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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 rejects tax conformity, lawmaker charged with DUI and gov a no on gas tax pause

South Carolina Public Radio | By Maayan Schechter,
Gavin Jackson
Published April 1, 2026 at 6:01 AM EDT
Outside of the South Carolina Statehouse on March 31, 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Outside of the South Carolina Statehouse on March 31, 2026.

It's Wednesday, April 1.

And it's still Week 12 of the legislative session. No joke.

The House gavels back in to session at 10 a.m.

The Senate returns at 1 p.m.

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 few calendar reminders:

  • The Senate is out Thursday, and will take a perfunctory session all of next week (meaning no floor work), giving the Senate Finance Committee time to finish their version of the state budget
  • The House will take its second week of furlough next week, meaning no floor or committee work
  • The first state GOP-sanctioned Republican gubernatorial debate is at 7 p.m. tonight in Newberry

Notebook highlights:

  • Closely-watched tax conformity bill hits wall in Senate
  • Freshman state lawmaker charged with DUI
  • Gov. Henry McMaster says he can't support a gas tax pause
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.

Tax conformity bust in the Senate

The Senate on Tuesday voted to shelve legislation that for one year sought to conform the state's tax code to federal changes made under President Donald Trump's coined "One Big Beautiful Bill."

The bipartisan 27-16 vote effectively kills the bill for the year, though there are some procedural moves the upper chamber could make to give it life. That, however, seems unlikely.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, an Edgefield Republican who voted against the bill Tuesday, echoed his colleagues by calling the bill bad policy and an "election year game."

Massey briefly spoke with reporters after the vote:

S.C. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, on tax conformity 3.31.26

Tax conformity has typically been a non-issue in years past.

It took on a different life this year when the House, prior to the opening of candidate filing, passed conformity legislation as the legislature was in the works of moving an income tax bill through that would negate the need to conform in future years.

The cost to conform? A one-time bill of a cool $288.5 million.

"I encourage the Senate to act and conform to President Trump’s tax cuts so that our people receive additional tax relief now," McMaster posted to X Tuesday, a day after he signed the income tax bill into law.

That ask was not heeded in the Senate, where criticism over the bill had been mounting for weeks.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, said he didn't yet have a comment over the vote, noting the process was still technically playing out.

The state revenue department gave South Carolina tax filers an Oct. 15 deadline extension to file their taxes. As we've noted previously, state economists said the delay in filing will likely have a significant impact on final revenue figures.

Read more:

Keeping with the Senate, Massey said the chamber plans to start debate over two bills, one we've previously mentioned before:

  • S. 76, sponsored by former solicitor and Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, seeks to tackles criminal gang activity and offenses, while also creating new penalties under a new anti-racketeering act, or RICO
  • S. 508, sponsored by Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, was placed on the special order priority calendar. The legislation in part prohibits the removal, disturbance, alteration or relocation of certain monuments and memorials, expanding on the 2000 Heritage Act law

Still hanging in the balance is Gov. Henry McMaster's veto of the name, image and likeness legislation — H. 4902 — that restricts public view of revenue-sharing contracts between colleges and universities and their student-athletes. To override, it requires a two-thirds majority vote of total members present and voting in the 46-member chamber. The House has already voted to override.

Now over to the House.

House GOP leaders said the chamber is expected to debate two pieces of legislation today that could trigger what's been termed a wicked Wednesday, resulting in a lengthy debate.

  • H. 4817, sponsored by Rep. Gary Brewer, R-Charleston, partly seeks to increase oversight over insurance fraud, and create penalties for violations of policyholder protections
  • H. 4764, sponsored by Rep. Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg, requires correctional facilities to enter into agreements with federal immigration enforcement agencies, allowing the departments to enforce federal immigration law
Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York, with Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, in the House chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on March 31, 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Sen. Michael Johnson, R-York, with Sen. Wes Climer, R-York, in the House chamber at the South Carolina Statehouse on March 31, 2026.

GOP lawmaker charged with DUI

An Upstate lawmaker was arrested Monday and booked into the Oconee County jail early Tuesday for driving under the influence.

Public court records show freshman Republican Rep. Adam Duncan of Oconee County was charged with first offense DUI with a blood alcohol content of less than .10%.

The sheriff's office confirmed Duncan was booked into jail at around 2:05 a.m. Tuesday, and released on a $992.50 personal recognizance bond.

He is expected to make his first court appearance on May 7.

Duncan did not respond to SC Public Radio's request for comment. Court records did not show that Duncan has a lawyer.

A spokesperson for the Oconee County School District, where Duncan works as an adjunct wrestling coach at West-Oak High School, said Tuesday the district was aware of the arrest reports and is "reviewing the matter as we would any employee situation."

The spokesperson noted that wrestling is currently not in season, and at this time Duncan has no active responsibilities with the district.

This is Duncan's first term in the House.

First elected in 2024, Duncan beat longtime lawmaker and powerful chair of the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Chairman Bill Sandifer to represent District 2, which covers portions of Oconee and Pickens counties.

Duncan is running for reelection, state filing records show.

He is the only Republican candidate who filed for the GOP-leaning seat. He'll face one Democratic Party candidate, Candace Schutt, and one Libertarian Party candidate, Christopher Damian Des Marais, in November.

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McMaster: no braking on gas tax

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster says he will not support calls to suspend the state's 28 cent gas tax as Republicans and Democrats demand a pause as prices spike amid the war in Iran.

“I know it's sort of a knee-jerk reaction, you have this problem and we try to do something to alleviate it very quickly,” McMaster told reporters Tuesday after the State Fiscal Accountability Authority meeting. “But when you start messing with taxes like that, particularly the gas tax which goes right straight to the roads, and we’re spending billions of dollars on our roads. We’d like them (taxes) all to be lower, but that's one that we should not take any money out of, particularly right now."

Lawmakers in both political parties have filed legislation to suspend the gas tax. Those calls were echoed by Republican Attorney General Alan Wilson, who is running for governor.

The state's 2017 phased-in gas tax law generated $417 million last year, and brought in nearly $32 million in just February.

Across state lines, Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a bill to suspend the state's gas tax for 60 days, until May 19.

On Tuesday, the price for a gallon of gas hit an average $4 nationally — the first time since 2022. In South Carolina, the average price for a gallon of gas was also reported $4 average.

Treasurer Curtis Loftis speaks with Gov. Henry McMaster during the State Fiscal Affairs Authority meeting in March 31, 2026.
GAVIN JACKSON
Treasurer Curtis Loftis speaks with Gov. Henry McMaster during the State Fiscal Affairs Authority meeting in March 31, 2026.

What else did the governor say?

McMaster said he plans to watch tonight's GOP debate despite that his pick to win, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, has opted out of participating due to sponsorship fees.

The governor said he “absolutely” plans to critique the debate performances of four of the Republican candidates who plan to take the stage in Newberry:

  • State Sen. Josh Kimbrell of Spartanburg County
  • 1st District Congresswoman Nancy Mace
  • 5th District Congressman Ralph Norman
  • Attorney General Alan Wilson

"There is not a living American that doesn’t do that when they watch these debates," McMaster said as far as critiquing goes.

Does he miss debates?

“That’s a lot of fun if you have an answer for about half of the questions, it’s a lot of fun," he said.

McMaster also weighed in on S. 922, legislation passed by the Senate mainly dealing with gubernatorial appointments but a bill that also would effectively fire his pick to lead the state public health department, Dr. Edward Simmer.

Simmer, who previously was the director over the former health and environmental department, has been serving public health as an interim director ever since the former agency was split into two.

The Senate Medical Affairs Committee declined to move his nomination forward last year, and in March the Senate passed legislation giving Simmer his final day of May 14, the last day of session.

McMaster has continuously stood by his nominee, as recently to reporters as Tuesday.

“I think the criticism of him is inaccurate. I think he's done a good job, and his time under the present law will be up sometime in the fall anyway," McMaster said. "I think this is unnecessary.”

McMaster did not say whether he would veto the bill, now sitting in the House.

You can check out his full remarks below:

Statehouse daily planner (4/1)

SC House

SC Senate

SC governor

  • 9 a.m. — Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to attend the 2026 South Carolina Innovation Awareness Month kickoff breakfast in Columbia
  • 10 a.m. — Gov. Henry McMaster to present the Honorary Sandlapper award to German Minister President of Bavaria, Dr. Markus Söder at the Statehouse
  • 1:30 p.m. — McMaster to participate in a virtual Santee Cooper advisory board meeting

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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