Copper Dome Chronicle: 2025 Session Week 1
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Copper Dome Chronicle, sponsored by Advocatus. We strive for substantive writing with brevity, inspired by the book Smart Brevity.
This week’s edition, covering January 14-16, 2025, is 741 words or a 3 minute read. The first day of the 2025 regular session of the 126th General Assembly is Tuesday, January 14. Thanks for reading and sharing; we welcome your feedback and commentary!
Resources
***NEW RESOURCE***House Budget Calendar
Senate Budget Calendar (TBA)
***NEW RESOURCE***FY 2025-2026 Agency Budget Requests
Week 1 Preview
The House and Senate calendars are blank to begin the week but each chamber may have priority legislation ready for floor debate by the end of the week: S.62 (K-12 lottery scholarships) in the Senate and H.3309 (SC Energy Security Act) in the House.
Governor Henry McMaster will release his FY 2025-2026 Executive Budget on January 13 at 1pm, which begins the process for the next state budget. The House Ways & Means Committee begins its work as five out of eight budget subcommittees hold hearings. Some state agencies and entities presenting their budget request this week include the Attorney General, Department of Natural Resources, State Ports Authority, Department of Commerce, and Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper). More information about budget hearings is below under the Committee Schedule section.
There are 52 judicial elections in 2025 between seats on the Court of Appeals, Circuit Court, Family Court, and the Administrative Law Court. The Judicial Merit Selection Committee report is scheduled to be published on January 16. Elections have tentatively been scheduled for February 5 but that date requires the passage of a concurrent resolution and is subject to change. While all judgeships are consequential, the most closely watched will be Seat 2 on the Court of Appeals to fill the vacancy when Associate Justice Letitia Verdin was elected to the South Carolina Supreme Court. Three candidates were found qualified and nominated for this seat. This will be the final set of elections under the current selection process, as the provisions of Act 219 of 2024 take effect July 1, 2025. As we have written time and time again, after the budget, judicial elections are the most important and most political activity undertaken by the General Assembly each year.
Week Zero Review
Neither chamber held floor sessions. The most consequential activity was the consideration of S.62, a bill to create K-12 education lottery scholarships, by the Senate Education Committee. No votes were taken but there was considerable discussion about the bill. This is the Senate bill to respond to the South Carolina Supreme Court’s decision in Eidson v. Department of Education, where the Court struck down the use of Educational Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) accounts to pay for private school tuition as created by Act 8 of 2023.
It is likely the bill will be “polled” among the committee members, which is a way to move a bill through the committee process without having a formal committee hearing and voting on a motion for a favorable committee report (Senate Rule 10). If a majority of committee members vote “Aye” to poll the bill, it will be placed on the calendar for second reading for debate by the full Senate.
Committee Schedule Week 1
If a live stream link is not provided with a committee meeting that means no live stream is available. Additional meetings may be added during the week and while 24 hours notice is generally given, it is not always possible to provide such notice.
House Ways & Means Budget Subcommittees (6 budget hearings)
Constitutional; January 14, 90 minutes after adjournment; Agenda; Livestream
Constitutional; January 15, 10am; Agenda; Livestream
Criminal Justice; January 15, 10am; Agenda; Livestream
Healthcare; January 15, 10am; Agenda; Livestream
Public Education & Special Schools; January 15, 10am; Agenda; Livestream
Economic Development; January 15, 10:30am; Agenda; Livestream
House LCI Public Utilities Subcommittee
January 15, 11am; Agenda; Livestream
Summary: The subcommittee will consider H.3309 (SC Energy Security Act), priority legislation for House Speaker Murrell Smith and the House Republican Caucus. A full committee meeting could be scheduled for the morning of January 16 to consider the bill and possibly issue a committee report for the floor session later that morning.
House Education & Public Works Committee
January 15, 1:30pm; Agenda; Livestream
Summary: There are no bills listed on the current agenda. After the call to order and invocation, there is an item titled “Committee Business” followed by a period of discussion. The committee must adjourn at 2pm due to the House floor session.
House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee
January 15, 10am; Agenda; Livestream
Summary: The committee will receive a presentation from the South Carolina Forest Recovery Task Force.
Senate Legislative Oversight Committee
January 16, 9am; Agenda (TBA); Livestream
Summary: No agenda has been posted yet for this meeting.
Senate LCI Regulatory and Local Government Subcommittee
January 16, 10am; Agenda (TBA); Livestream
Summary: No agenda has been posted yet for this meeting.
Key Dates
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 11-13, 2025: House floor budget deliberations
April 10, 2025: Crossover Day (Senate bills to the House only)
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.
