Copper Dome Chronicle: 126th General Assembly Organizational Sessions
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Copper Dome Chronicle, sponsored by Advocatus USA. We strive for substantive writing with brevity, inspired by the book Smart Brevity.
This week’s edition is 1,096 words or a 4 minute read. The 126th General Assembly convenes on Tuesday, January 14, 2025 and adjourns on May 8, 2025.
Resources
***Prefiled Legislation*** NEW RESOURCE
House Organizational Sessions (December 3-4,2024)
December 3 House floor session; 11am; Calendar; Livestream
December 4 House floor session; TBA; Calendar; Livestream
The House will hold two organizational sessions this week. The chamber will elect its leaders though House Speaker Murrell Smith and House Speaker Pro Tempore Tommy Pope are expected to be easily re-elected. After the November elections, Republicans retained a supermajority with 88 seats while Democrats won 35 seats; there is one vacancy due to the resignation of former Representative Marvin Pendarvis. There are 19 new House members, though a 20th will be added after the District 113 special election on March 25, 2025.
Committee assignments are the sole discretion of the Speaker. Based upon returning House member composition, below are the committee vacancies:
South Carolina House of Representatives Committee Vacancies as of December 3, 2024.
House LCI will see the most significant change due to the defeat of former Chair Bill Sandifer and several other members retiring. For a few months now the talk under the copper dome has been Representative Bill Herbkersman will move over from Ways & Means to take the LCI gavel. This will create a second vacancy on Ways and Means, as well as create a vacancy in the Health Subcommittee of Ways and Means. The other LCI vacancies will likely be filled by returning members from the Ag, Education, and 3M committees.
The other committee chair to be decided is House Rules, which after debating and disposing of the House rules package rarely meets during session. Representative Anne Thayer retired from the House after serving 14 years.
Most first-term House members will find seats on Ag, Education, and 3M committees, though sometimes one or two will find a seat on Judiciary.
Senate Organizational Session (December 4,2024)
December 4 Senate floor session; 12pm; Calendar; Livestream
The Senate will hold one organizational session this week. The chamber will elect its leaders though Senate President Thomas Alexander will be re-elected without opposition. After the November elections, Republicans gained a supermajority with 34 seats, picking up four seats, while Democrats won 12 seats. There are 13 new Senators.
Senate Rule 19B dictates the committee composition is based upon the proportion of senators in the Republican and Democratic Caucuses. Republicans have 74% and Democrats have 26%, which when applied to most standing committees (17 total members) results in a 13R-4D split (a change from 11R-6D split in 2024). The Judiciary and Finance Committees have 23 total members, which results in a 17R-6D split (a change from the 14-8 split in 2024). Ethics has 10 members, with five members from each party, and Oversight has 13 members with six from each party plus the Senate President.
Committee assignments are made by senators in accordance with Senate Rule 19D. During the first roll call of the Senate, called in order of continuous service, each senator must select four committees, and one of these selections must either be the Judiciary or Finance Committee. The second roll call, in reverse order of continuous service, senators may select an additional committee. Senators will serve on a minimum of four committees with a maximum of six committees. No senator may serve on Judiciary and Finance.
South Carolina Senate Committee Vacancies as of December 3, 2024.
The first shoes to drop are selections for the Judiciary and Finance Committees. Senator Harvey Peeler will again serve as Senate Finance Chair. Word under the copper dome is that Senate Minority Leader Brad Hutto will move to Finance after having served on Judiciary since 1996. With the new committee composition and election results, there will be three new Republicans and two new Democrats on Finance.
On the Republican side, after Senate Judiciary Chair Luke Rankin and Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey (Senate Rules Chair), the next four Republicans by seniority that currently serve on Judiciary are Senator Chip Campsen (Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Chair), Senator Wes Climer (Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Chair), Senator Rex Rice, and Senator Richard Cash. On the Democratic side, after Sen. Hutto, are attorneys Senator Ronnie Sabb, Senator Deon Tedder and Senator Tameika Issac Devine. If none of the returning Democratic senators on Judiciary selected Finance, then Senator Jeffrey Graham, elected in November, would have the very rare opportunity to serve on Finance as a first-term senator.
The Family and Veterans' Services Committee will have a new chair after the defeat of Senator Katrina Shealy by new Senator Carlisle Kennedy. Based upon seniority, Senator Tom Young is slated to be the new chair of this committee.
The most plausible outcome is all first-term Senators will serve on the Judiciary Committee. But it isn’t often that vacancies exist on the Banking and Insurance, LCI, Medical Affairs, and Rules Committees, so the first roll call will be interesting to see if returning senators select seats on those committees or if first-term senators will get a chance to choose one of these committees.
Committee Schedule December 2024
If a live stream link is not provided with a committee meeting that means no live stream is available or has not been scheduled yet.
December 2, 2024
Judicial Merit Selection Commission; 9am; Agenda
Joint Bond Review Committee; 1pm; Agenda; Livestream
December 3, 2024
House Ethics; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda
House Operations and Management; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda
Senate District 29 election protest hearing; 10am; Blatt 110; Agenda CANCELLED
December 4, 2024
House W&M; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda; Livestream
House LCI; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda; Livestream
House EPW; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda; Livestream
House Judiciary; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda; Livestream
House 3M; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda
House Ag; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda; Livestream
House Interstate Cooperation; immediately upon adjournment; Agenda
House Rules; 45 minutes after adjournment; Agenda
House Oversight; 45 minutes after adjournment; Agenda; Livestream
House Regulations; 45 minutes after adjournment; Agenda; Livestream
House Invitations and Memorial Resolutions; 45 minutes after adjournment; Agenda
*Note: All House standing committees are anticipated to organize on December 4; as notices are issued this list will be updated.
December 10, 2024
Senate Education Subcommittee on K-12 Education Scholarships; 10am; Agenda; Livestream
Joint Insurance Study Committee; 10am; Agenda; Livestream
Key Dates
December 3, 2024: House organizational session
December 4, 2024: House and Senate organizational sessions
December 5, 2024: House first prefiled legislation day
December 11, 2024: Senate prefiled legislation day
December 12, 2024: House second prefiled legislation day
January 14, 2025: Session Convenes
January 16, 2025: Judicial Merit Selection Commission final report published
January 2025: State of the State (TBA)
February 5, 2025: Judicial elections (subject to change)
February 13, 2025: Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) February revenue estimate
March 10-14, 2025: House floor budget deliberations (tentative)
April 10, 2025: Crossover Day
April 10, 2025: Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) April revenue estimate
April 10-13, 2025: 2025 Masters Tournament*
April 17-20, 2025: 2025 RBC Heritage Tournament*
April 21-25, 2025: Senate floor budget deliberations (tentative)
May 8, 2025: Session Adjourns
May 8-11, 2025: Myrtle Beach Classic Tournament*
June 5-8, 2025: BMW Charity Pro-Am Tournament*
July 1, 2025: Fiscal Year 2025-2026 begins
*These four professional golf tournaments have impacted legislative calendars in previous sessions.
**Most school district spring breaks are during the first three full weeks of April 2025, though the largest school district in the state - Greenville County - has spring break March 17-21, 2025.
