Happy Friday.
This wraps Week 15 of the South Carolina legislative session.
There are six days left on the calendar, with the exception of a likely return after May 8 so lawmakers can pass the budget.
You're reading The State House Gavel, a daily reporter notebook by reporters Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney and Maayan Schechter that previews and captures what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse this year while lawmakers are in session.
Before we break down what happened Thursday and what's coming in the weeks ahead, there's some musical chair news.
Bryan Stirling, head of the state corrections department since 2014, is heading to South Carolina's U.S. Attorney's Office.
Stirling, 55, has long been rumored to become the next U.S. attorney for South Carolina. And starting Monday, he's expected to be formally announced as interim U.S. attorney before a likely full-time appointment by President Donald Trump, with Senate confirmation, The State newspaper reported.
He will succeed former U.S. Attorney of South Carolina Adair Ford Boroughs, who was picked by former President Joe Biden and left the job not long after Trump took office, and the current interim U.S. Attorney Brook Andrews.
Trump's U.S. Attorney for South Carolina in his first term was former state Rep. Peter McCoy. Stirling, like McCoy, has support across political party lines.
Notebook highlights:
- Without a quorum, the Senate headed home for the week mid-debate over a K-12 private school voucher bill that one Republican lawmaker tried unsuccessfully to amend.
- Six days are left on the Statehouse calendar as lawmakers aim to pass big policy bills over energy and tort reform. What's hanging in the balance before lawmakers head home. Hear from the Senate's GOP leader.
- The House left for the week without a resolution of how to deal with Treasurer Curtis Loftis. What one Senator says.
No quorum, no vote on K-12 voucher bill
Senators headed home for the week Thursday without passing one bill leaders hoped to wrap up: S. 62, a bill that would cover K-12 private school tuition vouchers with the state budget and be run by a third-party picked by the education department.
Why?
There weren't enough members in the chamber — or in the Statehouse — to actually conduct official Senate business.
It was the result of a few moves: One, a number of senators with House members were on a visit to McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Richland County. Some Republican senators were seen leaving the chamber mid-debate and, adding to an already dwindling chamber, Democrats — who are opposed to the bill, headed home.
"I knew we were going to be down some people today," Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, told reporters, mentioning the late special Monday hearing over the state treasurer and Wednesday night's final budget vote. "It's been a long week. So, we'll just pick this back up on Tuesday and get it done."
The chamber has already done the tricky part.
Last week, the Senate voted to strike-through the bill and attach a compromise amendment hashed out by Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree, R-Horry, and House Education and Public Works Chairwoman Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort.
The bill:
- Sets the voucher, or scholarship, amount at $7,500 per child
- Offers two enrollment periods, first for students already in the program and another for new students.
- Sets the student limit up to 15,000 students who can participate in the program. The number can be increased if enough state revenue is available and appropriated. At full implementation, the program could cost more than $112 million.
- In the first school year, the bill sets a household poverty limit of 300%, or $96,450 for a family of four. In following years, the limit would be set at 500%, or $160,750 for a family of four.
The bill also installs a third-party "trustee" with certain qualifications chosen by the superintendent to oversee the so-called education scholarship trust fund — what lawmakers see as an insurance policy after the state Supreme Court ruled a previous voucher bill unconstitutional last year.
State Sen. Shane Martin, a Spartanburg Republican and former school board member who opposed the compromise and last year's voucher bill, proposed an amendment Thursday that would revert any unused voucher, or scholarship, money back to the state budget. That would include if a court rendered the spending unconstitutional again.
Hembree, however, said that could render the effort unconstitutional.
Martin's proposal was tabled (voted down).
As were others.
"I feel compelled as the person that negotiated this agreement to stick to the agreement," Hembree said. "I've given my word that I would defend the agreement that we made with the House negotiators."
What's on tap with 6 days left?
It's Capitol crunch time.
Any bill that has any chance of survival to become law this session must pass in the next six days of the regular session.
The sine die resolution — which dictates what lawmakers can return to Columbia to debate after adjourning sine die — is so narrow that lawmakers hope to only deal with the budget.
And, as a reminder, any bill that does not become law this year still has one more year to do so before the new General Assembly turns over.
So what is left to do? Plenty.
For starters, the Republican-controlled Legislature has still not resolved legislation over energy capacity (H. 3309) and tort reform and liquor liability (S. 244 and H. 3497) — two top priorities.
Reporters spoke to Senate GOP Leader Massey about where tort reform is going:
Look ahead: Next week, Week 16, is a big week for each individual chamber. It's the final week lawmakers have to get bills to conference committees with enough time to get the bills back before their respective chambers for final approval.
Session ends 5 p.m. Thursday, May 8.
Grooms takes the TWISC desk
As we've reported all week, there's another question mark this session that hasn't been answered: Will the House follow the Senate and hold a removal hearing over the state treasurer?
Right now, the answer is no.
But, as one lawmaker in the House told us, you never say never in the final days of a legislative session. Anything can happen.
State Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, who led the Senate's investigation into the accounting errors that plagued the then-comptroller general and state Treasurer Curtis Loftis, sat down with Gavin Jackson on This Week in South Carolina to discuss the vote to remove Loftis over the $1.8 billion accounting error, and what he hopes the House will do.
Loftis has denied any wrongdoing.
Here are some excerpts of that interview.
It will air in full on SCETV at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
What was the vibe on the floor during the day? Did the vote turn out the way you expected?
"I believed that he would have six senators vote with him and he ended up having eight. So I wasn’t too far off on my vote count and I can read the Senate pretty well."
Would it be negligent of the House not to even take this up at this point, especially after all the work y’all have done and made a vote of no-confidence?
"When there’s no dispute about certain statutes that’s been violated by the treasurer, I think it would be (a) shame if the House took the attitude of ‘We’re just going to look the other way. We know there’s wrongdoing, but we’re going to look the other way.’ That would be unfortunate."
Will we get clarity from the House?
"I believe we’ll hear something from the House shortly."
What if the House doesn’t take up the removal resolution or doesn’t have the votes to remove Loftis? What other options are available, like changing the Constitution (to make treasurer appointed by the governor)?
"The earliest a constitutional amendment could be before the people is 2026, when the office of treasurer and comptroller general will be on the ballot. So if the people decide it should be appointed, it wouldn’t be until 2030 before that could happen. And so that’s not a remedy right now. But the resolution remains alive, the House of Representatives could take it up at any point."
Daily planner (2/25)
SC governor
- 11:45 a.m. — Gov. Henry McMaster to speak at Sustain South Carolina's Conservation Summit in Dorchester
Clips from around the state
- A proposed casino in Santee won’t pass this year. But GOP-led bill shows new support for gambling. (SC Daily Gazette)
- Former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison calls out Republicans, has continuing confidence in Dems future (Post and Courier)
- South Carolina lawmakers consider a nearly $18,000 pay raise (AP)
- Boeing's top brass swoop into North Charleston to deliver an upbeat update (Post and Courier)
- Governor McMaster endorses effort to slash boat property taxes (WCBD)
- Trump's volatile tariffs frustrate SC's small businesses as they expect price increases (Post and Courier)
- Demand is high for RNs educated in SC's technical colleges as state's population booms (Aiken Standard)
- A pay raise for state lawmakers? Johns Island Republican defends the proposal (WCBD)
- RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz to address legislators in Charleston this Friday (Post and Courier)
- Republican Nancy Mace fields concerns over university funding during South Carolina town hall (AP)
- 'Murdaugh Murders' TV show cast 'Parks and Rec' alum to play SC attorney Dick Harpootlian (Post and Courier)
- Lexington County teacher wins SC Teacher of the Year award (SC Daily Gazette)
