Vouchers, Restart Nuclear Units 2 & 3, Tax Cuts and More
COLUMBIA – With Republican super majorities now in both chambers of the General Assembly, GOP leaders are facing high expectations heading into 2025 – and pressure from within their own ranks to deliver on some longstanding conservative priorities.
Here are some of the top legislative items Statehouse observers say South Carolinians should expect to see moving forward when legislators convene on Jan. 14.
Income tax cuts and spending priorities
Despite some of the lowest effective income tax rates in the country thanks to generous exemptions and deductions, GOP leaders say further income tax cuts will be job one for legislators in 2025.
“Passing historic tax reform is a top priority of the @SCHouseGOP this session,” House Speaker Murrell Smith (R-Sumter) said in a December social media post. “And I’m excited to lead the charge!”
The goal, according to a November letter from House leaders, is to get the state’s top nominal rate of 6.2% “below that of our [Southeastern] neighbors.” But with rates ranging from 5.5% in Alabama all the way down to 0% in Florida, it’s unclear where members will land. The Southeastern average is currently 3.3%.
On the spending side, state GOP leaders are promising major new investments in the state’s crumbling network of roads and bridges, as well as cuts to programs like unemployment insurance and Medicaid.
Education: Vouchers, teacher pay and more
Always a lightning rod issue, education is expected to once again be near the top of the legislative agenda in 2025, with Republicans promising private school vouchers, higher teacher pay, and more.
Leading the charge on vouchers is Senate Education Chairman Greg Hembree, the Horry Republican who held a hearing last month to outline his proposal to use lottery money, rather than general fund revenues, to finance the vouchers.
Less controversial are the GOP’s other two major education pledges for 2025: raising teacher pay across the state to a minimum of $50,000 per year and further expansion of existing workforce development programs.
Adding new energy capacity
Hoping to avoid a replay of last year’s energy bill debacle, which left House members feeling burned after their legislation died without a vote in the Senate, lawmakers held a series of hearings over the fall legislative break to find a path forward.
Broad areas of agreement that emerged from the hearings included the need for additional in-state energy generation to feed the emerging growth of high-electricity using data centers, plus they are eyeing the state for opposition to any rollback of consumer protections in the name of regulatory reform.
But the first bill to come out of the process is narrower legislation aimed at finding a private sector entity to finish building the two V.C. Summer reactors that were abandoned in 2017 at a cost of $9 billion to state ratepayers.
Supporters of the plan, including Sen. Everett Stubbs (Dist. 17) who represents Fairfield, say it would not only boost power generation but also provide financial relief for consumers.
Passage of the bill will create 2,200 megawatts of carbon-free generation for the state, and hundreds of millions of previously invested V. C. Summer dollars that are now embedded in the ratepayer base of Santee Cooper and Dominion Energy customers can be removed, thus lowering their electricity bills, said Tom Davis (R – Beaufort) who proposed the bill (s.51) for consideration.
Abortion and culture issues
With a six-week abortion ban already in place, GOP leaders say they expect to see some of their members consider further restrictions in 2025.
S.C. Freedom Caucus’s members will be pushing for a complete ban on the procedure, according to its caucus chair, S.C. Rep. Jordan Pace (R-Berkeley).
“We believe there’s a constitutional right to life for every innocent person,” Pace told the Charleston City Paper last month. “So we’re all on board with that.”
Also expected to be debated in 2025 are Republican-sponsored bills to limit or eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs at state colleges, along with two bipartisan initiatives with strong support in both chambers: one to enhance criminal penalties for hate crimes, and another to allow the limited use of medical marijuana.
Published in coordination with StatehouseReport.com with assistance for the SC Institute for Independent Journalism.
