Friday Reports
The Friday Report, is prepared and distributed every Friday of the legislative session. The most recent Friday Report will always appear on the home page.
The Senate spent a large portion of their time this week on the floor debating several amendments to S. 244, the tort reform bill, in a continued effort to reach a compromise. As of Thursday, the bill remains in Special Order status with debate likely to continue next week. Meanwhile, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee continued taking testimony on H. 3309, the comprehensive energy reform bill, and advanced the legislation to the full committee.
The House met in perfunctory session this week, meaning there were no bills debated on the floor. However, several House committees met, including the House Education and Public Works Committee, which took up H. 3927, relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices, and advanced the bill to the House calendar.
These and other bills of interest are detailed in the Friday Report.Read Full Report
Members of the House worked Monday through the early morning Wednesday to debate and pass their version of the $14 billion FY 2025-26 state budget (H. 4025) and Capital Reserve Fund (H. 4026). The House gave the bills second reading around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and adjourned until 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, when it reconvened to give H. 4025 and H. 4026 third readings. The House will meet in perfunctory session next week, but several subcommittees have scheduled meetings.
Throughout the week, members of the Senate met with stakeholders to work on a compromise to S. 244, the tort reform bill. On Thursday, Senate leadership announced that a compromise had not yet been reached. The Senate also polled the liquor liability bill (Read Full Report
The Senate spent the week in chamber debating their version of the tort reform bill (S. 244).
An amendment introduced Thursday afternoon changed the trajectory of the original legislation and turned the entire debate into a whirlwind, leading to early adjournment and no vote on the bill. It is uncertain how the Senate will move forward with the tort reform bill in the weeks to come.
Across the hall, the House on Thursday hastily passed their liquor liability bill (Read Full Report
The House continued their work in chamber debating and passing several bills, including the school voucher bill (S. 62), in preparation to debate the budget bill on the floor in a few weeks. House Judiciary Committee members had a busy week in committee and subcommittee meetings debating several bills, including their version of a liquor liability bill (H. 3497).
The Senate Judiciary Committee met Tuesday to debate their liquor liability (S. 184) and tort reform (Read Full Report
Members of the House Ways and Means Committee met Tuesday and Wednesday to debate and pass their version of the 2025-26 state budget (H. 4025). The House continued their work in chamber debating and passing several bills of interest to counties in preparation to debate the budget bill on the floor in a few weeks.
The Senate spent most of the week in subcommittee meetings receiving testimony on liquor liability (S. 184), tort reform (S. 244) and energy reform (H. 3309). The Senate Finance Committee also advanced several bills of note to the Senate floor.
Thank YOU to all the county officials who attended Counties Connect: A Legislative Action Day on Wednesday. Your presenceRead Full Report
The House spent time on the floor moving through their calendar in preparation for debate on the budget bill on the House floor in a couple weeks. The Senate continued work in subcommittees and committees to bring bills to the floor for debate, including S. 171, a bill to address the financial burden many counties are currently facing with waste tires.
The General Assembly met on Wednesday in Joint Assembly to elect judges. The House Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee briefly debated and passed the comprehensive energy bill (H. 3309) on Wednesday. The bill includes a provision requiring solar arrays larger than 125 acres coming into a county to also get approval from the Public Service Commission. H. 3309 is now pending second reading on the House calendar.
A House Judiciary subcommittee began debating a liquor liability bill (H. 3497) similar to several bills already being debated in the Senate. Meanwhile, the Senate gave second and third readings to the school voucher bill (S. 62), which allows for public funds to be used for private and religious schools.
Gov. Henry McMaster gave his State of the State address Wednesday night, focusing on South Carolina’s achievements in attracting people and businesses over the past year. He also mentioned tax cuts, teacher pay raises, and infrastructure as high priorities that he would like for the General Assembly to continue to address.
Throughout the week, the Senate spent time debating a school voucher bill (S. 62) that would allow for public funds to be used for private and religious schools in response to the South Carolina Supreme Court striking down the legislature’s first attempt (Act 8 of 2023).
Meanwhile, a House Labor, Commerce, and Industry subcommittee continued meeting to discuss the comprehensive energy bill (H. 3309). This bill includes a provision that would require solar arrays larger than 125 acres coming into a county to also get approval from the Public Service Commission. SCAC anticipates additional meetings as sufficient energy production is a House Republican caucus priority.
Additional bills of interest to counties are discussed in the full Friday Report.
The House and Senate met in perfunctory session this week, meaning there were no bills debated in either chamber. However, several subcommittees and committees met despite impacts from Winter Storm Enzo.
A Senate Finance subcommittee and the Senate Finance Committee met to discuss the AlixPartners Report on findings from their recent forensic audit of the unaccounted for $1.8 billion surplus in state accounts. The audit concluded that the presence of the money was the result of an accounting error made nearly a decade ago and that $1.6 billion of that money never existed. Also, a Senate Judiciary subcommittee met Tuesday to debate several election bills discussed below.
Next door, several House Ways and Means subcommittees met to continue receiving budget requests from state agencies and other entities. Both chambers will return to regular statewide session Tuesday, Jan. 28.
Check out this week’s Friday Report for the details and bill discussions relevant to counties at https://conta.cc/40MDxfBRead Full Report
Tuesday marked the beginning of the General Assembly’s 126th Legislative Session. Because this is the first year of a two-year session, a plethora of bills were pre-filed and introduced this week in both chambers.
The House Ways and Means budget subcommittees began hearing from various state agencies and groups, including SCAC, on budget requests for 2025-26. The House also took testimony in subcommittee on a comprehensive energy bill (H. 3309). Like last year’s energy bill that did not pass, this bill has a provision that would require solar arrays larger than 125 acres coming into a county to also get approval from the Public Service Commission. H. 3309 is a House Republican caucus priority, and SCAC will continue to monitor and report on any other provisions in the bill that impact counties.
The Senate began debating a school voucher bill (S. 62) that would allow for public funds to be used for private and religious schools in response to the South Carolina Supreme Court striking down theRead Full Report