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The South Carolina Policy Council’s 2026 Winter Poll
- Details
- By Sam Aaron - SC Policy Council
With the start of 2026, the second half of the legislative session is underway. Both new and existing proposals are moving through the South Carolina Statehouse. To provide lawmakers, members of the media, and the public with the most up-to-date insight into where likely South Carolina voters stand on key issues, such as taxes, judicial reform, and energy policy, the South Carolina Policy Council is releasing its latest policy poll.
The poll was conducted from January 24 to February 1 among 1,200 registered voters.
Taxes & Spending
This year, tax reform dominated the conversation at the Statehouse. Income tax reform, in particular, took center stage, with lawmakers debating whether to reduce or eliminate the tax altogether. But what do South Carolina voters think?
72% of voters supported reducing or eliminating the state income tax.
Columbia Thinks More Taxes, Not Concrete Will Fix Roads
- Details
- By SC Freedom Caucus
Twenty-three lawmakers appointed by the Speaker to a special Committee traveled across the state (on your dime) for 6 public hearings to determine how to fix South Carolina’s crumbling roads.
Their answer—they need more of your money. No joke.
What was sold as a major Department of Transportation reform bill is in fact a confused amalgamation of tax hikes, long-overdue common sense reforms, and fiscally irresponsible proposals that would make matters worse.
Not to be outdone, the SC Senate has their own DOT reform bill that is even worse.
Palmetto Family Alliance Statement on H. 4756
- Details
- By Palmetto Family Alliance
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Palmetto Family Alliance President Steve Pettit issued the following statement regarding H. 4756, the South Carolina Student Physical Privacy Act, which is being considered in a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee today:
“As South Carolina’s leading voice for biblical values, Palmetto Family Alliance strongly supports H. 4756, the South Carolina Student Physical Privacy Act. This commonsense legislation upholds the dignity, safety, and privacy of students in public schools and higher education institutions by ensuring that restrooms, changing facilities, and sleeping quarters are designated and used based on biological sex.
Statehouse Update January 13-15
- Details
- By Brendan Connors - SC Policy Council
The second half of the 2025-26 legislative session starts this week. Lawmakers are wasting no time picking up where they left off—and we’re right alongside them. Each week, the Policy Council will bring you updates on legislation dealing with the budget, tax relief, government transparency, and other issues that matter most to the success of our great state. As of Monday, January 12, here are the bills we are keeping an eye on.
2026 Legislative Priorities
- Details
- By SC Freedom Caucus
Closed Primaries - H.3310
By a margin of more than 80%, the voters of South Carolina have repeatedly told the legislature that they want closed partisan primaries. Yet despite the bill to do so being filed for more than 20 years, we’ve never even received a subcommittee meeting until now. The external pressure from voters and the actions of the SCFC inside the chamber have led to the closed primary bill, H 3310, being scheduled for a hearing on January 15th at 9am. That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news…
The House rules state that all committee meetings automatically adjourn at 10am when we start session on the floor of the House. Those in leadership who oppose closed primaries decided to use this rule to try and thwart the will of the voters by placing 3 other bills ahead of H 3310 on the committee schedule. If the hour runs out without a vote on 3310, then it will not move on to full committee or the floor for a vote.
Petitions, Protests, and Power Bills: Spartanburg Faces Data Center Debacle
- Details
- By Palmetto State Watch Foundation
As South Carolina continues to be flooded with data center proposals, Spartanburg County citizens have decided to push back. Following a heated county council meeting, a petition has sparked renewed scrutiny over how these facilities are approved, who benefits from them, and who bears the costs. At the center of the debate are familiar questions that this outlet raised just last month: taxpayer-subsidized infrastructure, rising utility demands, and the issue of local government spending taxpayer money to raise the costs of utilities on said taxpayers.
Time to Act: Equal Protection Bill Scheduled for January 14th Hearing in Columbia
- Details
- By United Patriots Alliance
Ready to pass meaningful anti-abortion legislation that will rid South Carolina of abortion once and for all? Now is the time to act. The South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act (H.3537) is scheduled for a hearing in Constitutional Laws Subcommittee this Wednesday, January 14th at 12pm in Room 110 of the Blatt Building. You can view the agenda HERE.
Interestingly, the “pro-life” establishment’s bill (H.4760) is scheduled to be heard right before the equal protection bill.
S.C. Commerce Seeking Money for Program with Ties to Scout Motors
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The S.C. Department of Commerce has submitted a total of nearly $80 million in state spending requests for next fiscal year, including $28.5 million for a program with ties to the Scout Motors project in Richland County.
In its annual “Agency Budget Plan” submitted to the S.C. Department of Administration, Commerce is seeking $25 million in nonrecurring funds and $3.5 million in recurring funding for “LocateSC,” which, according to a Commerce spokeswoman, supports the agency’s “recruitment efforts” by “making sites competitive for industrial development.”
In reviewing the agency’s total $79.9 million in general-fund requests for the 2026-27 fiscal year, which starts next July 1, The Nerve requested updated LocateSC spending records since fiscal year 2018.
State costs grow to $12.5M related to probes of disputed $1.8B
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
The state-funded tab for investigations of and other matters related to the disputed $1.8 billion has grown to more than $12.5 million, according to the latest records reviewed by The Nerve.
The new tally, which is based on records obtained under the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, is nearly $1.3 million, or 11%, more than the total revealed by The Nerve in August.
To put the $12.52 million into perspective, it’s more than the entire current budgets of at least 19 state agencies or major divisions. That includes, for example, the State Ethics and Public Service commissions, Inspector General’s and Secretary of State’s offices, and the Legislative Audit Council – the General Assembly’s investigative arm.
It’s also more than the overall budgets of the State Auditor’s and Comptroller General’s offices – two of the six agencies that have racked up legal fees or other costs in connection with the disputed $1.8 billion or related issues.
State Supreme Court Rules Legislator Pay Raise Unconstitutional
- Details
- By Alaina Moore - United Patriots Alliance
The South Carolina Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that it is unconstitutional for state lawmakers to raise their own pay while in office. In their opinion that dropped on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, the State Supreme Court issued an injunction against the proviso passed through the 2025-2026 Appropriations Act (fiscal budget) this past April that allowed legislators to receive higher “in-district compensation.”
Five-Year VoterGA Battle Exposes Fulton County Ballot Cover-Up
- Details
- By Christian Newswire
ATLANTA — VoterGA presented detailed evidence Monday explaining why Fulton County has fought so hard to keep its 2020 election ballots from public view. At its press conference, co-founder Garland Favorito walked through a comprehensive timeline of his five-year struggle to obtain an independent copy of Fulton’s 2020 ballots. The journey began when Fulton failed to count his vote for a third-party candidate in the General Election and senior poll managers found counterfeit ballots in the hand count audit conducted on November 14-15, 2020. Favorito Petitioners filed one complaint on December 23, 2020 and Favorito filed another in 2024 after Fulton officials told all involved they preserved the ballots but Favorito repeatedly received replies to his Open Records Requests stating: “No responsive records exist.”
Cronyism Returning to SC's Top Court?
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Since 1973, when significant constitutional changes in the state court system took effect, 16 of the 23 S.C. Supreme Court justices over the period were ex-lawmakers, The Nerve found in a review of judicial and legislative records.
Starting toward the end of last year, however, there have been no former legislators on the state’s top court for the first time in the court system’s modern history.
But that could quickly change.
The 2027 South Carolina Responsible Budget
- Details
- By Vance Ginn, PhD., and Sam Aaron - SC Policy Council
A Pro-Growth Framework for Responsible Spending, Surplus-Driven Tax Relief, and Long-Term Prosperity
Introduction
South Carolina enters Fiscal Year 2027 with strong economic momentum but growing fiscal risk. Payroll employment expanded by 3.1 percent year over year, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 percent in August 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labor market remains among the most dynamic in the Southeast, supported by migration inflows and diversified job growth in professional services, health care, and hospitality, as detailed in the Richmond Fed’s South Carolina Economic Snapshot.
The 2027 South Carolina Responsible Budget
- Details
- By Vance Ginn, PhD., and Sam Aaron - SC Policy Council
A Pro-Growth Framework for Responsible Spending, Surplus-Driven Tax Relief, and Long-Term Prosperity
Introduction
South Carolina enters Fiscal Year 2027 with strong economic momentum but growing fiscal risk. Payroll employment expanded by 3.1 percent year over year, while the unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 percent in August 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labor market remains among the most dynamic in the Southeast, supported by migration inflows and diversified job growth in professional services, health care, and hospitality, as detailed in the Richmond Fed’s South Carolina Economic Snapshot.
Transportation Deserts: Rural SC Towns, Cities Lack Private Ride Options
- Details
- By Rick Brundrett - The Nerve
Editor’s note: This story is part of a two-article package published today on rural transportation issues in South Carolina. The other story can be found here.
If you want a ride from a “transportation network company,” such as Uber or Lyft, in South Carolina, you likely will find it hard to do so in at least 100 small towns or cities and three counties in rural areas, a review by The Nerve has found.
A transportation network company, or TNC for short, is defined in part under state law as a “person, corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other entity” that uses a “digital network, platform, or Internet-enabled application to connect a passenger to a transportation network driver.”
Bradley Pulls Out of October 7 Spartanburg County Republican Party Forum, Reaffirms Commitment to Voter-First Campaign
- Details
- By Press Release
GREER, S.C. — Justin Bradley, candidate for State Senate District 12, announced today that he will not participate in the Spartanburg County Republican Party's October 7 forum, citing the Party's failure to follow agreed rules and ensure a fair process for all Republican candidates.
"This race should be decided by the voters, not by Party insiders stacking the deck for their preferred candidate," Bradley said.
Bradley explained that despite the special election being announced in August, he was only approached last week by County Chairman Frank Tiller about joining a still-developing forum.
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- SC Attorney General Alan Wilson and Solicitor Scarlett Wilson Sued Over Sex Abuse Coverup
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- Public Cost of Investigating Disputed $1.8B Grows to Over $11M
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