It's Friday, May 15.
And Week 18 of the South Carolina legislative session isn't over.
Though Thursday was the final bell on the General Assembly's regular calendar — also known as sine die — the legislative session is hardly finished as the House gavels back in at 11 a.m. today to get to work passing a redrawn congressional map.
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.
Tune in tonight: Join "This Week in South Carolina" host Gavin Jackson as he continues his conversations with candidates with state Rep. Jermaine Johnson, a Richland Democrat and one of three Democrats vying for the Democratic nod for governor on June 9. Also on the episode, Jackson talks with Winthrop University's political science professor Scott Huffmon about the latest redistricting right. You can watch on SCETV at 7:30 p.m.
Notebook highlights:
- Sine die not so fast. Gov. Henry McMaster calls the legislature back to the capital to address redistricting, while the Senate's Republican leader criticizes the move
- House GOP leader bids farewell to the chamber he's served in for more than two decades
SC redistricting debate heats up
As expected, Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday called the legislature back to Columbia, ordering a special session for the 170-member legislature to address redrawing the state's U.S. House map.
It is McMaster's second time in office to order a special session.
The last was back in 2023, when the governor ordered lawmakers back to pass more restrictive abortion legislation. He was the first governor since former Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges, elected in the late 90s, to call a special session.
"An issue of such public importance and interest should be debated but also decided by the People's representatives," McMaster wrote in his order, which also calls on lawmakers to address the budget that starts July 1 and other matters.
It was only about a week ago when McMaster appeared to plan to leave the redistricting question entirely up to lawmakers, telling reporters he did not plan to pressure them either way or even plan to call a special session.
That was when there was still the possibility that lawmakers would hash out a sine die agreement to dictate what they would take up post-May 14.
McMaster said then he wanted the legislature to ensure South Carolina's map — represented by six Republicans and one Democrat — complied with the state and U.S. constitutions, and that lawmakers factored in election schedule changes.
The state Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court have both upheld the state's map. The nation's high court ruled the map a "partisan gerrymander," what is constitutional, unlike the Louisiana map which the same bench makeup ruled was a "racial gerrymander."
"I'm not really too concerned about what other states are doing," McMaster told reporters last week.
That has all changed.
The House will gavel in at 11 a.m. today to start debate over H. 5683, the main vehicle for the map redraw that aims to make the state's seven congressional districts all lean Republican.
The legislation would also shake up the congressional primary election calendar, shifting the primaries to Aug. 18, with runoffs on Sept. 1. Filing would also reopen June 1-5.
House GOP Leader Davey Hiott, R-Pickens, told reporters the goal is to get a map out of the legislature by the time early voting begins on May 26.
House members will have the weekend to access the so-called "map room" to review the district lines with staff. Hiott told reporters the House will return Monday and Tuesday, the former expected to be the heaviest day of debate.
Hiott said he expects the debate to be intense and heated, but said there's no expectation as of now that cloture will be invoked, allowing members to propose amendments without a cut off.
What about the Senate?
The upper chamber is not expected to return for a special session until the House has cleared the map from its chamber, which could be about midweek next week.
It's not completely clear how the process will go in the Senate.
Senators said they do expect a lengthier debate in the so-called deliberative body over the map redraw bill.
"I don't know what's going to happen once we get into it," Senate Republican Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, told reporters after session Thursday. "This things moving around so much and it's changing so quickly, I don't know what's going to happen with it."
Massey also spoke on the governor's order, saying in multiple conversations with McMaster he was firm on the issue.
"If this was going to be the governor's position (now), I wish he'd have told that a few months ago," Massey added. "... Something's happened. And it has been a complete 180 on this issue."
Hear more from Massey below:
Despite the lack of clarity, people are voting now in South Carolina before the June 9 primaries, including for Congress.
As of Friday, the State Election Commission said 9,267 absentee ballots had been already mailed and 549 had been returned.
If a map does exit the legislature, it will undoubtedly face a legal challenge that could further delay its implementation.
- For the House's redistricting website, click here.
- For the redistricting guidelines, click here.
- For an interactive proposed map redraw, click here.
The proposed map makes a number of changes.
For example, it splits part of York County out of the 5th District and sticks it into a redrawn 6th District, which also, if enacted, now include Lancaster County.
The map splits up the Columbia area into three House districts, and pulls part of Charleston into the 7th District with Horry and Georgetown counties.
The latter shift is a concern, said Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie and Charleston Mayor William Cogswell, a former Republican House lawmaker.
"We believe in government that serves its people, not the other way around. That belief is why we have real concerns about what is being proposed in Columbia," both said in a joint statement Thursday. "Redrawing congressional maps on a compressed timeline is not the deliberate, principled process South Carolinians deserve. We would encourage members of the General Assembly to slow down, ask hard questions, and let principle guide them over politics."
Read more:
- Post and Courier: Gov. Henry McMaster orders SC Legislature to come back and address redrawing congressional district lines
- The State: SC gov orders lawmakers back to work amid redistricting push. Here’s the cost
- WLTX: Gov. McMaster calls South Carolina lawmakers back for special session to redraw districts
- SC Daily Gazette: McMaster orders special session so legislators can redraw voting lines
- Greenville News: SC Gov. McMaster calls special session allowing time for redistricting
- WIS: McMaster calls SC lawmakers back to settle redistricting in special session
House GOP leader bids farewell after two decades
Among the handful of South Carolina House members who won't return to the chamber next year, none is more senior than House Majority Leader Davey Hiott.
The Pickens Republican will retire from the legislature this year, serving since 2005 to represent District 4.
"This place is not about you," Hiott told his colleagues Thursday in his farewell address to the chamber.
Instead, he said, it's about the more than 5 million South Carolinians you represent.
Hiott was elected majority leader by his GOP peers in 2022, previously serving as chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
You can catch Hiott's full remarks below:
Statehouse daily planner (5/15)
SC House
- 11 a.m. — House in session
Live Broadcast
Live Broadcast - Audio Only
SC governor
- 11:30 a.m. — Gov. Henry McMaster with state emergency, transportation and public safety leaders to hold a hurricane preparedness briefing in Summerville
Statehouse clips from around the state
- Dr. Ed Simmer, interim head of Department of Public Health, no longer in job on last day of session (Post and Courier)
- ‘Mismanagement’ by SC treasurer contributed to cost overruns for voting machines, report finds (SC Daily Gazette)
- Will SC Supreme Court’s Murdaugh ruling hurt Alan Wilson’s bid for governor? (The State)
- Second pay raise for SC legislators finalized, to start in 2028 (SC Daily Gazette)
- SC's regular legislative session ends with the budget, abortion ban still unresolved (WLTX)
- Bill mandating shrimp labeling origin hits roadblock in SC Statehouse, set for negotiations (Post and Courier)
- ‘Their version of courage is compliance:’ Voters take to SC State House over redistricting fight (WIS)
- New $5B Canadys natural gas plant receives approval from SC regulators (The State)
- New census data: SC’s population boom shifting to smaller cities, and some surprises (Post and Courier)
