it received from college and university athletic directors as reported above and Jay Bender, an attorney for the South Carolina Press Association.

"This legislation will not 'save college sports.' It will not make Carolina a national champion in football," Bender wrote. "It only serves the interests of the schools at the expense of the public, the players, and the credibility of the General Assembly."

The bill could be taken up by the Senate and sent as early as this month to the desk of McMaster, who has shared his own concerns about contract transparency as we reported this week.

Read more:

From left to right, Clemson men's soccer coach Mike Noonan, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer, Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney and Coastal Carolina football coach Tim Beck pose for photos with lawmakers before a meeting of a South Carolina House committee considering a bill allowing schools to help athletes with name, image and likeness deals on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
Jeffrey Collins/AP
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AP
From left to right, Clemson men's soccer coach Mike Noonan, South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer, Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney and Coastal Carolina football coach Tim Beck pose for photos with lawmakers before a meeting of a South Carolina House committee considering a bill allowing schools to help athletes with name, image and likeness deals on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

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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