Lots of new faces and maybe a more conservative tilt as South Carolina Legislature starts session
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — More introductions than normal were needed Tuesday as the South Carolina General Assembly started its latest two-year session.
Nearly one in five lawmakers in the legislature are new to their jobs. In the Senate, 13 of the 46 members were elected in November to the chamber where people usually serve longer and it can normally take decades to obtain power.
The new legislators could change the character of a General Assembly well-known for prioritizing economic growth and its slow response to change on other issues. In 2000, lawmakers didn’t vote to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome until businesses put pressure on the state and activists led protests.
Republicans now hold supermajorities both the House and Senate.
Senate starts quickly
There wasn’t much time for introductions and chitchat in the Senate as senators met just long enough to set up a debate for the rest of the week on a bill that would allow parents to use vouchers of up to $8,000 to send their children to a private school or obtain other private academic help.
If the idea sounds familiar, something similar passed and was signed into law in 2023. But the South Carolina Supreme Court struck down the law in September, saying that the state Constitution prohibits spending taxpayer money for the direct benefit of a religious or private school.
To get around that ruling, the Senate wants to spend state lottery money on the vouchers and move the college scholarships that have been paid for with money from the lottery to the state’s general fund. The proposal would allow most families making less than $150,000 a year to qualify and would cap the number of vouchers at 15,000 per year.
The House agreed to let the Senate start work on finding a constitutional solution. There is another option — put the idea before voters as a constitutional amendment needing majority approval. But no Republican leaders in the legislature have made that suggestion.
Cutting taxes
Tax cuts are going to be another big topic of discussion.
In his budget proposal released Monday, Gov. Henry McMaster suggested not waiting an additional year to 2026 to cut the top rate of the state income tax to 6%. The state has been gradually cutting its top tax rate from 7% to 6%.
House and Senate leaders have all warmed to an idea of a bigger tax cut, but haven’t released details. McMaster said he will go where they lead.
“We don’t need to stop at 6% — we should continue cutting or eliminating the personal income tax rate as much as we can, and as fast as we can,” the governor said in a letter to lawmakers.
Cutting taxes is the easy path. There is a harder path, avoided for decades, that would involve tax reform — getting rid of sales tax exemptions and some income tax deductions, or even revamping the entire tax code. Republican leaders have hinted something big might be on the table.
A House divided?
Once again in 2025, there appears to be factions forming among Republicans in the South Carolina House.
The Freedom Caucus, made up of the chamber’s most conservative members, have about 17 members. That isn’t enough to stop their fellow Republicans from doing anything if they vote in a block.
But since any member can suggest changes to bills, the Freedom Caucus’ tactics have been to make amendments that mirror their agenda, then force mainstream Republicans to vote against them and publicize the results.
Freedom Caucus members and other Republicans have spent the off-session sniping at each other on social media, and the arguments are more frequent than those between Democrats and Republicans.
So much money
South Carolina’s booming economy and nation-leading growth have left the state with hefty surpluses of cash. The state expects to collect an extra $650 million in taxes this fiscal year and has more than $1 billion in other surpluses to spend. In all, lawmakers will decide how to spend more than $14 billion.
McMaster wants to spend $200 million to again raise minimum salaries for teachers and give every teacher a $3,000 raise.
About $240 million of the extra revenue is needed for disaster relief from Hurricanes Helene and Debbie. The money goes toward federal matches for disaster aid for farmers and others, helps repairs to roads and other infrastructure damaged in the storms, and even pays overtime costs for police, highway workers and other emergency needs, McMaster said.
The governor wants to pay $100 million for what would be the state’s first neurological hospital in Columbia, noting South Carolina ranks among the highest in the nation for stroke and dementia-related deaths.