It's Friday, May 8.
That's a wrap on Week 17 of the South Carolina legislative session. The General Assembly will move on to Week 18 next week that amounts to three more days on the official legislative calendar before sine die strikes 5 o'clock on Thursday, May 14.
Will there be a sine die agreement, giving lawmakers the power to decide when they return and what they discuss post-May 14?
That is certainly the question at the top of everyone's mind.
You're reading The State House Gavel, your daily reporter notebook by Maayan Schechter and Gavin Jackson that previews and captures what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse.
Mark your calendar: South Carolina lawmakers are expected to hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on May 13 to help celebrate and raise awareness of the incoming Robert Smalls statute on the Statehouse grounds. The bipartisan Robert Smalls Monument Commission, set up to help install a statue to the former lawmaker, congressman and Civil War hero, is aiming to raise up to $2 million to help cover costs that include paying sculptor Basil Watson, adding a pedestal, installing cameras and other measures. Click here to learn more.
Notebook highlights:
- Senate GOP leader says his concerns remain unchanged under proposed map as House starts redistricting process
- House advances tweaked Heritage Act legislation, as budget writers move forward on pay raise bill
- Legislators give more farewells to the lower chamber as session winds down
Senate punts first key redistricting vote to next week
South Carolina House Republicans on Thursday released a proposed redrawn congressional map, calling it a starting point should the GOP-controlled legislature return for a special session to undergo redistricting.
The map was released throughout both chambers after Senate Republicans expressed concerns internally, then publicly, that they'd be forced to vote whether to debate the contentious issue post-sine die without actually having seen a potential map.
Wednesday night, House leaders told reporters there was no official map, a remark echoed on the floor earlier to their Democratic colleagues.
With the map in hand, the Senate left Columbia for the week and headed home without taking up the amended sine die agreement that would let lawmakers return for redistricting.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey told reporters he learned of the map Thursday. First impression? "It confirms the concerns that I've had all along," the Edgefield Republican said.
Republicans in the South Carolina state legislature began the process of extending their session to allow for the redrawing of the state’s congressional map — with one goal in mind: eliminating the state’s only Democratic House district that is occupied by a Democrat.
— Jim Clyburn (@ClyburnSC06) May 7, 2026
The map makes a number of significant changes.
For starters, it would take South Carolina's lone Democratic Congressman, Jim Clyburn, out of the 6th Congressional District, and carve up the heavily Democratic-leaning district around Richland County.
In one example, it would stretch part of Columbia — the state's capital — to Oconee County in the Upstate.
It would also pull part of York County, part of the Fort Mill area, and Lancaster County out of the 5th District and merge it into the 6th District.
Under the proposed map, a portion of Charleston County would stay in the 1st District, while another chunk would be put in the 7th District, joining Horry and Georgetown counties.
Massey has heard twice from President Donald Trump, who has pressured southern states to redraw their maps to help shore up seats in Congress and keep Republican control.
Massey has described both calls as cordial and very positive, not antagonistic, hostile or aggressive.
"I understand why the president's asking. I completely understand that," Massey said. "My concern has been, not that I don't want want to try to help him, I do want to try to help him. But what I don't want to do is make it worse."
Massey said he shared his concerns with Trump and other White House officials. In part, they include the risk of making the map more competitive, keeping communities of interest together and avoiding an overhaul in the state's election calendar.
Republican leaders have said there are no promises they will ultimately redraw the map, only that recent efforts start the process.
That process will continue today with the first House Judiciary Committee hearing over the map (H. 5683) and a proposal (H. 5684) to move congressional primary elections only to Aug. 11.
A separate proposal sponsored by Spartanburg Republican Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who happens to be running a longshot bid for governor, would aim to move all primaries to a later date.
Massey told reporters both would get considerable debate in the upper chamber.
The State Election Commission said Friday about 5,800 absentee ballots had already been mailed ahead of the June 9 statewide primary elections, and more than 220 ballots to date had been returned.
You can hear Massey's remarks to reporters below:
Massey was not the only top Republican to weigh in Thursday.
In Bluffton, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed his own concerns over the map to reporters as he stumped to gin up excitement over his reelection bid.
You can hear his remarks below:
Read more:
- The State: Proposed House SC congressional map joins Columbia & Oconee. What will Senate do?
- SC Daily Gazette: White House map of SC voting lines could help Democrats, GOP leader warns
- WIS: What proposed SC redistricting map could mean for Columbia, the Midlands
House OKs expanded Heritage Act, budget takeaways
In a party line vote Thursday, the House voted 74-28 to advance legislation that would further expand the 2000 Heritage Act law that protects the movement, alteration and removal of certain monuments, statues, plaques and other memorials.
The bill — S. 508, sponsored by Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens — was amended by the House to add new language that included a constitutional construction rights clause, a measure to tighten damage provisions, and a section that would allow for the addition of new names to a memorial.
Spartanburg Republican Rep. Travis Moore, who presented the amended bill on the floor Thursday, said he did not personally believe the legislation would have a "chilling effect" on the ability for history to be told in South Carolina.
"There are a lot of places where we are allowed to teach history," Moore noted, saying the monuments, statues or memorials don't only show the history of a person or symbol, but also rather it says "a lot about the people" who he said made the determination at that time to recognize that person.
As an example, Moore pointed to the Robert Smalls statue that was widely supported by the House and the Senate.
Democrats, however, said the expansion legislation would in ways teach an incomplete history of the state and only further tie the hands of local government.
The bill's passage will send it back to the Senate, which can decide to amend the bill further, reject the House changes or send the proposal to the governor for his signature.
What else occurred in the House?
The House Ways and Means Committee voted 11-3 to send S. 933, sponsored by Spartanburg Republican Sen. Shane Martin, to the House floor that would effectively raise all 170 members' base pay to $47,500, adjusting for inflation but not to exceed 5%, starting with the 128th General Assembly.
Lawmakers receive a base pay of $10,400, plus $1,000 per month for in-district expenses, and other mileage and per diem.
Under the bill, lawmakers' base pay would rise to $15,000.
In-district pay would go from $12,000 a year to $32,500.
Neither have risen since the 90s.
Separately, in a bit of a placeholder, the House also added an in-district raise to the state budget, increasing the $1,000 a month payout for in-district expenses to $2,500 per month, starting Dec. 1.
And speaking of the budget-writing committee, the lower chamber named its three budget conferees who will be responsible for negotiating differences with the Senate over spending in the $15 billion state spending plan.
They are Republicans Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister of Greenville, Majority Leader Davey Hiott of Pickens and Dillon Democratic Rep. Jackie Hayes.
The Senate's conferees are Republicans Finance Chairman Harvey Peeler of Cherokee and Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort and Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto of Orangeburg.
More House members say farewell
Farewell speeches continued in the House on Thursday.
The chamber heard from Charleston Democratic Rep. Spencer Wetmore and Aiken Republican Rep. Bill Taylor, two of five House legislators who announced they would not seek reelection this year.
Wetmore was elected in August 2020, when she flipped a Republican-held seat to represent Charleston County's District 115.
You can listen to her remarks below:
And Taylor will end a 15-year run in the lower chamber this year representing a rural Aiken district, after the 79-year-old announced in March that he was "turning the page" to spend more time with family and "begin the next chapter of my life."
You can hear his remarks below:
Statehouse clips from around the state
- SC won’t put more restrictions on psychoactive herb this year, but effort will continue (SC Daily Gazette)
- Senate passes SC High School League bill, but SCHSL opposes latest changes (The State)
- Pay raise for South Carolina lawmakers takes key step near session’s end (WIS)
- Bill to require shrimp labeling in South Carolina restaurants facing late roadblocks (Post and Courier)
- Seven candidates compete for South Carolina agriculture commissioner (WIS)
- South Carolina governor candidates from both parties to share stage May 28 at Post and Courier forum (Post and Courier)
- Richland County won’t name third parties paying environmental fine at Scout site (The State)
- South Carolina moves to ban grade floor policies for public schools (WCIV)
- We’re reaching final days to register to vote in South Carolina’s June 9 primaries (SC Daily Gazette)
- SC State’s student president, alumni director to replace Lt. Gov. Evette in commencement speech (SC Daily Gazette)
