Your SC politics briefing

Welcome to your weekly South Carolina politics briefing, a newsletter curated by The State’s politics and government team.

Happy Friday, and happy St. Patrick’s Day to those who celebrate.

Budget news: This week, the SC House passed its $13.8 billion spending plan, which accounts for a $1.3 billion incentive package for the Scout Motors facility in Blythewood and the second year of a phased-in income tax cut.

The budget is stock full of spending priorities that also includes $124 million more for state employees, representing the largest pay raise for state employees in state history. And school districts also are on track to get enough money to give each teachers a $2,500 raise and raise the starting salary to $42,500.

The debate, stretching a few days, had its fair share of drama as House Republicans shot down every single amendment raised by the conservative House Freedom Caucus — a strategy that’ll likely continue to play out on the floor moving forward.

The House did, however, OK an amendment proposed by Rep. Heather Bauer, a Richland Democrat, that would slash Comptroller General Richard Eckstom’s salary to $1 from $151,000 a year. This wasn’t the first time the House hoped to send a message to a state agency head by cutting their salary. A few years ago, the House reduced ex-Public Safety Department Director Leroy Smith’s pay, which the Senate eventually restored.

In Eckstrom’s case, budget Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, conceded his pay will probably be restored.

“This body wanted to send a message that they’re unhappy with the performance,” Bannister said. “At the end of the day, we’re not going to not pay the salary that we’ve committed to. But it was more of a political message. Accidentally misplacing or miscounting $3 billion is not acceptable.”

(Photo via Travis Bell)

Eckstrom in hotter water

Speaking of the comptroller general, the Republican faces even more legislative pressure after a SC Senate panel investigating his office’s $3.5 billion error released a list of recommendations that essentially includes removing the official from office.

“To ensure accuracy in the state’s finances, all the duties of his office need to be transferred immediately to one or more agencies that will produce documents that we can rely on and have confidence in,” Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, said.

Grooms, who led the panel, did not recommend impeachment, a process which allows the General Assembly to remove a constitutional officer because of criminal acts. Gov. Henry McMaster has already said he doesn’t agree with that move.

Instead, Groom’s panel recommended removing Richard Eckstrom for willful neglect of duty, which requires a two-thirds vote by both chambers and action by the governor.

Eckstrom has said he won’t resign and disagreed with the Senate panel’s findings.

“My team and I worked tirelessly to identify the cause of a complex problem. Once we identified the cause of the problem, we worked with stakeholders to correct it. I have made this clear to those who have asked and I will continue to,” Eckstrom said. “We remain committed, more than ever, to collaborating with state agencies, and legislators to make sure the work taxpayers elected us to do is done efficiently, effectively and transparently.”

(Photo via The State’s Tracy Glantz)

Controversial abortion bill

There’s a key fact to remember about the legislative process: Any lawmaker, Republican or Democrat, can file a bill.

Every year, hundreds of bills get filed in both the House and Senate. A small percentage of those bills actually get a hearing, an even smaller number of those bills actually become law.

So let’s talk about this controversial SC House abortion bill, filed by freshman Rep. Rob Harris, a Spartanburg Republican, that was this week picked up by national news outlets including Rolling Stone and The Hill.

Harris, a member of the SC House Freedom Caucus, filed legislation called the “South Carolina Pre-Natal Equal Protection Act” that would punish an abortion like any murder, leading to sentences of 30 years in prison up to the death penalty.

The stories about the bill caused national outrage. But one basic fact missing from those stories? The bill is not going to pass.

Here’s why, other than that most of the 170 lawmakers say it goes too far in punishing women.

The House and Senate continue to be at a stalemate on when the state should ban abortions. After last year’s special fall session, the House again passed a bill banning abortions at conception and the Senate again passed a bill at six weeks. Both bills passed after the SC Supreme Court already ruled six weeks was unconstitutional.

Second, Harris is part of the 20-member House Freedom Caucus. And if you’ve watched the House the last few months or even the last few days, House Republicans seem more unwilling than ever to let the freedom caucus get their agenda through.

And thirdly, legislative leaders say they have no plans to move this bill along. It hasn’t even gotten a hearing yet.

“I think it’s an extreme view that does not represent the majority of House members,” said Rep. John McCravy, a Greenwood Republican who heads the family caucus, a collection of socially conservative and anti-abortion legislators. “It doesn’t represent a majority of the Family Caucus or the Republican Caucus. I think it’s an extreme position.”

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, said the bill also has zero chance of passing.

(Photo via The State’s Tracy Glantz)

2024 Bites

▪ McClatchyDC: Ahead of South Carolina visit, Hutchinson calls DeSantis’ Ukraine position ‘naive’

▪ Myrtle Beach Sun News: Nikki Haley revs up raucous Myrtle Beach crowd during presidential campaign stop

▪ WFAE: Examining South Carolina’s growing role in national politics

▪ Marianne Williamson, a 2024 Democratic presidential contender, will be the guest speaker at the SC Democratic Party’s Black Caucus annual Sunday Dinner

(Photo via The Sun News’ Jason Lee)

Buzz Bites

▪ SC Senate voted 42-0 to confirm retired Maj. Gen. Todd McCaffrey to be secretary of SC Department of Veteran Affairs.

▪ Joe Cunningham, who represented the 1st District in the US House for one term and ran unsuccessfully for governor, has started a full-service public affairs and consulting firm called Cunningham Consulting.

▪ South Carolina is one of a few states that require certain qualifications for candidates to run for a county’s chief death investigator, often allowing existing coroners to maintain their elected posts unopposed. A new measure, however, could change that.

▪ A bill that would ban Chinese and Russian companies from buying land in South Carolina advanced in the Senate over objections it could curb business deals, the Post and Courier reported.

▪ The EPA has proposed strict limits on the amount of “forever chemicals’’ allowed in drinking water, a plan that could push cities like Columbia out of compliance with safe drinking water standards and require potentially expensive filtering systems to be installed.

▪ A suspended Citadel cadet has pleaded guilty to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, US Capitol riot and has been sentenced to 14 days in jail.

▪ Lexington businesswoman Seema Shrivastava-Patel is Gov. Henry McMaster’s choice to head DHEC’s board, a politically appointed panel that hears permit appeals and helps set agency policy.

▪ In an effort to address what critics call a years-long mismanagement problem, lawmakers are looking to restructure the agency responsible for overseeing services for residents with disabilities and special needs.

▪ Sen. Marlon Kimpson, a Charleston Democrat, will resign his seat in the upper chamber to join the Biden administration. Two state legislators, Reps. Wendell Gilliard and Deon Tedder, have announced they’ll seek his Senate seat. State Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, who was rumored to run for mayor of North Charleston but now won’t, told The State he is not going to run for Kimpson’s Senate seat.

(File State photo)

Mark your calendar

March 18

Palmetto Family Council holds presidential forum in North Charleston

March 20-24

SC House on furlough

March 22

SC Senate panel discusses S. 126, charter school accountability act, 10 a.m.

SC Senate panel meets to discuss S. 399 to break up DHEC, 10 a.m.

March 23

SC Senate Medical Affairs panel meets to discuss gender-related legislation, 9 a.m.

March 26

SC Democratic Party Black Caucus annual Sunday Dinner

March 27

College and university trustee screening commission meets, 1 p.m.

March 28

City of Columbia District 4 special election between Peter Brown and Beatrice King

College and university trustee screening commission meets, 10:30 a.m.

April 10-14

SC House goes on furlough

April 18

Income tax filing deadline

April 29

SC Democratic Party holds state convention in Columbia at fairgrounds

(Photo via Travis Bell)

Before we adjourn

The State newspaper and its political team clinched two big honors at this year’s SC Press Association Awards.

We won first place for political reporting. Yay team!

Even bigger, our very own Joseph Bustos received South Carolina’s Jim Davenport Award for Excellence in Government Reporting for his work in 2022, topping a slate of more than 30 awards brought home by The State’s journalists in the annual news contest.

“Joe is very deserving of this recognition,” said Brian Tolley, president and editor of The State Media Co. “He does all the little things that make a great reporter, and we are very proud of him.”

Pulling the newsletter together this week was Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter), senior editor of the The State’s politics and state government team. You can keep up with her on Twitter and send her tips on Twitter at @MaayanSchechter or by email mschechter@thestate.com.

To stay on top of South Carolina politics and election news, you can chat with us on Facebook, email us tips and follow our stories at scpolitics.com.