Senate Bills - January 17, 2025

You are here

Home

S.2 (Sen. Peeler, Alexander & Davis) — Adds Chapter 12 to Title 44 to establish the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.

S.3 (Sen. Jackson) — Amends Section 7-5-120, relating to people disqualified from voting, to remove a person who has been convicted of a felony or offenses against the election laws unless the person has been removed by services of the sentence, including probation and parole time, unless sooner pardoned. The bill also requires that, upon release from prison, any disqualification must be automatically removed and that the Department of Corrections must notify the inmate of the restoration of their voting rights along with written instructions on how to register to vote.

S. 4 (Sen. Jackson) — Adds Section 6-39-10 to reduce certain administrative and permitting costs and barriers placed by local governments on the construction of housing.

S.6 (Sen. Jackson) — Amends Section 30-4-30, relating to the right to inspect or copy public records under the Freedom of Information Act, to set a timeline of five days for providing records with certain responses.

S.7 (Sen. Jackson) — Enacts the "Red Flags Act," by adding Article 12 to Chapter 31, Title 23, to grant law enforcement officers authority to seize a person’s firearms and ammunition if that person poses a risk of imminent personal injury to himself or others.

S.8 (Sen. Jackson) — Adds Section 23-23-170 to require the South Carolina Law Enforcement Training Council to establish policies, procedures and training courses relating to circumstances upon which a law enforcement officer may engage in vehicular pursuits.

S.10 (Sen. Jackson) — Amends Sections 8-11-150 and 8-11-155, relating to paid parental leave for eligible state employees who experience a birth or adoption of a child, to increase the time for paid parental leave from six weeks to 12 weeks for employees who give birth and from two weeks to four weeks for entitled employees who do not give birth.

S.11 (Sen. Jackson) — Amends Section 8-11-150(a), relating to paid parental leave, to update the definition of an "eligible state employee."

S.16 (Sen. Hutto) — Amends Section 63-19-2050, relating to the petition for expungement of official records, to allow for the automatic expungement of official records for status offenses with exceptions.

S.18 (Sen. Hutto) — Adds Section 16-23-540 to establish the offense of criminally negligent storage of a firearm, define necessary terms and establish penalties for violations.

S.21 (Sen. Hutto) — Adds Section 16-3-15to prohibit the penalty of life imprisonment for any individual who is younger than 18 at the time of committing an offense and to set maximum sentences for those who committed an offense enumerated in this section as a minor before the effective date of the Act.

S.23 (Sen. Hutto) — Amends Section 23-3-436, relating to registration of persons adjudicated delinquent, to provide that those younger than 14 must not be required to register as sex offenders.

S. 24 (Sen. Hutto) — Amends Section 63-19-1440(c), relating to commitment to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice, to allow a court to order temporary commitment to the Department of Juvenile Justice for no more than 10 days for evaluation.

S. 25 (Sen. Hutto) — Amends Section 20-1-100 to state that a person younger than 18 is not capable of entering into a valid marriage.

S. 27 (Sen. Hutto) — Adds Section 38-71-48 to require that health insurance policies that provide pregnancy and childbirth coverage must also offer coverage for abortions and related services and medical procedures intended to permanently prevent pregnancy including, but not limited to, tubal ligation, hysterectomy and vasectomy.

S. 33 (Sen. Grooms) — Amends Section 7-13-771, relating to voting by disabled and elderly voters who cannot enter the polling place or cannot stand in line to vote, to allow the voter to choose a person to remain in the vehicle while the voter completes their ballot.

S. 34 (Sen. Cromer) — Amends Section 2-65-70, relating to the recovery of indirect costs, to provide that certain provisions do not apply to nonresearch grants for public institutions of higher learning that support the mission of another state agency, institution, or unit of government.

S. 35 (Sen. Campsen) — A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 7, Article VI of the Constitution of South Carolina, relating to the constitutional officers of this state, to delete the Comptroller General from the list of constitutional officers and establish that the General Assembly shall provide by law the duties of the Comptroller General.

S. 36 (Sen. Campsen) — Amends Section 7-7-10 to require polling places for voting precincts to be established by the County Boards of Voter Registration and Elections in accordance with certain criteria.

S. 37 (Sen. Campsen) — Amends Section 5-15-50 to require that municipal general elections be held only on certain enumerated dates.

S. 38 (Sen. Campsen) — Amends Section 7-13-190 to require special elections to fill vacancies in office to be held only on certain enumerated dates.

S. 40 (Sen. Davis) —Adds Section 16-3-100 to establish that a fertilized human egg or human embryo outside of the uterus of a human body is not considered an unborn child or another term that connotes a human being for any purpose under state law.

S. 42 (Sen. Davis) — Adds Section 38-71-285 to require health insurance plans to provide coverage for lactation consulting by certified lactation consultants.

S. 43 (Sen. Campsen) — Adds Article 7 to Chapter 3, Title 15, to establish the “South Carolina Public Expression Protection Act,” regarding a cause of action asserted in a civil action based upon a person’s communication in certain circumstances, and to establish requirements for these proceedings.

S. 49 (Sen. Davis) — Adds Section 27-1-80 to establish a transfer on death for real property.

S. 51 (Sen. Davis) — A joint resolution to encourage Santee Cooper to issue a request for proposal to solicit proposals on utilizing assets associated with V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3, and for considerations related to a request for proposal.

S. 52 (Sen. Davis) — Amends Section 56-5-2950, relating to implied consent to testing for alcohol or drugs, to revise the circumstances, procedures to be followed and test sites that can be used when people are subjected to tests for alcohol or drugs.

S. 53 (Sen. Davis) — Enacts the “South Carolina Compassionate Care Act,” by adding Article 20 to Chapter 53, Title 44, to allow for the sale of cannabis products for therapeutic use and establish the conditions under which a sale can occur.

S. 54 (Sen. Martin) — Enacts the “Medical Informed Consent Act,” by adding Section 16-17-780, to declare it unlawful for any person, corporation, higher learning institution or the state to implement a vaccine mandate and to provide penalties.

S. 55 (Sen. Allen) — Amends Section 24-13-210, relating to good behavior credits, to reduce the sentence of an inmate convicted of certain “no parole offenses” if the inmate satisfies certain conditions.

S. 56 (Sen. Allen) —— Amends Section 27-37-100, relating to the effect of verdict for plaintiff, to seal the ejectment of the plaintiff from public record.

S. 57 (Sen. Allen) — Adds Section 16-3-2410 to establish that a person who commits an offense contained in this chapter with the intent to assault, intimidate or threaten a person because of his race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or sexual orientation is guilty of a felony.

S. 60 (Sens. Bennett and Blackmon) — Amends Section 6-5-15, relating to securing deposits of funds by local entities, to include provisions concerning credit unions and the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund.

S. 61 (Sens. Bennett and Hutto) — Amends Article 1 of Chapter 23, Title 50, relating to the titling of watercraft and outboard motors, to delete the requirement that outboard motors be titled.

S. 64 (Sen. Hembree) — Adds Section 12-6-1172 to allow a South Carolina income tax deduction of all military retirement or first responder retirement income and amends Section 12-6-1170 relating to retirement income deduction from taxable income for individuals to make a conforming change.

S. 68 (Sen. Hembree) — Adds Section 27-30-180 to allow a homeowners’ association the authority to adopt and enforce rules relating to political signs, provided those rules meet criteria designated by this section.

S. 69 (Sen. Hembree) — Adds Section 45-2-65to authorize an innkeeper to request assistance from law enforcement to eject a person and to require a person ejected from a campground to make a claim for property left at the time of ejectment within 10 days or forfeit the property.

S. 71 (Sens. Hembree and Zell) — Adds Section 16-3-607to create an enhanced penalty for convictions by persons under Section 16-3-600 against law enforcement officers during the performance of their official duties.

S. 72 (Sen. Hembree) — Adds Section 16-15-332 to make it unlawful for a person to intentionally disseminate an intimate image or a digitally forged intimate image of another person without effective consent of the depicted person.

S. 74 (Sen. Hembree) — Adds Section 17-13-142 to authorize a law enforcement officer, a circuit solicitor or the attorney general to require the disclosure of electronic communications and other related records by a provider of an electronic communication service or remote computing service under certain circumstances.

S. 75 (Sen. Hembree) — Adds Section 7-13-353to require a declaration by a candidate of fines owed to the State Ethics Commission, Senate Ethics Committee or House Ethics Committee, and to require that a candidate is enrolled in a payment plan for the outstanding fines and is not in default.

S.76 (Sens. Hembree and Grooms) —   Amends Section 16-8-240, relating to the use of or threat of physical violence by criminal gang members and penalties, to establish unlawful criminal gang activity.

S. 82 (Sen. Turner) — Adds Section 10-1-169 to provide that the United States flag and the state flag shall be displayed at all polling stations.

S.84 (Sens. Young and Graham) — Amends Section 8-13-1312, relating to campaign bank accounts, to require that all contributions received by candidates are deposited into an interest on campaign account known as an “IOCA.”

S. 85 (Sens. Young and Grooms) — Enacts the "South Carolina Criminal Enterprise and Racketeering Suppression Act.”

S. 87 (Sen. Young) — Amends Section 7-3-20, relating to the executive director of the State Election Commission, to require that a hand-count audit be conducted publicly.

S. 89 (Sen. Young) — Amends Section 25-11-100, relating to the South Carolina Military Base Task Force, to rename the Task Force the South Carolina Military Affairs Advisory Council, revise the council’s mission, increase the membership on the council, mandate that the council meets at least one time each calendar year, and make conforming changes.

S. 90 (Sens. Young and Bennett) — Enacts the “South Carolina Hands-Free and Distracted Driving Act” and amends Section 56-5-3890, relating to the unlawful use of a wireless telecommunications device while operating a motor vehicle, and revises the circumstances under which it is unlawful to use a wireless telecommunications device.

S. 91 (Sen. Young) — Amends Section 8-13-1308 to require candidates and committees to file campaign bank account statements for the previous quarter’s campaign report contemporaneously with their campaign disclosures.

S. 92 (Sen. Young) — Amends Section 22-1-10, relating to the appointment of magistrates, to allow a magistrate to serve in holdover status for no more than 14 days at the end of his term.

S. 94 (Sens. Sabb and Graham) — Adds Chapter 59 to Title 11 to create the “South Carolina Education Bank,” establishes a governing board, provides for the powers of the bank to fund the bank and provide liability protections, provides for deposits, provides for annual reporting requirements, provides for local school board funding request requirements and defines necessary terms..

S. 95 (Sen. Matthews) — Establishes a specified procedure for the enactment or repeal of laws by initiative petition and referendum.

S. 96 (Sen. Matthews) — Adds Section 17-17-15 to create eligibility qualifications to hold the Office of the County Clerk of Court of the Common Pleas.

S. 97 (Sen. Matthews) — Adds Section 12-45-25 to create eligibility qualifications to hold the Office of County Treasurer.

S.98 (Sen. Matthews) — Adds Section 12-39-25 to create eligibility qualifications to hold the Office of the County Auditor.

S. 99 (Sen. Matthews) — Adds Article 22 to Chapter 3, Title 16 to provide additional penalties for people who commit certain delineated crimes when the victim was intentionally selected based on certain factors.

S. 100 (Sen. Gambrell) — Adds Sections 38-71-292 and 38-71-820 to define terms and outline the applicability and requirements for cost-sharing for insurers.

S.101 (Sen. Gambrell) — Amends Section 40-80-50, relating to information requirements concerning the registration of firefighters by the Office of the State Fire Marshal, to revise and clarify the requirements.

S.102 (Sens. Gambrell and Massey) — Amends Section 6-1-320, relating to millage rate increase limitations, to allow a municipality without an operating millage on Jan. 1, 2025, or a municipality that incorporates after Jan. 1, 2025, to impose an operating millage and to impose limitations.

S. 104 (Sen. Rice) — Adds Section 60-9-15 to outline how to allocate amounts appropriated for aid to county libraries and require that in order to receive these funds, county libraries must certify to the state library that they do not offer any books or materials that appeal to the prurient interests of children younger than 17 in the children, youth or teen book sections and are only available with parental consent. It requires county libraries to recertify compliance with this provision quarterly before it may receive a disbursement of these funds.

S. 105 (Sen. Rice) — Concurrent resolution to make application by the state of South Carolina under Article 5 of the United States Constitution for a convention of the states to be called, restricted to proposing an amendment to the United States Constitution to set a limit on the number of terms that a person may be elected as a member of the United States House of Representatives and as a member of the United States Senate.

S. 106 (Sen. Rice) — Amends Section 27-13-30, relating to the limitation on ownership or control of land in this state by aliens or corporations owned by aliens, to reduce the limitation to 1,000 acres.

S. 107 (Sen. Rice) —  Amends Sections 9-1-1790 and 9-11-90, relating to the amount of compensation that may be earned upon returning to covered employment under the South Carolina Retirement System and the Police Officers Retirement System (PORS), to change the amount that may be earned from $10,000 to an amount not to exceed the lower limit of the retirement earnings test exempt amounts for individuals below normal retirement age.

S. 109 (Sen. Rice) — Adds Section 7-5-115 to prohibit a person from voting in a partisan primary election or partisan advisory referendum unless the person has registered as being a member of that political party.

S. 110 (Sen. Rice) — Amends Section 48-1-110, relating in part to unlawful discharges of air contaminants, to prohibit the emission of any air contaminant whose purpose is to affect temperature, weather or sunlight intensity.

S. 111 (Sen. Rice) — Amends Section 56-5-750 to provide penalties when vehicles lead officers on high-speed pursuits which have been video recorded.

S. 112 (Sen. Rice) — Enacts the “Help Find the Missing Act” and adds Section 23-1-260 to outline circumstances when coroners or medical examiners must refer decedents’ bodies for examination to the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED)’s Forensic Services Laboratory, which must retain and furnish certain information about the decedents to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

S.113 (Sen. Cash) — Amends Section 7-5-110 to prohibit a person from voting in a partisan primary election or partisan advisory referendum unless registered as a member of that political party.

S. 114 (Sen. Cash) — Adds Section 23-3-340 to require a wireless telecommunications carrier to provide call location information concerning the telecommunications device of a user to a law enforcement agency upon its request to respond to a call for emergency services or in an emergency situation that involved the risk of death or serious physical harm

S. 115 (Sens. Adams and Grooms) — Enacts the “Guardians of our Schools Act” and adds Article 3 to Chapter 66, Title 59, to allow governing school boards of public K-12 schools beginning with the 2024-2025 school year to designate employees as school guardians to provide armed protection and other related public safety functions on their campuses.

S. 116 (Sen. Adams) — Enacts the “Multifamily Dwelling Safety Act,” to require the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation to inspect “multifamily dwellings” and to define their scope.”

S. 117 (Sen. Adams) — Amends Section 17-15-55, relating to reconsideration by circuit court of bond set by the summary court and subsequent violent offenders, to require the bond for the offense of reckless endangerment to be held in circuit court if the offense was committed by a person already out on bond for a previous violent offense, reckless endangerment offense or any felony offense involving a firearm.

S. 118 (Sen. Adams) — Adds Section 9-11-95 to allow a retired police officer who maintains a constable certification after he is certified pursuant to Section 23-23-70 to be employed by one or more law enforcement agencies without being subject to the earnings limitation in Section 9-11-90(4).

S. 119 (Sen. Adams) — Amends Section 9-11-90 to increase the amount of time a beneficiary must be retired before returning to work from 30 days to 90 days and to remove the earnings limitation.

S. 120 (Sens. Adams and Leber) — Amends Section 23-23-60, relating to certificates of compliance, information to be submitted related to qualification of candidates for certification and expiration of certificates for law enforcement officers, to permit SLED to conduct state and federal-level criminal records checks on individuals seeking certification.

S. 121 (Sen. Garrett) — Amends Section 63-7-40 (B), relating to safe havens for abandoned babies, to require the safe haven to offer the person leaving the infant information prepared by the Department of Social Services concerning the legal effect of leaving the infant with the safe haven. The bill also amends several deadlines for family courts regarding permanency planning, terminating parental rights and adoption. Finally, the bill adds Section 63-9-765 to define “birth relative” for the purposes of adoption and Section 12-6-3595 to create a tax credit for qualified adoption expenses.

S. 123 (Sen. Johnson) — Amends Section 7-11-15, relating to qualifications to run as a candidate in general elections, to provide a process for reopening the time to file for office in case of a candidate’s death or withdrawal.

S. 124 (Sen. Johnson) — Amends Section 7-13-130, relating to managers’ table; guard rail; general arrangement; and preservation of right to vote and secrecy of ballot, to allow for the release of certain voted ballots and de-identified cast vote records pursuant to court order, order of the appropriate Board of Voter Registration and Elections, or Freedom of Information request.

S. 125 (Sen. Johnson) — Amends Section 12-37-220, relating to property tax exemptions, to limit the exemption for certain property of a nonprofit housing corporation only to the percentage of property that equals the corporation’s ownership interest in the property, to provide an exception and to provide certain certification and notice requirements.

S. 126 (Sen. Johnson) — Amends Section 30-2-510, relating to the option for law enforcement officers to make personal contact information confidential, to restrict personal contact information in a disclosed record from a publicly available internet website maintained by or operated on behalf of a state or local government and to require that the personal contact information restricted from disclosed records must remain within the official record held or be maintained by a state or local government agency and to allow disclosure to certain individuals or entities.

S.127 (Sen. Johnson) — Amends Section 9-11-10, relating to definitions for the South Carolina PORS, to include the Catawba Nation within the definition of employer.

S. 128 (Sen. Johnson) — Amends Section 7-5-120, to require that a person must provide satisfactory evidence of U.S. citizenship to register to vote and that a person who does not provide satisfactory evidence of citizenship may not register to vote.

S. 129 (Sen. Johnson) — Adds Section 23-31-1100 to grant criminal and civil immunity to federal firearms licensees who possess another person’s firearms pursuant to a valid firearm hold agreement.

S. 130 (Sen. Johnson) — Amends Section 4-1-80, to require the governing body of each county to furnish the Workers’ Compensation Commission secure space in an existing facility to conduct hearings at the chairman of the Workers’ Compensation Commission’s request. It also requires including all utilities.

S. 131 (Sens. Kimbrell & Grooms) — Enacts the “South Carolina Job Creation and Competitiveness Act of 2025,” to reform the South Carolina income tax system by, among other things, reducing the rate that individuals pay.

S.132 (Sens. Kimbrell & Blackmon) — Establishes criteria for the state to recover funds appropriated for certain purposes related to the SCOUT Motors Economic Development Project.

S.133 (Sen. Kimbrell) — Amends Section 61-2-145(A) to lower the amount of required liquor liability or general liability insurance coverage by a person permitted to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption, which remains open after 5 p.m. to sell alcoholic beverages from $1 million to $250,000. The bill also amends Section 61-2-140, to require a person licensed or permitted for the sale of alcoholic liquors, beer and wine and maintains a liquor liability insurance policy or general liability insurance policy with a liquor liability endorsement to surrender his license upon the third occurrence during any one calendar year of an event or series of events that activates coverage for the insured.

Finally, the bill amends Section 15-38-15 to, among other things, require the trier of fact in an action to recover damages to determine the percentage of fault of the plaintiff, the defendant and any person who is a non-party to the action. The trier of fact must consider the fault of all people who caused or contributed to the alleged damages. If the trier of fact finds that the plaintiff is 50% or greater at fault for the incident, then the jury shall return a verdict for the defendant. Otherwise, the trier of fact must determine the total amount of damages to which the claimant is entitled to recover, and the plaintiff must be awarded an amount equal to the fault for each defendant multiplied by the total amount of damages determined by the trier of fact.

S. 136 (Sen. Tedder) — Amend Section 17-1-65, relating to the expungement of convictions for the unlawful possession of handguns, to require the state to dismiss certain pending unlawful handgun possession charges that occurred prior to the enactment of the “S.C. Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024.”

S. 137 (Sen. Tedder) — Adds Chapter 56 to Title 47, to regulate the sale and distribution of products containing hemp-derived cannabinoid.

S.138 (Sens. Tedder & Leber) — Amends Section 17-1-65, relating to the S.C. Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024, to require the state to dismiss select pending unlawful handgun possession charges.

S. 139 (Sen. Devine) — Adds Section 48-1-91 to require any person possessing a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit that allows the discharge of effluent into state waters to post a sign, to outline the requirements of that sign and to establish certain exemptions and circumstances to waive the requirements of this section.

S. 140 (Sen. Devine) — Amends Section 24-3-180, relating to transportation and clothes for discharged inmates, to require the inmate be provided with written notice that the inmate is eligible to register to vote and instructions concerning how to register to vote.

S.141 (Sen. Devine) — Adds Section 23-31-9010 to require residents of this state who own or possess firearms to obtain and carry liability insurance that covers losses or damages resulting from any negligent or accidental use of the firearm, to require proof insurance be displayed upon demand by law enforcement officers and to provide penalties for violations.

S. 142 (Sen. Devine) — Adds Section 23-23-170 to require that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Training Council develop a model use-of-force policy that may be adopted by law enforcement agencies, to mandate use-of-force training at the Criminal Justice Academy, to provide that a law enforcement agency that does not implement a use-of-force policy loses qualified immunity for its officers, and to provide that law enforcement officers in a department that does not adopt an approved use-of-force policy are not subject to qualified immunity for any incident that occurs which would be addressed by the model use-of-force policy.

S. 143 (Sen. Devine) — Amends Section 20-4-40, relating to petitions for an order of protection, to include a parent, guardian, legal counsel, or other appropriate adult as a person who can petition on behalf of minors in the person’s household.

S. 144 (Sen. Devine) — Amends Section 44-61-100, to allow firefighters to transport patients in vehicles other than ambulances when firefighters arrive before emergency medical service providers, and there is a patient suffering from a condition requiring an emergency response.

S. 145 (Sen. Devine) — Repeals Act 111 of 2024 relating to the “South Carolina Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024.”

S.149 (Sen. Devine) — Amends Section 63-19-1410, relating to adjudication, to require the court to order the least restrictive appropriate placement for a child adjudicated delinquent, to limit the length of probation not extend after a child’s 20th birthday, the imposition of restitution for a child under the age of 16 unless it is proven that the child has the ability to pay, and to prohibit the child from being ordered to pay for drug screens unless the child has insurance to cover the cost. It also would allow the Department of Juvenile Justice to place the child on administrative supervision to pay for restitution or complete community service.

S. 151 (Sens. Kennedy & Leber) — Adds Section 12-37-221 to exempt the first $30,000 of the fair market value of a small business, as defined in the bill, from county, municipal, school, and special assessment real estate property taxes.

S.156 (Sens. Alexander, Rankin and Garrett) — Adds Section 16-3-80 to create the offense of fentanyl-induced homicide, to provide a penalty for a violation, and to prohibit an affirmative defense.

S. 157 (Sens. Alexander and Rankin) — Amends Section 58-27-1105 to allow an electric utility to include storm recovery costs for Hurricane Helene in its cost of capital from the date of the storm through the issuance of storm recovery bonds.

S. 158 (Sen. Alexander) — Adds Section 17-15-36 to provide procedures for court-ordered third-party monitoring as an additional condition for bond.

S. 161 (Sen. Alexander) — Prohibits preferencing coverage of an opioid prescription treatment over non-opioid treatment.

S. 162 (Sens. Verdin and Garrett) — Amends Section 44-63-100, to provide that gender changes to a person's birth certificate may only be to change from male to female or from female to male.

S. 163 (Sen. Verdin) — Adds Chapter 47 to Title 34 to prohibit a governing authority from accepting or requiring payment using central bank digital currency or participating in a test of central bank digital currency.

S. 164 (Sen. Campsen) — Amends Section 1-23-120, relating to the requirements and procedures for regulations, to stop the period of legislative review from the second Friday in May through the second Monday in January.

S. 165 (Sen. Campsen) — Enacts the "South Carolina Conservation Education Act," by adding Section 50-9-980 to establish the South Carolina Conservation Education Fund and the purpose for which revenues in the fund may be expended.

S. 166 (Sen. Campsen) — Enacts the "Emergency Order Balance of Powers Act,” by amending Section 1-3-420, relating to proclamations by the Governor, to provide the conditions in which a proclamation shall terminate.

S. 167 (Sen. Campsen) — Adds Section 50-9-975 to establish the South Carolina Waterways Protection Fund and outlines the purposes for which revenues in the fund may be expended.

S. 168 (Sen. Campsen) — Amends Section 23-31-215(n), (p), and (s), relating to concealable weapon permits, to require the permits to be automatically issued upon certain conditions and to revise the circumstances under which out-of-state permits must be honored.

S. 171 (Sens. Gambrell and Garrett) — Adds Article 3 to Chapter 75, Title 39 to increase the amount counties may charge in tipping fees for waste tires from $1.50 per tire or $150 per ton to up to $400 per ton, to provide requirements for waste tire generators and haulers, and to provide incentives to businesses and manufacturers to develop, create, or otherwise utilize waste tires for alternative uses or products.

S. 175 (Sen. Zell) — Enacts the "Helping Alleviate Lawful Obstruction (HALO) Act," by adding Section 16-3-1092 to create the offense of impeding, interfering, threatening, or harassing a first responder engaged in the lawful performance of their duties, and to provide a penalty.

S. 177 (Sen. Tedder) — Adds Section 17-13-180 to provide that the scent of marijuana alone does not provide law enforcement with reasonable suspicion or probable cause to support a stop, search, seizure, or arrest.

S. 178 (Sen. Tedder) — Amends Section 7-5-320, relating to application for motor vehicle driver's licenses and voter registration, to eliminate the requirement that the applicant sign a separate voter registration portion of the application in order to register.

S.179 (Sen. Hutto) — Amends Section 63-7-1990, to authorize disclosure of case records to county and State Guardian ad Litem staff and the State Child Advocate's Divisions.

S. 184 (Sens. Johnson, Young and Adams) — Adds Section 15-3-710 to provide the basis for liability for a person or establishment who unlawfully furnishes alcohol to an individual who injures a third party based upon what the furnisher knew or should have known under the circumstances.

S. 190 (Sens. Adams and Tedder) — Amends Section 31-12-210, relating to issuance of obligations for a redevelopment project by municipality, to add affordable housing projects to the list and to increase the time limit of which an obligation must be issued from 15 to 35 years.

S. 192 (Sens. Adams, Johnson and Fernandez) — Amends Section 56-5-2950, relating to implied consent to testing for alcohol or drugs, procedures, and inference of driving under the influence; to allow for the law enforcement agency to determine which tests shall be administered.

S. 204 (Sens. Massey and Rice) – Amends Section 27-13-30, relating to limiting alien land ownership, by forbidding a citizen of a foreign adversary or a corporation controlled by a foreign adversary from acquiring any interest in real property, reducing the amount of real property that an alien or corporation can acquire from 500,000 acres to 1,000 acres, and adds Section 15-35-190 to provide for court procedures.

S. 205 (Sen. Massey) – Amends 7-13-360 to delete the prohibition on allowing write-in voting for President and Vice President on a ballot.

S. 207 (Sens. Massey and Rice) – Amends Section 12-6-1170, relating to the retirement income deduction from taxable income, to increase the individual deduction from $15,000 to $20,000, to increase the deduction for married taxpayers who file jointly from $30,000 to $40,000, and provides for an annual inflation adjustment, not to exceed 4%.

S. 209 (Sen. Massey) – Amends Section 14-23-1040, relating to eligibility requirements for probate judges, to reenact Section 14-23-1040, which requires a person running for probate judge to be a citizen of the United States and this state, be 21 or older upon being elected, must be a qualified elector of the county in which they are running, and must have received a four-year bachelor's degree from an accredited post-secondary institution or have four years' experience as an employee in a probate judge's office in this state. This law would take effect beginning July 1, 2026.

S. 211 (Sen. Massey) — Amends Section 12-37-220(B)(1)(e)(i), relating to classes of property that are exempt from ad valorem taxation, to include property owner by a current volunteer firefighter.

S. 216 (Sen. Massey) — Amends Section 14-7-840, by raising the age exemption from jury service from 65 to 75 years of age or older.

S. 218 (Sen. Young) — Adds Section 25-11-730 to require the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to adopt criteria for admissions to and discharges from South Carolina veterans’ homes.

S. 222 (Sen. Ott) – Adds Section 56-2-140 to define the term "Utility Terrain Vehicle" and provides for the registration and operation of these vehicles on highways and streets in this state, amends Section 56-1-10 to revise the definition of “Off-Road Use Only,” and amends Section 38-77-30 to revise the definition of “Individual Private Passenger Automobile” to include certain "Utility Terrain Vehicles." 

S. 223 (Sen. Ott) – Amends Section 12-37-250, to increase the homestead property tax exemption from the first $50,000 to the first $100,000 of the fair market value.

S. 227 (Sen. Davis) – Amends Section 6-29-720, relating to zoning ordinances, to define “concurrency programs,” and amends Section 6-29-1130, relating to a governing body adopting regulations governing the development of land within the jurisdiction, to give local governments the option to adopt concurrency programs.

S. 234 (Sens. Leber, Fernandez, Elliott, Cash, Blackmon and Kennedy) – Amends 12-6-1120, relating to gross income, computation of gross income, and modifications to gross income for state income tax purposes; to exclude tips from the computation of South Carolina gross income and to define tips.

S. 238 (Sens. Alexander, Peeler, Massey and Rankin) – Amends Section 2-1-180, to automatically extend the date for sine die adjournment if the House of Representatives doesn’t give third reading to the annual Appropriations Act on or before March 10, to allow the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House to call their respective bodies into session after the sine die adjournment date to finish any unfinished business relating to the general appropriations bill or capital reserve fund resolution until the first Thursday in June, and provide that for purposes of the Administrative Procedures Act the 120-day period that the General Assembly has to review state regulations is stopped from the second Thursday in May until the second Tuesday the following January.

S. 239 (Sens. Cash and Corbin) – Adds Section 27-1-80 to allow a property owner to request for the immediate removal of a person unlawfully occupying a residential dwelling, to provide for a complaint form, and to provide for penalties.

S. 241 (Sens. Cash, Corbin and Rice) – Adds Section 12-6-525 to allow married taxpayers who file a joint federal return to calculate their amount of South Carolina income tax owed for the tax year as though each taxpayer filed a return as a single taxpayer if the taxpayers’ cumulative tax owed would be less that the amount they would owe had they filed jointly.

S. 244 (Sens. Massey, Alexander, Rice, Turner, Climer, Williams and Bennett) – (Liquor Liability) Amends Section 15-38-15, to provide that a jury shall determine the percentage of fault of the claimant, defendant, and of any nonparty whose act or omission was the proximate cause of the claimant’s alleged damages relating to alcoholic beverage or drug exceptions. The bill repeals:

  • Section 15-38-20 relating to the right of contribution,
  • Section15-38-30 relating to factors determining pro rata liability of tortfeasors,
  • Section 15-38-40 relating to actions of contributions.

It adds:

  • Section 15-3-710 to define terms,
  • Section 15-3-720 to prohibit an individual from recovering damages if they knowingly ride as a passenger in a vehicle operated by a driver who is visibly intoxicated or whom they should have known would become intoxicated,
  • Section 15-3-730 to require the Clerk of Court to forward a copy of the complaint and judgement to the Department of Revenue (DOR) upon entering judgment against a licensee.

It amends:

  • Section 61-4-580 to provide for civil liability options for prohibited acts in addition to a suspension or revocation of a license or permit,
  • Section 61-4-590 to allow the DOR to revoke or suspend a permit on its own initiative upon receipt of a complaint and judgment.
  • In addition, the bill adds:
  • Section 61-3-100 to define terms,
  • Section 61-3-110 to provide requirements for training server and manager training,
  • Section 61-3-120 to create and approve training programs,
  • Section 61-3-130 to issue alcohol server certificates,
  • Section 61-3-140 to provide for a renewal process for a permit or license,
  • Section 61-3-150 to provide for enforcement mechanisms,
  • Section 61-3-160 to provide for penalties,
  • Section 15-7-65 to require a civil action being tried against an unknown defendant to be tried in the county where the cause of action arose, by amending Section 38-77-150 to provide that the uninsured motorist provision isn’t required to include coverage for punitive or exemplary damages,
  • Section 38-59-23 to provide for actions for bad faith involving a liability.

Finally it, amends:

  • Section 61-2-60, relating to the promulgation of regulations to provide for alcohol server training provisions,
  • Section 61-6-2220, to prohibit a person or establishment licensed to sell alcoholic liquors or liquor by the drink from knowingly providing these beverages to an intoxicated person,
  • Section 38-90-20, to include liquor liability insurance,
  • Section 61-2-145 to provide limits for liability insurance coverage,
  • Section 61-2-145 to require an insurer to notify DOR if a person licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption exceeds its aggregate limit prior to the policy expiring,
  • Section 15-3-670, relating to circumstances in which some limitations in Sections 15-3-640 through 15-3-660 aren’t available as a defense, to provide that a violation is considered material only if it’s within a completed building, structure, or facility which has resulted in physical harm to a person or significant damage to the performance of a building or its systems,
  • Section 56-5-6540 to allow that a violation is admissible as evidence of comparative negligence,
  • Section 38-77-160 to provide that automobile insurance carriers aren’t required to include coverage for punitive or exemplary damages in the mandatory offer of underinsured motorists coverage,
  • Section 15-78-30, to define occurrence,
  • Section 15-32-220 to provide guidelines for in regard to noneconomic damages limit and exceptions.

S. 245 (Sens. Massey, Rice, Reichenbach and Garrett) – A concurrent resolution to make application by the State of South Carolina under Article 5 of the U.S. Constitution for a convention of the states to be called to propose and amendment to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government through a balanced budget amendment.