Friday Report - January 31, 2025

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.