These are the legislative actions we are watching for the week of Feb. 24, 2025.
Ask your lawmaker to support the freedom to read
The freedom to read is under attack. Nationally coordinated campaigns to ban books, harass teachers, and intimidate school librarians have reached every county and the halls of the South Carolina State House. House Bill 4059, introduced last week by Rep. Heather Bauer with a long list of co-sponsors, would help protect school librarians and affirm our state's commitment to the Freedom to Read.
To learn more about this bill and why we support it, see the bill page for H. 4059. If you would like to send a message to your state House and Senate members asking them to support this bill, you can use this form:
Prepare for an abortion ban hearing next week
While the details of South Carolina’s dangerous and extreme abortion ban are being worked out in court, some lawmakers want to further restrict and punish people who seek abortion, including people who are survivors of rape and incest.
Next week, the near-total abortion ban bill H. 3457 will have a public hearing before the House Constitutional Laws Subcommittee on Tuesday, March 4, at 9 a.m. in Room 110 of the Blatt Building (1105 Pendleton St., Columbia). This bill is the only item on the subcommittee’s agenda. Check our website later this week for more details on the potential harms of this bill and a form to help you contact key decisionmakers in the legislature with your concerns.
South Carolina’s current abortion restrictions are still being challenged by Planned Parenthood South Atlantic in an ongoing case before the State Supreme Court, which recently heard oral arguments. The ACLU-SC did not file the case, but we did file an amicus brief asking the court to give a plain reading of the so-called “Fetal Heartbeat Act.” You can read about our involvement in the case or hear more about the harms of the existing bill on Episode 4 of the While I Breathe podcast, “Life After Dobbs.”
Restricting DEI via the state budget
In addition to attempting to ban diversity, equity, and inclusion programs via at least three different bills in the House (H. 3927, H. 3572, and H. 3219), some lawmakers want to try prohibiting these programs via a tool in the state budgeting process called a proviso.
A proviso is a one-year law that is attached to the state budget. When lawmakers attach a proviso to a section of the budget, they are saying that state agencies must follow the rules of the proviso in order to receive state funding. Lawmakers often use this method to enact social policies rather than go through the more extensive process of passing a bill, which generally requires an opportunity for public comment and broad debate. This is why we refer to the proviso process as a “backdoor” legislative tool.
On February 18 in the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Nathan Ballentine (R-Chapin) introduced a proviso seeking to prohibit DEI programs in all school districts, colleges, universities, and state agencies. On Instagram last week, we highlighted an enlightening exchange during this committee meeting. Rep. Ballentine said this proviso was about upholding meritocracy and his colleague, and Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D-Orangeburg) asked if he would also like to also prohibit legacy admissions. Rep. Ballentine said he would not.
The House Ways and Means Committee approved Rep. Ballentine’s proviso along partisan lines. This proviso does not become law until the budget is passed.
Private school vouchers advance to the House floor
Finally, an update on private school vouchers: S. 62, the voucher bill, received approval from the House Education & Public Works Committee on Feb. 19 despite overwhelming evidence that this bill would disproportionately defund rural school districts and publicly subsidize private schools with discriminatory admissions policies.
We anticipate that the House of Representatives will debate this bill on the floor this week, possibly starting Wednesday. One point of contention will be whether and how early the voucher program would go “universal,” meaning that the state would subsidize private school tuition for wealthy families who are already enrolled in private schools.
The South Carolina Education Association has a page with more information about the harms of vouchers and a form to help you contact your lawmakers.
