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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: Senate resumes income tax debate; charter schools, shrimp labels on Week 7 agenda

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published February 24, 2026 at 6:01 AM EST
Senate Finance Commitee Chairman Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, in the Senate chamber at the Statehouse on Feb. 18 , 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Senate Finance Commitee Chairman Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, in the Senate chamber at the Statehouse on Feb. 18 , 2026.

It's Tuesday, Feb. 24.

Welcome to Week 7.

There are 12 weeks and 36 days left of the legislative session.

New last night: Gov. Henry McMaster's office announced Monday that Greenville native the Rev. Jesse Jackson will lie in state at the Capitol on Monday, March 2, giving the public an opportunity to pay their respects. More details will be forthcoming at a later date.

State of the Union: SCETV and SC Public Radio will both air live coverage, starting at 9 p.m. tonight, of President Donald Trump's State of the Union address. You can also find streamed coverage on the SCETV website.

Notebook highlights:

  • Senate returns to debate over income taxes and why everyone is talking/asking about conformity
  • What's on tap for Week 7 at the Statehouse, from hearings on shrimp labels to charter school accountability and roads
  • What a former state senator says about South Carolina's political makeup, and whether the governor is still "weak"
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.

Taxes, we're talking about taxes — again

It's not because tax season has started.

We're talking about taxes — a lot — because tax policy has been a central focus of the General Assembly this year.

Let's back up.

First, the Senate last week passed S. 768, the homestead exemption expansion legislation for South Carolinians age 65 and up that is sponsored by Senate Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee.

For primary homes, the bill:

  • Offers a homeowner a $75,000 exemption for anyone 65 and older who moves to the state and lives in South Carolina for five years and the full expansion of $150,000 once they have lived here 10 years
  • Grandfathers in people already living in the state
  • Includes a clause that if for any reason a part of the bill is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the entire proposal is null and void

The legislation also carries a unique provision in the spirit of President Donald Trump "signing" stimulus checks in the first term, or when President Joe Biden's name was placed on signs highlighting infrastructure projects funded by the law he championed.

In addition to what is required to be on a property tax notice or assessment, the legislation also includes a new label for the homestead exemption: "State Legislature Aiding in Saving Homes" or SLASH.

The original price tag of the legislation? Almost $260 million.
An updated fiscal impact has not yet been published.

Now onto the income tax debate.

The House last year passed H. 4216, legislation sponsored by House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, and the chamber's second crack at a proposal that would cut the top income tax rate but would also require most South Carolina taxpayers to pay some income tax.

The legislation:

  • Eliminates the federal standard and itemized deductions, and lets state taxpayers claim a state income adjusted deduction
  • Shifts the state's 6% top income tax rate down to 5.39%
  • Requires that anyone with taxable income of up to $30,000 pay a 1.99% income tax
  • Requires that anyone with taxable income above $30,000 pay a 5.39% income tax
  • Eventually phases the income tax to zero, if the state takes in enough revenue, but senators admitted during the debate that this would be years, potentially decades in the future

Who is affected? According to the updated fiscal impact statement:

  • 38.7% of returns will see a decrease in their liability
  • 34.6% of returns will not see a change in their liability
  • 26.7% of returns will see an increase in their liability

What do proponents say?

The bill's backers argue everyone should pay something into the system — for now.

State leaders have long complained that the "sticker price" of the state's nominal rate is misleading, but they've admitted it puts South Carolina out of whack, at least on paper, compared to its neighbor states. For the past few years, lawmakers have gradually reduced the top rate, from what was 7% to now 6%.

Many South Carolinians, around 44% of tax filers, do not pay income taxes, which make up a generous portion of the state's budget revenue every year, about 45%.

The conversation around the income tax legislation now brings us to another topic.

If you've already filed your taxes, particularly with an online platform, you've probably seen a message related to tax conformity, noting lawmakers have not passed a bill yet.

So, what's going on?

Every year, the Legislature passes a pretty standard tax conformity bill that "conforms" certain state tax provisions to changes at the federal level.

Why? Because state taxes are linked to the federal standard and itemized deductions.

What's changed this year?

The so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill" signed by Trump in July that heavily tweaked the tax code. At the same time, the Legislature is still debating state income tax legislation. But that legislation unties South Carolina from the federal code and lawmakers want to see what the state income tax changes look like before passing a costly conformity bill that would make it harder to unwind from the federal framework.

Here's more from budget and tax policy Chairman Bannister.

S.C. House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, on tax conformity 2.18.26

Bannister said it's unlikely there will be a conformity answer before the April 15 deadline.

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)

What's on tap for Week 7?

We told you the Senate, which will gavel in at noon Tuesday, will get back to its debate over the income tax bill this week, with several amendments on the desk.

What else is on the upper chamber's agenda?

Here are some takeaways:

  • Tuesday
    • A panel of the Senate Transportation Committee will meet in the morning over S. 222, sponsored by Sen. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, that would define in law a "utility terrain vehicle" and require the vehicles have a license plate and registration through the state motor vehicles department.
    • A Senate Education subcommittee will meet at 10 a.m. on two similar bills, the so-called Student Physical Privacy Act, which require use of K-12 and higher education building restrooms by biological sex at birth. The Senate has a bill, S. 199, sponsored by Sen. Wes Climer, R-York. The House bill, H. 4756, sponsored by Rep. Tommy Pope, R-York, includes a measure that would require each building to have a single use restroom.
    • A Senate Finance subcommittee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to continue budget request hearings with the Department of Veterans' Affairs and the State Election Commission.
    • The full Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee will decide in the afternoon whether to send H. 3924, sponsored by Rep. Chris Wooten, R-Lexington, to the Senate floor. The hemp consumable legislation would define "consumable hemp products," regulate sales of hemp-derived consumables to stores with valid alcohol licenses and prohibit sales and consumption to anyone under 21.
    • Members from both chambers will meet at 4 p.m. in a Joint Bond Review oversight subcommittee on the South Carolina Ports Authority.
  • Wednesday
    • Senate budget hearings continue in the morning with hearings over the Judicial Department, the departments of public safety and corrections and the Law Enforcement Training Council.
    • The child welfare panel of the chamber's Family and Veterans' Services Committee will take up two bills in the morning. The first — S. 777, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield — would codify a federal waiver over what foods are not eligible through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. That includes candy, soft and energy drinks and certain sweet beverages. The second bill — S. 710, sponsored by Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York — requires in part that doctors get consent of parents or a minor child's guardian when prescribing any medication to the child under the age of 16, with exceptions.
    • The Banking and Insurance subcommittee will meet at 10 a.m. on S. 342, sponsored by Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, that deals with pharmacy benefits managers, in part prohibiting "point-of-sale" cost increases by the PBMs.
    • A Senate Medical Affairs subcommittee will meet at 10 a.m. on three bills that include S. 299, sponsored by Sen. Mike Gambrell, R-Anderson, that would in part change when a relative or a friend of someone with mental health issues can drive them to a mental health facility, instead of law enforcement.
    • The Senate Education Committee will return at 10 a.m. to discuss H. 4902, sponsored by House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, legislation that would keep secret revenue-sharing contracts between colleges and universities and student-athletes. Hembree said the purpose of the hearing is to hear from college athletic directors about their department's financials.
    • Budget hearings in the Senate Finance Committee will continue at 11 a.m. with agencies that include the State Accident Fund and the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank.
  • Thursday
    • The Senate Transportation subcommittee will meet first thing in the morning over S. 831, legislation sponsored by Chairman Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, that seeks to modernize the state transportation department, ease congestion and find alternative resource sources.
    • Senate Finance Committee budget hearings will wrap for the week with requests from Winthrop University and the Area Health Education Consortium.

The House also gavels in at noon Tuesday.

We expect the lower chamber this week to tackle H. 4762, legislation sponsored by Rep. Steven Long, R-Spartanburg, that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every K-12 public school and college and university classrooms no later than January 2027.

The legislation states other historical documents — the Emancipation Proclamation, the Declaration of Independence, the Mayflower Compact and the Northwest Ordinance — can also be displayed.

The bill also allows school districts and charter schools to have volunteer school chaplains, who must meet background checks.

Here are other House takeaways for the week:

  • Tuesday
    • A panel of the House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to debate three bills. They include H. 4248, sponsored by Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Beaufort, that would require all shrimp and shrimp products, including restaurants that sell shrimp, in South Carolina to have a label that clearly notes the shrimp's country of origin. Another bill on the agenda — H. 4624, sponsored by Rep. Lee Gilreath, R-Anderson — would create the "South Carolina Clean Air Act" that includes a measure that no one can intentionally "inject, release, or disperse" any chemicals, chemical compounds, or "apparatus and energy frequencies manipulation" in the state's atmosphere with the goal to affect temperature, the dimming of sunlight or storm intensity.
    • The House Education and Public Works K-12 Subcommittee will hold a hearing at 10:30 a.m. on S. 454, sponsored by Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree, R-Horry, that seeks to outline clearer ethics rules and transparency requirements for charter school authorizers.
    • A Judiciary subcommittee will take up H. 4763, sponsored by Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Aiken, that would charge someone with a misdemeanor if someone does not stay at least 25 feet from a first responder or emergency medical care provider after a verbal warning. If advanced, the bill will be taken up by the full Judiciary Committee later Tuesday afternoon.
    • The full Judiciary Committee will meet in the afternoon on three juvenile crime-related bills, two of which are sponsored by Rep. Brandon Cox, R-Berkeley. One bill, H. 5121, aims to create in part a statewide database for locally-based juvenile crime prevention programs that help minors at risk of landing in the criminal justice system.
  • Wednesday
    • The House Judiciary Constitutional Subcommittee will meet in the morning on two bills, starting with H. 4717, sponsored by Rep. Jordan Pace, R-Berkeley. The legislation deals with redistricting of the state's seven congressional districts, with the stated goal by Pace to create an all Republican 7-0 map, versus the current 6-1 map, with one seat represented by a Democrat, Congressman Jim Clyburn. Both leaders in the House and Senate and the governor have said publicly several times they have no intention of undergoing mid-decade reapportionment this session. The second bill — H. 4622, sponsored by Rep. Gil Gatch, R-Dorchester — aims in part to provide for "equal parenting time" in family court matters dealing with children.
  • Thursday
    • The Medical and Health Affairs Subcommittee of the 3M Committee will meet at 9 a.m. to decide whether to send three bills to the floor. The agenda includes H. 4042, sponsored by Rep. Jay Kilmartin, R-Lexington, which would allow ivermectin tablets to be bought over-the-counter without a prescription.
The South Carolina Statehouse on Feb. 10 , 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
The South Carolina Statehouse on Feb. 10 , 2026.

ICYMI: TWISC talks to Vincent Sheheen on new book

Camden Mayor Vincent Sheheen, a former state senator, spoke with host Gavin Jackson last week on This Week in South Carolina about his new book, “The Concise Guide to South Carolina State Government,” and how out-of-date materials and continuous changes to the state prompted him to write it.

A few takeaways:

Sheheen: So one of the purposes of this book was to really push back on some of what I would say are the common thoughts we have, because historically the governor was super weak in South Carolina. When the governor was first established in the colonial period and post-colonial period, rather, the governor served two years, was elected by the General Assembly. Why was that so? It was because our people hated the crown, hated the king, hated the Lord proprietors who had been in charge of the colony. They did not want consolidation of power. They wanted power in the elected officials who were closest to the people. And that was the legislature that continued through really until the modern era, through different governing structures, through the Civil War, Reconstruction, post-Reconstruction.

But what has happened in the last 30 to 40 years, starting off with John Carl West, who was from Camden, and Dick Riley and legislative leaders in Carroll Campbell and Mark Sanford and into the future was that we saw governors really become powerful and they are very powerful.

Now in South Carolina, governors can serve two terms. They serve four-year terms. That's not how it started. They now select their lieutenant governor. They appoint the adjutant general, ... those used to be elected. And really, every major agency in the state that does anything important is appointed by the governor. The director is appointed by the governor or the commission that runs. It is appointed by the governor, used to be the legislature appointed those people. Does the legislature still have great power? Of course, and it should. But the governor is a really powerful position in South Carolina now. 
 
You were in the state House from 2001-2004, then in the Senate from 2004-2020. How much have those institutions changed. Is that really due to leadership when you’re in there as well as the party make up?

Sheheen: I think things ebb and flow and I learned that from the book. You know, when (Ben) Tillman was ascendant, he ran everything and the Tillmanities ran everything. And they were Democrats, but they threw out the Democrats that were there before them. So we kind of see that now again. In one-party rule with Republicans, we have the Freedom Caucus and what we would call the traditional Republicans fighting. I think the one constant in the book is that we are a one-party state. There was about a maybe 20- or 30-year period from 1975 to 2000, we’ll say 2010 when I ran for governor, when either party could have been elected to statewide office in the General Assembly, makeup was contentious or close. 

But I think the consistent in the book you'll see is that we truly are one-party state. I think that honestly goes back to the racial divide in the state and how that is played out in politics, whether consciously or subconsciously. The General Assembly has changed as well. It used to be we had one senator per county. The federal government ruled that unconstitutional. And so now we are more proportional, but we still have a Senate where things tend to work slower, and a House where things tend to work quicker. So there's continuity as well as change.

You mention how judges have been reelected easily, absent allegations of incompetence, scandal or bad behavior, which helps foster the non-partisan nature of the judiciary. Is that changing especially in terms of what we’re seeing play out with the current state Supreme Court race? 

Sheheen: Well, in recent years, there's been a lot of heat about the legislature electing the judicial branch. That is very historic and it was related to the formation of this country. But secondly, the result has been a nonpartisan judiciary. Like you don't know if a judge is Republican or Democrat. We don't have Obama judges and Trump judges in South Carolina's judiciary because they need to attract votes from Democratic and Republican members of the General Assembly. And so they tend to be just lawyers who work hard and are willing to go and try to be a judge, which has been a real positive.

Not a lot of scandal compared to other states where they maybe run in public elections, they have to raise money or they're campaign donors to a governor. But one of the things that has made that work is that General Assembly has reelected judges traditionally, unless there's been some major problem, scandal, etc. You're right, there's a Supreme Court race right now where a sitting incumbent justice may not win reelection. That is different from what we have seen in the past. I think part of that is likely personality driven. But are things changing? Maybe, maybe not. I think by and large, this is probably a one off.

And I think the best telling point of that is that a former Democratically-elected African American General Assembly member was the chief justice of our state while Republicans controlled it. And that was because the tradition was the most senior sitting justice would become the chief justice. And my former colleagues in the General Assembly respected tradition.

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  • 4 p.m. — Gov. Henry McMaster, first lady Peggy McMaster and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette will join Darlington Raceway President Josh Harris, NASCAR representatives and state and local leaders in Columbia to recognize Darlington Raceway’s spring NASCAR triple-header weekend

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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