March 14, 2025

Members of the House worked Monday through the early morning Wednesday to debate and pass their version of the $14 billion FY 2025-26 state budget (H. 4025) and Capital Reserve Fund (H. 4026). The House gave the bills second reading around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and adjourned until 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, when it reconvened to give H. 4025 and H. 4026 third readings. The House will meet in perfunctory session next week, but several subcommittees have scheduled meetings.

Throughout the week, members of the Senate met with stakeholders to work on a compromise to S. 244, the tort reform bill. On Thursday, Senate leadership announced that a compromise had not yet been reached. The Senate also polled the liquor liability bill (H. 3497) out of the Senate Judiciary Committee this week and placed it on their calendar. This will likely be the subject of the next debate on the floor after S. 244.

The budget and bills of interest to counties are discussed below.

2025-26 State Budget

Budget — H. 4025. The House passed H. 4025 just after midnight Wednesday morning. Their budget increased funding to the Local Government Fund (LGF) by $14,566,488 statewide. This represents full funding to the LGF under the statutory formula. See the estimated LGF county allocations for FY 2025-26.

Items the House funded this year include:

$66 million to cover a base pay increase for state employees (see proviso 117.141);
$89 million to cover a portion of the state employees’ share of a projected 4.6% increase in premiums for the State Health Plan (see proviso 108.6);
$12 million in recurring money for the Rural County Stabilization Fund;
$750,000 in recurring money for PTSD treatment for first responders;
$3 million in recurring money to Labor Licensing and Regulation for the V-SAFE Fund;
$3.784 million in recurring money for the Firefighter Cancer Benefit Plan;
$1 million in recurring money to supplement the Councils of Governments;
$1.1 million in additional recurring funding for State Aid to County Libraries to raise the per pupil funding to $2.75;
$1.1 million in one-time money to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism for regional tourism promotions, $7.5 million for destination-specific marketing grants, and over $9.5 million for tourism development;
$5 million in one-time money to the Rural Infrastructure Authority for the Rural Infrastructure Fund and $15 million for the statewide water and sewer fund;
$81 million in one-time money to the Department of Commerce for LocateSC site readiness;
$38 million in one-time money to the Office of Resiliency for the Disaster Relief and Resilience Reserve Fund;
$3 million in one-time money to the Conservation Bank for grant funding;
$200 million in one-time money to the Department of Transportation for bridge modernization, $50 million for repairs needed due to Hurricane Helene, and $9 million for road safety enhancements;
$10.35 million to the Division of Aeronautics for airport safety and development;
Over $222 million in one-time money to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) to match Federal Emergency Management Agency funds for declared disaster relief (including Hurricane Helene) and $1 million for the revolving loan fund;
$2.2 million in additional recurring money to the Department of Environmental Services (DES) for the air quality program and $2.5 million for the drinking water program;
$2.5 million to the Department of Health and Human Services in addition to over $12 million from the federal government for opioid treatment services;
Almost $11 million in one-time money to the Election Commission for statewide voting system upgrades and almost $4 million in recurring money for annual election costs;
Almost $20 million in new recurring money to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs for veteran homes; and
$3.5 million in one-time money to the Attorney General’s Office for the Crime Victim Assistance “SAVS” Program.

Please thank the members of the House for keeping their promise to counties and working to return much-needed funding to county governments throughout the state!

The House passed its version of the state budget shortly after midnight Wednesday. These photos were taken by SCAC Staff Attorney John Wienges shortly before the House passed third reading and outside the State House after the House adjourned around 12:30 a.m.

Provisos

In addition to the provisos that remain in the budget from last year, the House adopted the following new and amended provisos of interest:

118.20. SR: Homestead Exemption Fund. Amends the existing proviso to direct $114,369,000 in one-time money from the Homestead Exemption Fund to be distributed as a one-time, nonrecurring appropriation by Sept. 30, 2025, to the General Fund of the state to provide income tax relief.

55.10. DES: Pollutants Remediation Fund. Amends the existing proviso dealing with polyfluoroalkyl or PFAS remediation to change the allocation of funds. Previously, 60% of the funds were made available to private well owners and municipal, county, joint, or otherwise public drinking water systems serving 30,000 customers or fewer. The remaining 40% were made available to municipal, county, joint, or otherwise public drinking water systems serving more than 30,000 customers. The amended proviso now allows more than 60% to go to the smaller systems and up to 40% to the larger systems, at DES’s discretion.

55.20. DES: Innovative Reusable Byproduct Pilot Program. This existing proviso established the Innovative Reusable Byproduct Pilot Program from funds appropriated to DES to determine whether innovations in manufacturing, food production, timber, and other similar industries can provide new opportunities to use byproducts that would otherwise require management as solid waste. The Ways and Means Committee amended the proviso requiring DES to annually submit a program report to the General Assembly by June 30 each year.

55.26. DES: Permitting Timeframes. Requires DES to issue a decision on a completed application for a permit no later than 90 days after the date the application is received by the department. DES and the applicant may mutually agree in writing to extend this review period, and the department may not stop, stay, or otherwise alter the review period without a written agreement.

92D.1. SCOR: Catastrophic Weather Event. Amends the existing proviso to update calendar year references, adds Hurricane Helene in reference to the catastrophic weather events, and adds the Office of Resilience’s Rapid Rebuild Program to the listed offices for funding improvements.

96.4. SS: Cable and Video Service Certificates. Prohibits the Secretary of State from automatically denying the application or amending the application for a cable or video service certificate pursuant to Section 58-12-310 if a community does not indicate its unconditional consent to the state-issued certificate of franchise authority within 65 days.

100.17. ADJ:PPE Stockpile. Amends the existing proviso to allow SCEMD to donate excess or expired personal protective equipment for nonmedical use to nonprofit charitable organizations if the materials cannot be sold.

102.1. ELECT: County Boards of Voter Registration and Elections Compensation. Amends the existing proviso to update the amount provided per board member from $1,500 to $2,500. The total amount each county may pay its entire board increased from $13,500 to $22,500 annually.

102.2. ELECT: Elections Managers & Clerks Per Diem. Amends the existing proviso to increase the per diem of elections managers and clerks from $75 per day to $100 for the day of work and from $60 to $75 for training and paperwork.

108.6. PEBA: State Health Plan. Amends the existing proviso relating to employer premium increases to update the plan year reference and to provide for a 4.6% increase in employer premiums, which will result in a subscriber increase of $36.76 per month.

113.2. AS-TREAS: Quarterly Distributions. Amends the existing proviso relating to quarterly distributions of the amount appropriated for the LGF to update the fiscal year reference.

117.141. GP: Employee Compensation. Amends the existing proviso to provide a salary increase to state employees. Their salaries shall be increased to either the minimum of the new state pay grades established by the Department of Administration, or 2%, whichever is greater.

117.147. GP: Homestead Exemption Fund. Suspends for FY 2025-26, Section 11-11-156(C) of the Code of Laws, relating to remaining balances of the Homestead Exemption Fund at the end of a fiscal year.

117.176. GP: Credit Unions. Amends the existing proviso to update the fiscal year reference. The proviso allows a federal or state credit union headquartered in South Carolina to act as a qualified public depository for deposits held by a municipality if the population of the municipality is fewer than 5,000, the municipality is not part of a federally recognized metropolitan statistical area, the municipality is located at least 10 miles from a bank or credit union branch, and the credit union occupies and supports a full-service branching facility in the defined area.

117.191. GP: Fraud Mitigation. Requires all state agencies that issue checks as a benefit to the general public—rather than as payment for services rendered, and that do not use the procurement process for such disbursements—to develop and implement measures to mitigate the risk of fraud. The agencies must also compile a report detailing fraud mitigation measures implemented, any incidents of fraud detected, and corrective actions taken. The report must be submitted to the General Assembly by Dec. 31 of the current fiscal year.

The House ruled the following proviso (new to the FY 2025-26 budget proposal) out of order and removed it from the budget:

117.195. GP: Prohibition on the Use of State Funds for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs. This proviso prohibits state agencies, including institutions of higher education, school districts, charter schools, and all political subdivisions from using state funds to establish or support any office, unit, or division within that agency, for the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Revenue, Finance, and Economic Development

Redevelopment Authorities (RDAs): Tax Increment Financing for Affordable Housing — S.190. This bill adds certain affordable housing projects to what qualifies as a redevelopment project for federal military installations. It includes an affordable housing project (defined referencing median income percentages according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) where all or a part of new property tax revenues generated in the tax increment financing district (TIF) are used to provide or support publicly and privately owned affordable housing in the district or are used to provide infrastructure projects to support affordable housing. The bill also extends the bonding period for redevelopment projects from 15 years to 35 years and allows municipalities to spend TIF dollars outside of the RDA for items such as infrastructure support. The House Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee adopted a subcommittee amendment to revert the sunset provision to 2028 and gave the bill a favorable report as amended. S. 190 is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.

Municipalities Without Millage — S. 102. This bill allows a municipality without an operating millage on Jan. 1, 2025, or a municipality that incorporates after Jan. 1, 2025, to impose an operating millage sufficient to generate one-third of the municipality’s general fund expenses in the previous fiscal year. A Senate Finance subcommittee adopted an amendment to replace “previous fiscal year” with “the first year submitted” in the case of newly incorporated municipalities before carrying the bill over for more discussion.

Public Safety, Corrections and Judicial

Liquor Liability — H. 3497. This bill allows a person licensed or permitted to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption to qualify for a liquor liability risk mitigation program to lower the required liability insurance amount from $1 million to as little as $250,000 if the person and the entity satisfy certain operating conditions. The establishment may lower the requisite amount of liability insurance required through a combination of the following:

(a) It has their alcohol servers or a manager complete an alcohol server training program;

(b) It stops serving alcohol at certain times; or

The bill also reforms the current driving under the influence (DUI) law to allow for additional fines or terms of imprisonment in certain circumstances and requires a defendant to participate in a DUI victim impact panel. The bill also creates a new felony offense for second-degree DUI that results in moderate bodily injury and requires a person convicted of the offense to install an Ignition Interlock Device for one year. The bill was originally referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, the members polled the bill out of committee on Wednesday and H. 3497 was placed on the calendar.

Tort Reform — S. 244. This bill provides tort reform regarding the amount of fault to be assigned to either the person bringing a claim for damages if their actions partially caused the damage or to the defendant(s). It also makes changes to liquor liability laws by requiring alcohol server training. It requires a business with a liquor license to carry liability insurance of at least $1 million per occurrence. Finally, the bill redefines occurrence for medical malpractice claims to mean an unfolding sequence of events following a single act of negligence, including continuous or repeated exposure to substantially the same harmful conditions. Multiple events occurring without a break in the chain of events shall be considered one occurrence. The Senate adjourned Thursday afternoon without reaching an agreement on the bill. SCAC will provide updates as the Senate continues to work toward a compromise.

Juvenile Detention Agreements — S. 374. This bill requires the Department of Juvenile Justice to enter into intergovernmental agreements with counties or municipalities who use the department’s detention services. The agreements must detail the per diem costs and invoice process. The bill removes the $50 per diem cap and allows the department to determine the per diem based on the average operating cost among all pre-adjudicatory state facilities. Finally, the bill allows the department to deny admission of youth from counties and municipalities delinquent in payment of per diem rates. A Senate Corrections subcommittee gave S. 374 a favorable report, and the bill will be on the next full committee’s agenda.

Telecommunications Location — S. 114. This bill requires 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 involves the risk of death or serious physical harm. A Senate Judiciary subcommittee amended the bill to conform with federal law by changing “risk of death or serious physical harm” to “immediate death or serious bodily injury.” The subcommittee then gave the bill a favorable report, as amended, and S. 114 will be on the next full committee’s agenda.

Driving Under the Influence (DUI) — S. 52 and S. 192. S. 52 establishes enhanced penalties for DUI. It also creates a new felony offense for second-degree DUI that results in bodily injury and establishes a related penalty schedule, increases the mandatory prison time for felony first-degree DUI offenses resulting in great bodily injury, and expands the offense of child endangerment to include instances of reckless vehicular homicide and reckless driving. It also amends the provisions relating to implied consent to testing for alcohol or drugs and revises the circumstances, procedures to be followed, and test sites that can be used to test for alcohol or drugs.

S. 192 allows each individual law enforcement agency to choose which test(s) to administer when an officer arrests a person for driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of alcohol and drugs. The bill also removes the requirement that blood and urine samples collected during a DUI arrest be collected solely by medical personnel and provides that a felony DUI that results in death is no longer a no-parole offense. A Senate Judiciary subcommittee amended S. 52 to change the effective date of certain sections and gave the bill a favorable report as amended. The same subcommittee heard quite a bit of testimony on S. 192 before carrying the bill over.

Concealed Weapons Permit — S. 168. This bill allows concealable weapon permits to be renewed automatically at no cost if the person has a valid South Carolina driver’s license and a favorable state and federal criminal background check. It also requires South Carolina to honor valid out-of-state permits. A Senate Judiciary subcommittee carried S. 168 over until their next meeting so that the sponsor of the bill could be present.

Failure to Stop — S. 111. This bill establishes that if a motor vehicle driver fails to stop after being signaled by a law enforcement vehicle and leads a law enforcement officer on a high-speed pursuit, which is recorded on a law enforcement vehicle video recording device or on an officer’s body-worn camera, or both, the offender is guilty of a felony. Upon conviction, the offender must be imprisoned no less than three years and no more than five years, no part of which may be suspended. Further, the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles must suspend the person’s driver’s license for one year from the date of conviction. The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment to remove the requirement that the chase be recorded, to enhance the penalty when great bodily injury or death occurs because of the chase to 15 years or 30 years in prison, and to move the effective date to a year after approval of the governor. The committee then gave the bill a favorable report as amended, and S. 111 is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.

Law Enforcement/Judicial Personal Privacy Protection — S. 126. This is a cleanup bill for Act 56 of 2023, the Law Enforcement/Judicial Personal Privacy Protection Act. S. 126 requires that any personal contact information of an active or former law enforcement officer or an active or former member of the judiciary (eligible party) accessible by a database or an image of an official record placed on a publicly available internet website maintained by or operated on behalf of a state or local government agency be restricted and must not be disclosed to the public if the eligible party has filed a formal request with the agency. The requester must specify which documents contain their personal information. This is an SCAC policy position. The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy is responsible for creating the request form for law enforcement officers, and South Carolina Court Administration is responsible for creating the form for members of the judiciary. The agencies must coordinate to ensure that the request forms are uniform. In addition to filing the request form, the eligible party must also submit a notarized affidavit affirming their current or former employment along with employer contact information. If an eligible party buys a new home, they are responsible for filling out a new request form. An agency is not liable for a claim for damage for any personal contact information on a public record. The personal contact information restriction does not apply to the following:

a title insurer or its affiliate;
a title insurance agent or agency;
a licensed South Carolina attorney or a person appointed in writing by said attorney to receive the restricted information; or
personal contact information included on a business filing or Uniform Commercial Code filing recorded with the South Carolina Secretary of State.
Other notable changes contained in S. 126 include:
delaying the effective date of Act 56 from July 1, 2025, until Jan. 1, 2026.
making the completed request forms, and any related documents, exempt from disclosure;
authorizing a governmental agency to require additional information from the requestor in addition to the request form and affidavit; and
adding the personal representative of a deceased eligible party and a professional engineer or land surveyor or their designee to the list of people that can access the restricted personal contact information.

The Senate Judiciary Committee gave S. 126 a favorable report as amended, and the bill is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.

Electronic Nicotine Regulation — S. 287. This bill provides regulations for the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems, known as ENDS products. The bill, among other things, makes it unlawful for retailers, wholesalers, or distributors of ENDS products to sell or distribute unauthorized ENDS products, including those labeled with terms such as “candy” and those not part of a directory, which will be overseen by the Attorney General. The Senate Medical Affairs Committee adopted an amendment to specify that local law enforcement agencies have the authority to enforce the provisions of the bill and that fines and penalties resulting from a violation of the provisions of the bill will be retained by the state or local agency bringing the action. S. 287 was given a favorable report, as amended, and the bill is pending second reading on the Senate calendar.

Smoking with a Minor in the Vehicle — S. 340. This bill makes it unlawful to smoke a tobacco product in a motor vehicle containing a passenger who is younger than 12 and creates an associated penalty. A Senate Transportation subcommittee adopted an amendment to clarify the term “nicotine” to conform to the federal definition under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and gave the bill a favorable report as amended. S. 340 will be on the next full committee’s agenda.

Hands-Free Driving — H. 3276. This bill creates the “South Carolina Hands-Free and Distracted Driving Act” to enhance the provisions of our current hands-free statute and to increase the penalties under the new act. The bill offers several exceptions, including use by a first responder while performing official duties. The bill also shifts 25% of the fine and fee revenue that would otherwise flow to counties to the Department of Public Safety for use to educate the public on the dangers of distracted driving. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment to eliminate the point system provision and to update the effective date to one year after the governor's approval instead of 90 days. H. 3276 is pending second reading on the House calendar.

Land Use, Natural Resources and Transportation

Utility Storm Damage Recovery — S. 157. This bill specifies that—due to the widespread destruction of electrical utility infrastructure caused by Hurricane Helene and the extraordinary expenses incurred to repair, restore, and rebuild that infrastructure—electrical utilities may include the cost of capital from the date of the storm through the issuance of storm recovery bonds for cost recovery.

The bill also specifies that the cost of capital will be determined by the interest rate paid by the utility to borrow the funds necessary to cover the restoration and recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene, if the interest rate percentage does not exceed the utility’s total weighted average cost of capital percentage established in the utility’s most recent base rate case proceeding. The bill further allows electrical utilities to defer the review and approval of a financing order by the Public Service Commission (PSC) to either a future base rate proceeding or a separate proceeding to be established at the request of the utility. Finally, the bill defines the term “qualified independent third party” as the person or entity that may need to be designated and retained by the PSC who has relevant expertise in accounting, finance, or utility regulation, sufficient to make professional judgements necessary to certify whether the sale of storm recovery bonds complies with the requirements of current law. The House gave S. 157 second and third readings, and the bill is enrolled for ratification.

County Government and Intergovernmental Relations

Political Parties and Primaries — H. 3556. This bill requires the state executive committee to hear protests and contests related to county officers, lesser county officers, and municipal officers. Additionally, this bill authorizes the committee to adopt a resolution mandating that a surety bond accompanies any protest or contest. Further, the committee is responsible for handling appeals from its decisions and the timeframe for conducting these hearings will be extended. The bill further clarifies under which sections of the code municipal primary protests and contests will be filed, heard, and decided. Last week, the House Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment to require the state executive committee to adopt a resolution mandating that a surety bond accompany any protest or contest. H. 3556 is pending second reading on the House calendar.

Newly Introduced Legislation and Ratifications

See below link for summaries of legislation introduced this week that are of interest to counties:

Senate Bills

Ratifications

View/Download Full Text for Newly-Introduced Legislation

You can also go to www.scstatehouse.gov and click on "Legislation," then "Introduced Legislation."

Note: If you would like to offer comments to the SCAC staff, please call us toll-free at 1-800-922-6081, fax to (803) 252-0379, or send an email.

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