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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: Roads bill revs up in Senate, former lawmaker elected SC judge

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published March 5, 2026 at 6:01 AM EST
Chuck Williams, Sergeant at Arms for the South Carolina Senate, escorts senators to the House chamber for judicial elections at the Statehouse on March 4, 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Chuck Williams, Sergeant at Arms for the South Carolina Senate, escorts senators to the House chamber for judicial elections at the Statehouse on March 4, 2026.

It's Thursday, March 5.

The end of Week 8 is almost here.

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

Legendary college football coach Lou Holtz, who coached the University of South Carolina Gamecocks from 1999-2004, died Wednesday at 89.

House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, a Richland Democrat, announced Holtz's passing during session Wednesday, then asked that the House adjourn in his memory.

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:

  • Senate revs up to go to work on roads
  • House passes bill that seeks to create buffer zone around first responders and other legislative highlights
  • Former South Carolina lawmaker elected to judicial bench
  • Another lawmaker won't run for reelection
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.

Senate readies to take roads bill out of park

This week, the Senate Transportation Committee sent legislation to the Senate floor that seeks to modernize the state Transportation Department's operations, ease congestion, and incentivize locals to take back state-owned roads.

We're told the bill — S. 831, sponsored by Transportation Chairman Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley — could be debated as early as next week.

The House has its own version of the proposal that is currently sitting in the House Ways and Means Committee.

While there have been discussions on it, it's taken a back seat to the budget bill and other priority tax legislation.

Grooms's legislation:

  • Gives DOT greater ability to enter into public-private partnerships
  • Expands DOT's tolling authority
  • Gives the department permitting responsibilities from the Federal Highway Administration for National Environmental Protection Act environmental reviews, similar to other states
  • Includes provisions to allow counties and cities to take ownership of roads from the state
  • Provides greater oversight over county transportation committees

What's not in the bill?

Unlike the House version, the Senate did not include language to make the DOT a Cabinet department under the governor.

And several funding components of the bill were also removed, including an electric vehicle registration fee increase, electric car charging fee increases and mitigation fees for new housing developments.

State Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, said the fees were removed in part to prevent any "funding origination issues" between the chambers. Senators likely have memories of 2022 when, during a debate over medical marijuana, a Senate bill was tossed from the House floor after the chair ruled that the bill was out of order for violating the state's constitutional prohibition on revenue-raising bills originating in the Senate.

Transportation officials have stressed the state needs to increase its infrastructure revenue as inflation and high costs have already cut into the money raised in the 2017 bill to reform and fund the agency.

Grooms said the genesis of his bill came from discussions with state DOT Secretary Justin Powell over more than a year, focused on how to improve delivery times for next infrastructure, stretch dollars and meet the incessant growth of the state.

Much of the bill was crafted with transportation officials, even pulling from testimony on the House bill.

What else did the Senate Transportation Committee do?

  • Approved S. 371, sponsored by Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, which allows the state Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a digital license. It would not replace physical licenses, and a physical license would still be required for operating a car. The DMV is expected to have such capabilities by August 2027.
  • Approved S. 222, sponsored by Sen. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun, which would permit the operation of registered utility terrain vehicles on highways. The UTVs still need seat belts and are required to be worn while in operation. Farm UTVs would be able to travel on highways up to 55 mph and regular UTVs on highways up to 35 mph posted speed limit.
SCDOT Secretary Justin Powell speaks before the Senate Transportation Committee on March 5, 2025.
Provided
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Provided
SCDOT Secretary Justin Powell speaks before the Senate Transportation Committee on March 5, 2025.

A proposed 25-foot buffer zone around first responders

The South Carolina House on Wednesday passed legislation in a 95-18 vote that would require the public stand 25-feet away from first responders and law enforcement if given a verbal warning.

Knowingly ignoring that warning either from medical or law enforcement personnel would result in a misdemeanor charge, punishable by a fine of up to $500 and up to 30 days in jail.

State Rep. Melissa Oremus, an Aiken Republican who sponsored the legislation, has argued the bill is necessary to protect first responders and law enforcement, who are trying to respond to emergencies.

Democrats, including House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, argued the bill would criminalize people who don't intend to break the law or are perhaps grieving. It also would create serious First Amendment problems, he said.

The buffer, or so-called "HALO" bill — H. 4763 — is similar to other legislation filed or passed in several other states.

But they've not all been successful.

In Indiana, for example, a federal appeals court struck down the state's "HALO" law last year, ruling it unconstitutionally vague.

And as the SC Daily Gazette noted in its coverage just last month, other states that have passed the bill have also found themselves in courtrooms.

Other Wednesday legislative highlights:

  • The Senate in a 39-1 vote passed H. 3858, sponsored by Rep. Gary Brewer, R-Charleston, which in part cuts property taxes on boats.
  • In a 40-2 vote, the Senate approved Charleston Democratic Sen. Ed Sutton's legislation — S. 832 — that says local governments cannot prohibit or restrict events on college and university campuses based on zoning ordinances or other land-use rules or regulations, provided the college approves the event.
  • In a unanimous vote, the Senate approved another Sutton bill — S. 751 — increasing penalties for anyone or a retailer to sell or give nitrous oxide or nitrous oxide products (known as whippets) to someone under 18, except for commercial use exemptions.
  • The Senate also unanimously approved a joint resolution — H. 5261 — extending the required alcohol server training, part of the liquor liability law, to May 1.
  • The House unanimously passed a bill — H. 3474, sponsored by Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston — that tweaks the definition of "personal vehicle" and a "prearranged ride."
  • The House also unanimously passed H. 3227, sponsored by Rep. Gil Gatch, R-Dorchester, which requires an insurer to clearly communicate with property owners if its policy does not include earthquake coverage at the time the policy is issued and at each renewal.
  • In an 85-24 vote, the House passed H. 4151 — sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman Weston Newton, R-Beaufort — that deals with juvenile-related crimes. The House also unanimously passed another bill — H. 5120, sponsored by Rep. Brandon Cox, R-Berkeley — also dealing with juvenile crime records.
  • In a 110-2 vote, the House passed H. 5073, sponsored by Rep. Fawn Pedalino, R-Clarendon, that says school districts and schools cannot adopt a grading system that would require a teacher to give a minimum grade or score that exceeds a student's actual performance on completed assignments.
S.C. Rep. Chris Wooten, R-Lexington, and Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Aiken, show 25-feet with a tape measure during a debate on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, over creating a buffer zone between law enforcement and first responders and the public, known as the HALO Act.
MAAYAN SCHECHTER
/
SCETV
S.C. Rep. Chris Wooten, R-Lexington, and Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Aiken, show 25 feet with a tape measure during a debate on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, over creating a buffer zone between law enforcement and first responders and the public, known as the HALO Act.

Ex-SC lawmaker elected judge

While a former speaker of the House is having to participate in a judicial election re-do, at least one former lawmaker will soon find himself with a gavel in his hand.

Will Wheeler will get a seat on the bench after the General Assembly in a 107-53 vote on Wednesday elected the Lee County native to a judgeship in the 3rd Judicial Circuit.

Wheeler is a former Democratic state representative from Bishopville.

He resigned his House seat last year in the first week of session.

State law requires a legislator to be out of office for at least a year before running in a judicial race.

Wheeler ran unopposed.

The joint assembly was not solely for judicial races.

Lawmakers also elected new members to the Public Service Commission, the state's utility rate regulator.

You can read more here:

S.C. Rep. Will Wheeler, D-Lee, on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, from the floor announced his resignation from the House of Representatives.
GAVIN JACKSON
S.C. Rep. Will Wheeler, D-Lee, on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, from the floor announced his resignation from the House of Representatives.

GOP lawmaker says he won't seek reelection

With days out until South Carolina candidates start filing for political office, another member of the State House has announced he won't seek reelection to another term.

In a video, Republican Rep. Bill Taylor announced he won't seek another term in the lower chamber after serving more than a decade representing his rural Aiken district.

"I’m turning the page. Like a good book, a life well lived has many chapters — each with its own story," the 79-year-old posted on X. "And now is the time for me to turn the page and begin the next chapter of my life."

Taylor is not the only legislator exiting the Capitol doors.

House Majority Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens; state Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D-Charleston; and state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, a Richland Democrat who is also running for governor, have all three announced they will not seek another term.

State Rep. Bill Clyburn, D-Aiken, previously said he would also bow out, but, following his wife's passing, said he plans to run for another two-year term.

Filing opens March 16 and closes March 30.

Read more:

S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, talks about the hands-free driving bill on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Columbia, S.C.
SCETV
S.C. Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, talks about the hands-free driving bill on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, in Columbia, S.C.

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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