South Carolina lawmakers have six weeks to go until May 8, when legislative action is scheduled to end for 2025. Any bills they don't pass by that date will have to wait until January 2026, when the second year of the two-year legislative session begins.
Here’s what we’re watching this week.
A record-breaking book ban
Last year the legislature had an opportunity to revise or stop a book banning regulation proposed by Superintendent Ellen Weaver’s S.C. Department of Education before it went into effect and threw open the floodgates for book banners to impose their will on the state. A coalition representing hundreds of authors, five publishers, and multiple advocacy organizations including the ACLU of South Carolina sent a letter to South Carolina’s legislators asking them to stop Regulation 43-170 from going into effect.
They didn’t stop the regulation, and now South Carolina is on track to have the most state-mandated book bans in the country. Our recent joint report with PEN America explains how we got here, what the regulation says, and how we can turn the tide.
This Tuesday, April 1 at 1 p.m., the State Board of Education will consider banning 10 books from all schools in grades K-12. If you would like to join us, Freedom to Read advocates from all over the state will attend the board meeting at 849 Learning Lane, West Columbia, and testify against book bans.
The board meeting agenda and details are available on the S.C. Department of Education website. You can also find contact information for board members here. Please join us in urging them to revise or rescind Regulation 43-170 before it puts our state at the top of another shameful list.
Showing up for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We joined a press conference with the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus in the State House lobby on Wednesday last week calling on state House members to stop House Bill 3927, which seeks to dismantle programs of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in South Carolina schools, colleges, and state agencies.
The bill came up for debate on the House floor Wednesday, but after a few hours of debate, the bill did not receive a vote. We anticipate this bill will come up for debate in the House again on Tuesday, April 1, possibly carrying over to Wednesday, April 2. If you want to join fellow supporters of diversity, equity, and inclusion on Tuesday afternoon, there is sure to be a crowd in the lobby and in the gallery overlooking the House floor. See y’all there.
In the meantime, you can use this form to contact your state representative and ask for a NO vote on H. 3927:
DEFEND DIVERSITY EQUITY & INCLUSION
By the way — if you see a lawmaker making strong points on the House floor this week, you can run a message to them via this email address: [email protected]. Be sure to include the legislator's first and last name in the body of the email. A senate page will take the message to the lawmaker at their seat.
A new bill on eviction records and housing rights
Last week a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a bill that would expand the rights of tenants and help address the ongoing housing crisis in our state.
House Bill 4270 would remove eviction filings from public court records after a set time period. Under this bill, a person’s eviction record must be removed from the public court index six years after eviction.
Having an eviction on your record shouldn’t be a permanent barrier to housing, but for many tenants right now in South Carolina, it is. After years of sky-high eviction rates, many of us need a fresh start to access housing. Our state can give people that fresh start by sealing eviction records after a reasonable period of time.
You can read more about this bill on our Legislation page. You can look up your state House representative and ask them to be a cosponsor on H. 4270 using the Find Your Legislators tool at scstatehouse.gov:
