South Carolina General Assembly

The South Carolina General Assembly is returning to Columbia on Tuesday to consider nearly $53 million in local projects that Gov. Henry McMaster wants out of the $13.8 billion state budget. All the money went toward items put in by lawmakers for local concerns, like $25 million to help pay for a quantum computer facility in Columbia, $7 million for a cultural welcome center in Orangeburg and $500,000 to improve the stadium at Summerville High School. McMaster says he allowed projects where lawmakers detailed exactly who got the money and where it was going.

Supporters of a bill to allow women in South Carolina to get birth control pills at a pharmacy without a doctor's prescription are trying to get it passed before this year's session ends. A House subcommittee on Wednesday approved the bill, sending it to the chamber's full medical committee. The bill has already passed the Senate, but there are just nine regular legislative days left in the General Assembly's 2022 session. Supporters say it is another logical step to reducing the number of abortions in the state by stopping unwanted pregnancies. Pharmacists could choose whether to participate in the program.

With just nine legislative days remaining in this year’s session of the state legislature, lawmakers are focused on enacting a handful of priority bills ahead of next month’s adjournment.

The chances of having early voting in upcoming elections in South Carolina appears to be dying after the state House and governor accused the Senate of a power grab. The Republicans aren't happy with fellow Republicans in the Senate changing the bill so they can confirm the governor's selections for the state elections board. The bill unanimously passed both the House and Senate. But with Gov. Henry McMaster's backing, House leaders say they may send the bill back to committee to kill it. Both blame Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey. Massey says the approval is a needed check because the governor didn't punish the board or executive director for poor choices made about ballot drop boxes and whether to require absentee ballot signatures during the 2020 elections.

The South Carolina Senate has unanimously passed a bill to expand early voting. Wednesday's vote gave key approval to a bill that unanimously passed the House in early March. But there may be one big snag between Republicans. Gov. Henry McMaster and House leaders aren't happy senators added a provision giving them power to confirm the governor's choices for not just the director, but also the five members of the board of the South Carolina Election Commission. McMaster says if the bill fails to pass voters will know to blame Senate leaders and Democrats. Lawmakers are trying to get the new rules in place for the statewide primaries on June 14.

Five University of South Carolina trustees who some powerful lawmakers feel are responsible for interference in daily affairs won't be allowed to run for reelection next month. The legislative board that screens university trustees is refusing to send chairman C. Dorn Smith as well as trustees Thad Westbrook, C. Edward Floyd, John von Lehe and Charles Williams to a May 4 election by the General Assembly. The decision comes as the state Senate prepares to review a House-approved bill that would fire all current trustees at the end of June 2023 and redraw their districts, cutting the board from 20 members to 13.

South Carolina's budget will likely face intense negotiations in the Legislature after Senate budget writers advanced a $12.6 billion plan based on $2 billion in income tax cuts and rebates. The Post and Courier reports lawmakers in the Senate Finance Committee adopted the spending plan unanimously Wednesday. The Senate version doesn't include the $1,500 one-time bonus for state employees suggested in the House version. Senators also want to raise teachers' minimum pay to $38,000, compared with the $40,000 proposed by the House. Spokespeople for Gov. Henry McMaster and the Palmetto State Teachers Association say the Senate's teacher pay proposals aren't high enough.

The Republican controlled state legislature okayed new member districts for the Senate and House of Representatives this week. Relying on numbers from the 2020 census, lawmakers were forced to adjust just about every district due to the state’s rapid population growth. The new census found about a half million more people live in the state than during the last redistricting in 2010.

The South Carolina House started its redistricting special session with an assurance that they will likely handle nothing but new maps for state House and Senate and U.S. House districts. House members approved a resolution Wednesday requiring them to take up redistricting as their first priority and stay on the bill until it gets all the way through the legislative process. With only three days planned for the special session, that wouldn't give enough time to pass anything else. The most conservative members of the Republican dominated House want the chamber to take up bills banning mandates for vaccines or masks and other COVID-19 items.

State lawmakers will convene next month to consider plans to re-shape state House and Senate districts for the next decade. Preliminary maps using new population data from the 2020 Census indicate that most incumbent legislators will have districts to their liking, and that Republicans will maintain their commanding majorities in both bodies.