- BIG STORY: Taxes, crime, culture war: Key prefiled bills for new session
- MORE NEWS: 152 fewer people died in 2025 on S.C. highways
- LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: The tinfoil hat brigade
- BRACK: Get to work regulating state’s precious water resources
- MYSTERY PHOTO: Destruction
- FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
- BIRTHDAY: We start our 25th year of publication with today’s issue!
Taxes, crime, culture war: Key prefiled bills for new session
By Jack O’Toole, Capitol bureau | Tax cuts for seniors? New protections for first responders? An end to drag queen story hours in public libraries?
Those are just a few of the ideas S.C. lawmakers have proposed in 327 bills they’ve pre-filed prior to next week’s kickoff of the 2026 legislative session.
Below is an annual roundup of some of the most consequential, controversial and just plain interesting pre-filed bills awaiting action as lawmakers reconvene on Jan. 13.
Economy, affordability and taxes
With inflation and tariffs continuing to punish S.C. consumers, several new bills promise to lower prices or put more money in residents’ pockets.
Among those bills, the most ambitious by far is H. 4817, a wide-ranging insurance reform package that aims to lower rates on homes, automobiles, health care and more. Co-sponsored by powerful S.C. House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, the bill is expected to be a major priority in 2026.
Other pocketbook proposals garnering early attention include bills that would exempt senior citizens from property (H. 4580) and automobile (H. 4598) taxes, eliminate the sales tax on baby products (S. 742) and expand the current sales-tax-free back-to-school weekend to cover the entire month of August (S. 728).
Crime and punishment
Despite dramatic declines in national crime rates in 2025, crime will remain a major focus for S.C. lawmakers in the new session.
Attracting the most attention out of the gate is the Criminal Coercive Control Act (S. 702), sponsored by Georgetown Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, a 2026 GOP candidate for S.C. Attorney General. Inspired by the April 2024 death of Myrtle Beach resident Mica Miller and the subsequent allegations of abuse against her estranged husband, the bill would outlaw “a pattern of behavior that seeks to destroy the mental and emotional state of the other person [and] strip away the individual’s sense of self.”
Also up for debate in 2026 are bills that would require county sheriffs to participate in federal immigration enforcement efforts (H. 4764), criminalize the possession of abortion pills (H. 4760), and establish penalties for interfering with the work of first responders (H. 4763).
Health and education
As the Trump administration’s health priorities continue to filter to the state level, several pre-filed bills reflect the controversial agenda of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. These include legislation that would prohibit vaccine mandates for children under the age of 2 (S. 741), require the state health department to advertise the availability of vaccine mandate waivers (H. 4803) and ban the addition of fluoride in public water systems (S. 743).
On education, major bills include legislation by Education Committee Chairman Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, requiring home schoolers who receive state voucher money to study an approved curriculum (S.692) and a bill co-sponsored bySmith that would effectively end tenure at state colleges and universities (H. 4761).
Energy and environment
After last year’s passage of deregulatory energy legislation aimed at ramping up production, two new bills look to start setting guardrails. The first, sponsored by S.C. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, would deny eminent domain powers to privately owned pipeline companies (S. 689), potentially complicating plans for a new natural gas plant in Colleton County. The second bill, introduced by Lancaster Republican Sen. Allen Blackmon, would require energy-hungry data centers to report their water usage to state officials on an annual basis (S. 724).
On the environmental side, noteworthy bills include a measure to add the state’s chief resilience officer to the Conservation Bank board and encourage public access to bank-supported sites (H. 4765), and legislation mandating safety buffers between hazardous-materials facilities and schools (H. 4785).
Culture war
With an open governor’s seat on the ballot in 2026 and culture war questions continuing to animate voters across the political spectrum, several pre-filed bills address perceived hot-button social issues head-on.
Among these are bills that would codify existing requirements that school children use the bathroom that matches the sex listed on their birth certificate (H. 4756), abolish the state Arts Commission (H. 4731) and designate each Oct. 14 Charlie Kirk Day (H. 4609) throughout the state of South Carolina – even though Kirk was not from the Palmetto State.
Other proposals likely to divide the 2026 electorate into culture-war camps include bills that would ban property ownership by the Chinese government or its citizens (H. 4787), deny state funding to venues where minors can see drag shows (S. 733) and require that the Ten Commandments be posted (H. 4762) in all S.C. classrooms.
- IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Click here to see our list of 10 Statehouse issues that are likely to be considered in 2026.
- HAVE A COMMENT? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
152 fewer people died in 2025 on S.C. highways
Updated | South Carolina’s highways in 2025 weren’t the dieways they were in recent years. As of Dec. 31, 152 fewer people died in 2025 than the 1,032 who died the year before, according to preliminary data from the S.C. Department of Public Safety (DPS).
In 2025 across the state, at least 880 people died, which is also far fewer than the 1,038 in 2023 and the 1,081 people in 2022. Of those who died last year in traffic incidents, 152 were pedestrians (an annual increase of two deaths) and 137 were motorcyclists (up six deaths).
Part of the reason for the lower number of statewide deaths appeared to be the lower number of fatal vehicle crashes – from 946 wrecks in 2024 to 826 as of Dec. 29. – Staff reports
In other recent news
2026: As colleagues retire, Clyburn weighs another term. 17-term U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, S.C.’s only Democrat in Congress, says he’s discussing the future with his family.
- Clyburn’s new book: history, a cautionary tale and a peaceful call to arms
- SC-7: S.C. Democrat running for Congress calls social media announcement ‘rookie mistake’
S.C. Statehouse dome turning green. Is anyone interested in polishing it? The copper dome atop the South Carolina Statehouse has stood over downtown Columbia for more than 120 years. As it turns green, some are looking at restoration efforts.
Officers continue to push for harsher laws for killing K-9s. Sheriffs across South Carolina, as well as prosecutors and other law enforcement agencies, have pushed for harsher penalties for anyone who kills a K-9. The existing penalty is up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
New laws that are now in effect. A round-up of all the new state laws that took effect on New Year’s Day, including tougher sentences for fentanyl, retail theft and internet crimes.
- S.C. 2026 changes to laws include liquor rules, hands-free driving, SNAP updates
- Bar owners hope new liquor liability law lowers rates in 2026
S.C. tourism program hopes to drive more visitors to small towns. South Carolina’s Front Porch Program offers small towns the opportunity to join a network of welcome centers that get help from the state in promoting local attractions.
New S.C. license plate design. The SCDMV is now issuing a newly designed license plate commemorating the state’s role in the American Revolution.
The tinfoil hat brigade
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail has a special knack for poking a little fun in just the right way. This week, he takes issue with how some conservative legislators are pushing conspiracy theories like chem trails causing problems.
- Love this week’s cartoon or hate it? Did he go too far, or not far enough? Send your thoughts to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Get to work regulating state’s precious water resources
Commentary by Andy Brack | South Carolina leaders over the last 50 years have done a pretty good job protecting natural resources – from making sure beaches are open to buying land to protect special places.
But now another state resource – clean water – is threatened thanks to the nation’s competitive race to beat the Chinese on artificial intelligence, among other things. Big businesses like Google have a seemingly unquenchable thirst for more massive data centers, which require them to suck up water to cool supercomputers.
About 40 years ago when development activity threatened huge projects up and down the S.C. coast, state leaders had the foresight to approve one of the most prescient protection measures in the country: the Beachfront Management Act. Its purpose was to protect beaches and dunes from erosion and overdevelopment through state regulation of construction, including setbacks and limits on hard structures like seawalls. Through the years, it’s stood the test of time.
About 20 years ago, Republicans and Democrats in the Statehouse united to push through the S.C. Conservation Bank to do for the rest of the state what it essentially did for beaches and the coast – to protect special places. This public policy has been wildly successful, too, with more than 419,000 acres of land protected in 570 conservation projects across the state. The land bank has awarded more than $377 million in conservation grants for land worth more than $1.2 billion.
And now, it’s time for legislators to take serious action on the water we can see in rivers – and the water we can’t see in aquifers – to make sure that there’s enough for us to drink and for farmers to use responsibly to keep agribusiness thriving.
The state took a good opening step last year with a new water plan. But, it’s a plan – not a requirement, law or regulation. According to a 200+ page draft report from November, South Carolina’s rivers and streams are under increasing strain due to a torrent of new residents, industries and megafarms that threaten their long-term sustainability.
Environmental advocates say the state’s 2010 Surface Water Act doesn’t go far enough in protecting rivers from huge water withdrawals – “97% of all withdrawals of 3 million gallons or more per month are effectively beyond the reach of state regulators, absent an emergency declaration by the governor,” according to a Nov. 28 story.
What needs to happen is for the state to step in to approve any large-scale water withdrawal projects instead of counties being the arbiters of what’s allowed. Some counties likely have the foresight to keep water resources in mind, but others – particularly in rural areas like Colleton County where nine data centers are envisioned near the ACE River Basin – desperately need jobs and may be taken advantage of by billion-dollar businesses.
We encourage the General Assembly in 2026 to set up a blue-ribbon commission of lawmakers and environmental advocates to develop a draft of legislation with real teeth to conserve clean water – not just a plan, but recommendations for new legislation that has the courage of laws passed 40 and 20 years ago, respectively, to protect the coast and forests. Then pass it.
For now, one way that state lawmakers can take more than a baby step forward is to give a quick hearing to a bill recently introduced by state Sen. Allen Blackmon, R-Lancaster. His S. 724 would require energy-hungry data centers to report water usage to state officials annually. This would eliminate the void of information we have now about what is actually going on – and how many millions of gallons are being siphoned off to further threaten the state’s clean water resources.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Destruction
Here’s a job worksite somewhere in South Carolina. Where is it and what is it? Bonus points: What’s it going to be? Send your best guess – plus hometown and name – to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Meanwhile, last week’s mystery – “Modern structure” – is the Samuel J. Cadden Chapel which was dedicated in 2022 at Clemson University. Longtime sleuth Don Clark of Hartsville writes that the building, named for a student who died in a wreck, is “a stunning and impressive building.”
Others who correctly identified it were: Jay Altman of Columbia; Allen Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Amanda Bauknight of Easley; Holley Ulbrich of Clemson; and George Graf of Palmyra, Va.
- SHARE: If you have a Mystery Photo to share, please send it to us – and make sure you tell us what it is!
Send us your thoughts
Please send us your thoughts about politics and policy in South Carolina, but make sure to leave phone numbers and hometowns to help us verify them for publication. We publish non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your views.
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Statehouse Report, founded in 2001 as a weekly legislative forecast that informs readers about what is going to happen in South Carolina politics and policy, is provided by email to you at no charge every Friday.
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Statehouse bureau chief: Jack O’Toole
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