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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: Supreme Court race shake up, tax conformity update and gov chief of staff exits

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published March 4, 2026 at 6:01 AM EST
Gov. Henry McMaster along with S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge, Senate President Thomas Alexander, Speaker of the House Murrell Smith, constitutional officers, cabinet officials, agency directors and dignitaries gathered in the Statehouse on March 3, 2026, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. While the Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, it was signed on August 2, 1776.
GAVIN JACKSON
Gov. Henry McMaster along with S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge, Senate President Thomas Alexander, Speaker of the House Murrell Smith, constitutional officers, cabinet officials, agency directors and dignitaries gathered in the Statehouse on March 3, 2026, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

It's Wednesday, March 4.

The House gavels in at 10 a.m. The Senate returns at 11:45 a.m.

The General Assembly will meet in a joint assembly at noon.

There are fewer than 100 days until the June 9 primaries.

Candidate filing opens March 16 and closes March 30.

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 will get into the busy Tuesday at the Statehouse below.

First, Gov. Henry McMaster's office is losing a key staffer.

On Tuesday, McMaster's longtime Chief of Staff Trey Walker, who has been by McMaster's side for decades, announced that he is stepping down after nine years in the influential role before the governor's second full term in office ends.

"As the governor’s historic tenure comes to an end, we all have to prepare for the next chapter in our lives. Exciting professional and entrepreneurial opportunities require that this be my last week working in the Governor’s Office," Walker said in part of his statement, provided to SCETV. "As I have done for the past 36 years, I will continue assisting the governor in the future."

Walker told the Post and Courier in a separate interview he is leaving to start a private consulting firm. And his first client?

McMaster.

The governor has appointed Walker's deputy, Mark Plowden — he was McMaster's chief of staff when he was lieutenant governor and has worked with him since 1997 — to fill Walker's job.

"Trey Walker's done a great job. He’ll be one of the most experienced people in the whole state about state government and a lot of other things as well," McMaster told reporters. "We got a great staff and a lot of work to do, and we're not slowing down. We just adjust. We have enormous capacity. We won’t miss a beat. We’re going to miss Trey, but we're not going to miss a beat.”

And speaking of the governor, McMaster along with S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Kittredge, Senate President Thomas Alexander, House Speaker Murrell Smith and other state leaders gathered in the Statehouse to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

You can watch that commemoration below.

Notebook highlights:

  • Justice John Few pulls the rug out from under the Supreme Court race
  • House will fast-track conformity. What will the Senate do?
  • Senators want an investigation over the private school voucher law and other legislative highlights
  • South Carolina Democrats huddle in Charleston to talk midterm, presidential strategy

Few drops out on his own terms

The Legislature will meet at noon today to elect a host of judicial candidates and elect members to the Public Service Commission, the state's utility rate regulator.

But the election will not include one of the most contested, closely-watched contests.

That's because state Supreme Court Justice John Few dropped his bid seeking reelection to keep his seat on the high court.

On Tuesday morning, Few officially withdrew his candidacy by letter to the judicial screening panel, the Judicial Merit Selection Commission.

And despite there being three remaining candidates, the rules require the JMSC to reopen the entire screening process so Few's last-minute exit means the Supreme Court election is canceled.

Few said in a statement that he had come to grips with the reality that the votes were not there for him to stick it out.

He faced Administrative Law Court Judge Ralph King Anderson III, state Appeals Court Judge Blake Hewitt and the former Republican House Speaker Jay Lucas, seen as the top vote-getter by lawmakers.

Few's term ends July 31. He will stay on the bench until the General Assembly elects his successor.

When will that occur? That answer is unclear right now.

It's rare that Supreme Court justices find themselves at risk of losing their seats.

Few, however, found himself in the legislative crosshairs.

In 2023, he joined the majority in a 3-2 decision to strike down the General Assembly's 2021 abortion ban — a decision he defended at his JMSC screening. Few later joined his colleagues to uphold the state's rewritten current six-week abortion ban. He also faced questions about his temperament on the bench.

Lucas also caught his fair amount of criticism, including over his age (68), whether he would fight the mandatory 72-year retirement rule, and his lack of prior experience as a judge.

The most vocal criticism came from Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, who pushed back against Lucas's bid as a sign of bad optics.

Massey told SCETV Tuesday that Few "saved" the Legislature from being in the position to decide that election.

Here's what else he told us:

S.C. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, on Justice John Few's exit from Supreme Court race 3.3.26

Now to the other side of the Statehouse, where Lucas enjoyed a bit more popularity.

State Rep. Micah Caskey, a Lexington Republican and JMSC member, told us early Tuesday he had not processed Few's exit and was instead focused on helping to get the General Assembly through the remainder of the judicial elections today.

Caskey said there is precedent for the JMSC to hold a spring screening, but that would likely require the Legislature to return after sine die — whether by their own decision or the governor's call for them to return.

Either way, with the incumbent Few out of the race, expect more candidates to throw their hat into race.

Read more:

S.C. Supreme Court Justice John Few
SCETV
S.C. Supreme Court Justice John Few

Tax conformity tango

If you read Tuesday's Gavel, you might feel more deja vu.

We're talking tax conformity again.

First, what is it?

Lawmakers pass a pretty standard tax conformity bill every year 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.

Either from the public or CPAs, there's been a hefty amount of chatter running through the Legislature inquiring whether lawmakers will pass conformity this year.

Why the question?

President Donald Trump's tax law — referred to as the "Big Beautiful Bill" — heavily tweaked the tax code.

However, since last year, both chambers have been debating state income tax legislation. And that legislation unties South Carolina from the federal code. Plus, lawmakers have said they wanted to see what the final state income tax changes would look like before passing a very costly conformity bill that would make it harder to unwind from the federal framework.

That carries us to the action yesterday in the House Ways and Means Committee.

On Tuesday, the committee fast-tracked legislation to conform the tax codes for one year.

The cost? A one-time $288.5 million.

House budget chief Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, told reporters that is the non-recurring price tag with the passage of the income tax bill — H. 4216 — that in current form costs nearly $309 million per year.

Without the income tax bill, Bannister said lawmakers would be staring down a roughly $534 million general fund budget impact.

Bannister said the House plans to take up the conformity bill after the budget.

That change of legislative direction came as a surprise Tuesday to Sen. Massey, who said it's contrary to the income tax legislation passed by the House last year and passed by the Senate just last week.

"That's interesting," Massey said.

McMaster's reaction to the House plan?

"I find that very confusing, to tell you the truth," he told reporters. "But anything that lowers taxes on South Carolinians, I'm for."

The S.C. House Ways and Means Committee passed a tax conformity bill out of committee on March 3, 2026.
MAAYAN SCHECHTER
/
SCETV
The S.C. House Ways and Means Committee passed a tax conformity bill out of committee on March 3, 2026.

Senator wants audit over vouchers, other highlights

Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree said Tuesday he wants to take a deeper dive into the state's private school voucher law after lawmakers learned hundreds of homeschooled students received the public dollars.

Hoping to "plug the leaks" in the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, the Horry Republican said he plans to push for a Legislative Audit Council investigation to look over the program, but particularly the so-called "unbundlers," or specific students receiving education at home, not a traditional school setting.

The conversation was around S.692, legislation sponsored by Hembree that aims to remove homeschooled students from the program more explicitly, and outline what is eligible through the stipends.

The Senate panel moved the bill to the full Senate Education Committee, which is scheduled to meet next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Hembree forewarned his colleagues that he may seek to push a proviso, a one-year law attached to the budget, that echoes his bill should it fail to make it through the full Legislature.

He also advised that rather than spending the more than $20 million through the budget to expand the program to its 15,000 student cap, it may be wiser he said to hit the brakes and hold onto those dollars and keep the enrollment at 10,000 students.

"Holding our ground for the short term might be a good idea," he said.

Read more:

You can listen to the roughly 11-minute hearing below:

S.C. Senate Education subcommittee meets on S.692 on 3.3.26

What else happened in the Statehouse Tuesday?

  • The Senate voted 40-2 to confirm Gov. McMaster's nominee to lead the state Department of Corrections, Joel Anderson. Anderson had been serving in an interim role since April after the former director Bryan Stirling left to become the U.S. attorney for South Carolina. Taking a broader policy position on appointments, the Senate in a "sense of the Senate" agreed that it will from now on decline to consider nominations of anyone appointed on an interim basis unless the Senate president was given advanced notice of the intended interim appointment in a "reasonable" amount of time, or if there is a "genuine emergency or exigent circumstance" that requires the Senate to act fast.
  • The Senate unanimously confirmed Cynthia Crick to serve as the 13th Judicial Circuit solicitor, following the resignation of former Solicitor Walt Wilkins.
  • The House unanimously passed H.4163, sponsored by House Education and Public Works Chairwoman Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, that now, after floor changes, keeps the South Carolina High School League in place but in part tweaks its governance structure and adds different criteria for how people are appointed to the executive committee. The changes came after a Monday League meeting, when longtime Commissioner Jerome Singleton announced his retirement. State Rep. Jackie Hayes, a Dillon Democrat and retired Hall of Fame high school football coach, called Singleton’s retirement the right move at the right time.
S.C. Rep. Jackie Hayes, D-Dillon, on Jerome Singleton's retirement 3.3.26

  • The House also unanimously passed H.5179, also sponsored by Erickson, which requires the State Law Enforcement Division to contract with a vendor to map colleges and universities to enhance law enforcement response in case of emergencies.
  • The Senate unanimously passed S.715, sponsored by Sen. Ed Sutton, R-Charleston, that tweaks which charity groups are exempt from filing registration statements with the Secretary of State's Office.

What's on tap in the House and Senate today?

Beyond judicial and PSC elections, the Senate placed H.3858 — legislation sponsored by Rep. Gary Brewer, R-Charleston — that deals with boat taxes on special order, meaning it will take priority on the calendar.

On the other side, the House is in clearing the calendar mode as it readies to debate the state budget next week, with the debate starting on Monday.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Greg Hembree, R-Horry, speaks on the charter school accountability bill, S. 454, in the Senate chamber the at the South Carolina Statehouse on Feb. 10 , 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Senate Education Committee Chairman Greg Hembree, R-Horry, speaks on the charter school accountability bill, S. 454, in the Senate chamber the at the South Carolina Statehouse on Feb. 10 , 2026.

Dems' strategy on 'winning the middle'

Some 200 Democratic operators, consultants and elected officials from around the country, including a few from South Carolina, huddled up on Sunday and Monday at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston to begin scene setting for the 2028 presidential campaign and what winning messages need to sound like.

Yes, 2028. We're going there.

“Winning the middle” was the theme of the function hosted by the center-left DC think-tank Third Way.

The battle cry from politicos over the two days was what we’ve been hearing from some prospective 2028 Democratic hopefuls, who have already visited the state: talk normal, drop identity politics, actually listen to voters, engage Democrats where they are and fight.

“The party is going to lose in 2028 if they don’t learn how to connect with regular people,” Joe Walsh, the former Tea Party Republican Illinois congressman turned Democrat, told the room. “Be authentic, but damn it be a fighter. The party needs more fighters.”

The focus was the 2028 presidential race, which runs right through South Carolina on both sides of the aisle. The forum even included a panel titled, “Palmetto Politics: Path to Victory Through South Carolina,” for anyone looking to win in the early-voting state. It was moderated by Third Way board member and former Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin.

“I think we’ll have the party nominating calendar a little bit more focused on the general election, which I think will be a very good thing,” said Jim Messina, who served as President Barack Obama’s deputy chief of staff and ran his 2012 reelection campaign. “If we’re going to be the abolish police, abolish ICE, virtue signal party, I don’t care who they nominate we’re going to lose. If we’re the party saying here’s how we’re going to make your life better very specifically, we’ll win that election.”

You can watch part of the forum below.

Statehouse daily planner (3/4)

SC House

SC Senate

SC governor

  • 10 a.m. — Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to speak at Disability Advocacy Day at the Statehouse

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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