These are the bills and legislative hearings we’re watching at the South Carolina State House for the week of February 17, 2025.
Private school vouchers: Speak out Wednesday
Lawmakers are fast-tracking Senate Bill 62, which would siphon off education lottery revenue to publicly fund private K-12 school tuition. On Wednesday, February 19, in Room 110 of the Blatt Building (1105 Pendleton St., Columbia), a half-hour after the House adjourns, the Education and Public Works Committee will meet to discuss the bill (agenda here). The bill has already passed the Senate despite overwhelming public opposition, so this may be the last stop before the bill comes up for debate on the House floor.
If you are able to make it, there will be a public comment sign-up sheet at the committee meeting. In the meantime, you can submit written testimony to [email protected]. The deadline for written testimony is Tuesday, February 18 at noon.
We’ve been sounding the alarm about this bill since it was introduced. School vouchers are a failed experiment that has contributed to learning loss, devastated rural school district budgets, and provided public funding for schools with discriminatory policies. For more information, listen to Episode 12 of While I Breathe and see our blog post, “The ugly truth about school vouchers.”
Trans foster care bill stalled
In last week's Dispatch, we highlighted Senate Bill 240, which would direct courts and state agencies to give preferential treatment to parents, guardians, and foster caregivers who deny the existence of transgender and gender-nonconforming children.
We have some good news to share: The Senate Child Welfare Subcommittee met on Feb. 13 without discussing or taking a vote on S. 240, as the meeting time was taken up with discussion of other bills. Because the bill was on the agenda, we showed up alongside dozens of expert witnesses who were prepared to speak against S. 240. In fact, so many people showed up to speak that they had to move the meeting to a larger conference room. We are so grateful to everyone who made the time to show up and ensure that state-led attacks on trans youth don’t happen in the dark.
We’ll be ready if and when the subcommittee reschedules a hearing on this bill. If you would like to stay in the loop on other actions in defense of LGBTQ+ South Carolinians, consider filling out our Volunteer Interest Form. Under “Additional Information,” be sure to check the box for LGBTQ+ Rights — and the other civil-liberties issues that matter most to you.
An extreme carceral response to retail theft
On Feb. 13 the South Carolina House of Representatives approved a second reading of House Bill 3523, which would create the new criminal charge of "Organized Retail Crime,” with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
This bill is an extreme carceral response to an exaggerated media narrative about shoplifting. It received a 101-0 roll call vote from members of the House.
Meanwhile a similar bill is advancing in the other legislative chamber. The Senate Judiciary Committee will consider its own Organized Retail Crime bill, S. 159, on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m. in Room 105 of the Gressette Building (agenda here).
Sentencing people to live in a cage for a quarter of their lives will only contribute to South Carolina’s status as a global leader in incarceration. Our state currently incarcerates more people per capita than all countries except El Salvador, Cuba, Rwanda, and the United States, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.
Our lawmakers need to hear from their constituents who oppose failed “tough on crime” policies and support serious public safety measures. If you haven’t already, use the Find Your Legislators tool on the State House website to find contact information and open up a line of communication with your elected officials.
