It's Thursday, March 12.
The Senate gavels in at 11 a.m.
The House is off today after a marathon budget debate. And they're off all next week on a furlough break, the first of two furloughs the lower chamber plans to take.
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.
First, the House on Wednesday gave its final approval to the chamber's $15.4 billion state budget proposal, income tax legislation and a tax conformity bill.
You can find our coverage here.
ICYMI: House Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, gave his official statement on the budget legislation.
Second, South Carolina's measles outbreak, which started in early October, is nearing 1,000 cases as of mid-March. New cases could be released Friday, but, as of Tuesday, the Department of Public Health had documented 993 cases connected to the Spartanburg County outbreak.
Dr. Edward Simmer, the interim public health director, told lawmakers on Wednesday it is possible the state never crosses 1,000 cases.
But, despite better vaccination rates, Simmer and staff are watching what happens over spring break, particularly on the coast.
“In fact, I’ve talked with our hospitals and our health care partners in Horry County, which obviously is the center for spring break, (to) be vigilant, and they already are,” Simmer testified, as reported by The State.
Notebook highlights:
- Gov. Henry McMaster vetoes legislation to keep revenue-sharing contracts with college athletes secret
- Senate rolls through regulation changes in consumable hemp legislation, putting out attempt to outlaw it
Gov vetoes NIL bill, points lawmakers to problem area
Gov. Henry McMaster signed his first veto of 2026, withholding his signature from legislation desperately sought by South Carolina's colleges and universities.
In a three-page veto message, McMaster said he could not sign H. 4902, name, image and likeness legislation that would shield revenue-sharing contracts between colleges and universities and student-athletes from being made public as is.
"This legislation presents a conflict between serious concerns and a clear principle," McMaster wrote to House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter.
Specifically, McMaster said the individual exemption for college athletes "has merits."
But, he added the group exemption, which would keep secret how much money from colleges say went to the women's basketball team over the football team "does not."
"In the one hand are privacy rights of student-athletes and the competitive interests of our State's collegiate athletic teams," he said. "On the other hand is the right of the People to know how public funds are being spent. Both sides offer compelling considerations."
South Carolina college athletic directors pushed for this legislation at the Statehouse this year, arguing the dollars were not public, and it left their programs vulnerable and could put their universities at real competitive disadvantages.
McMaster in recent weeks acknowledged the latter despite vocalizing concerns with transparency over the bill, which ultimately appeared to motivate his decision to veto.
The bill, he said, "goes too far in shielding information from public view because it precludes disclosure of any and all records related to revenue-sharing," he said.
"If the General Assembly sends me legislation that strikes this balance of protecting both the individual student-athletes' privacy and the peoples' right to know how colleges and universities spend public funds, I will sign it immediately," the governor added.
You can read his full veto message here.
Despite the veto, the University of South Carolina said its position on the legislation has not changed.
"We believe it is essential to protect the privacy of our student athletes while also ensuring South Carolina athletic programs are not placed at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to other programs across the nation," USC said in a statement shared with media. "As USC Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati explained during recent testimony before the South Carolina Senate, failure to adopt this important legislation 'would deter prospective student-athletes and current student-athletes from competing in Division I athletics in the State of South Carolina.'"
Overriding the governor's veto requires a two-thirds vote of the total members present in each chamber at the time of the vote.
The House, which is out tomorrow and for the entirety of next week, passed the legislation 111-2.
The Senate is a different matter, where the bill passed 30-13, just over the two-thirds threshold with three members absent.
And because the bill originated in the House, the lower chamber must take the first override vote, which will have to wait for the members to return in two weeks.
We will have more coverage in Friday's State House Gavel.
Read more:
- SC Daily Gazette: Gov. McMaster vetoes bill that keeps payments to college athletes secret
- The State: SC’s McMaster vetoes secret NIL revenue-sharing pay for college athletes. Here’s why
Hemp bill hobbles on in the Senate
The so-called deliberative body really took its nickname seriously Wednesday as the Senate slowly made its way through consumable hemp legislation that aims to regulate products and keep hemp-derived items out of teenager's hands.
Many senators say they want to regulate the currently unregulated product — senators keep calling it the "wild, wild West" — but also acknowledged the popularity of, for example, THC drinks, particularly among adult women.
Early in the debate, in a key indicator of where Senators stood on the issue, Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson proposed an amendment to completely ban all hemp products.
Republican Sen. Billy Garrett called on his colleagues to outlaw the products from ever seeing the shelves, sharing a personal story about his son who died from an overdose.
"If we open this door, we open a dangerous door," he said. "I beg you not to do this. Don't open this door."
The ban narrowly failed in an 18-22 vote.
That action now means senators will be working on what a regulatory framework looks like, what leaders say could get tighter, after senators adopted the amendment proposed by the committee that studied the issue.
First, what's in the now-amended bill?
The bill — H. 3924, sponsored originally by Rep. Chris Wooten, R-Lexington — would at its core in part:
- Prohibit anyone under age 21 from buying or using certain hemp-derived products
- Keep CBD products legal and under current regulations
- More strictly regulate Delta-9 hemp-derived THC drinks, including where they can be sold and how many milligrams of THC the drinks can have
- Put hemp beverages in the three-tier alcohol system. Twelve ounce, 5 milligram drinks would be allowed for retail sale wherever beer and wine are sold. And 10 milligram 12-ounce drinks would be regulated similar to liquor.
- Ban on-premise consumption at bars and restaurants
- Ban gummies and other hemp-consumables. Only the hemp beverages are allowed
“It is imperative, especially after that last vote (to outlaw the products), that we regulate this product and ensure no one under the age of 21 has access to it," said Sen. Michael Johnson, a York County Republican who's been shepherding the bill. "That we tax it. That we control how it is manufactured, distributed and sold. The milligram levels of doing that. We must do that.”
Senators said there are, so far, 10 amendments proposed by the body.
Reporters spoke with Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, after Wednesday's debate about proposed amendments and concerns over the bill.
Based on the bill, and despite his preference to outlaw the products, Massey said he's hopeful they can get tighter regulations done.
You can listen to part of that interview below:
What happened to the roads bill?
The Senate is one exit closer to leaving the roundabout debate over the chamber's legislation — S. 831 — to modernize operations over at the state Department of Transportation.
Senators on Wednesday took up the bill sponsored by Senate Transportation Chairman Larry Grooms, a Berkeley Republican. Instead of running through every amendment, the Senate agreed to carry all amendments over to third reading, meaning the Senate will tweak the bill before giving it a third and final vote.
Statehouse daily planner (3/12)
SC Senate
- 9 a.m. — Gressette 308 — Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee
Agenda Available
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - 10 a.m. — Gressette 407 — Finance Higher Education Subcommittee
Agenda - 10 a.m. — Gressette 209 — Finance K-12 Education Subcommittee
Agenda
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - 11 a.m. — Senate in session
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only - After Senate adjourns — Gressette 607 — Statewide Reappointment to the S.C. Department of Transportation Commission
Agenda - 30 minutes after Senate adjourns — Gressette 607 — Department of Transportation appointment meeting
Agenda
Statehouse clips from around the state
- SC senators advance taxes on vapes, reduced taxes for electronic tobacco devices (SC Daily Gazette)
- Will SC reach 1,000 measles cases? Here’s the public health director’s guess (The State)
- Lowcountry CBD, vape shops say DEA, state agents seized hemp products they claim are legal (ABC News 4)
- Wealthy SC beach house owner won’t have to tear out disputed seawall anytime soon, if ever (The State)
- SC House passes its 2026-27 state budget: 4 takeaways on how lawmakers want to spend your money (Post and Courier)
- Free breakfast or gun safety? What provisions did SC House include in its budget? (The State)
