Last week on April 10, the South Carolina General Assembly reached an important threshold: Crossover.
Crossover is the final date for one chamber of the legislature to pass a bill in order for it to be considered in the other chamber, barring extraordinary action. Bills that didn’t make it out of one chamber before crossover are generally considered “dead,” but they can be “revived” if the original chamber passes a bill and the other chamber takes a two-thirds vote to consider it.
The next important deadline is May 9, “Sine Die” — a fancy Latin phrase that indicates the end of legislative action for the year. Because this is the second year of a two-year term, any bill not passed by Sine Die will be out of the running entirely.
Bad bills still alive
The campaign to strip away the rights of trans and gender-nonconforming South Carolinians continues apace, and we’re fighting back every step of the way.
One version of a bill that would ban essential healthcare for transgender minors, S. 627, stalled out in committee. Unfortunately a similar bill from the House, H. 4624, passed out of the House and received a favorable report from a Senate committee.
Every step of the way, LGBTQ+ South Carolinians, doctors, mental health professionals, and other allies have told state lawmakers that this bill is harmful, hateful, and not backed by medical science. The lawmakers who have voted to advance it can no longer plead ignorance.
Please help keep the pressure on. Our partners at SC United for Justice & Equality have set up a site where you can look up your senator and tell them to vote NO on H. 4624.
A bill written by opponents of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs on college campuses, H. 4289, made it out of the House on March 27. The next day, we stood in the State House lobby with professors, students, and members of the S.C. Legislative Black Caucus who spoke out against this bill and the sorry state of our legislature’s priorities.
This bill, which would chill speech and restrict efforts to promote diversity, has been referred to the Senate Education Committee. You can find contact information for the committee members on the State House website.
Bad bills dead for now
With the caveat that these bills aren’t officially dead until May 9 – remember Sine Die – we were glad to see a few harmful bills didn’t pass out of their original chambers before crossover.
H. 3616, a bill that would effectively ban most drag performances by threatening prison sentences for business owners who host shows, was pre-filed in the House and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee but did not receive a hearing. We want to thank the drag performers who self-advocated statewide and led the effort to collect more than 1,000 signatures on our Defend Drag petition. You can still sign your name if you would like to help send a resounding message!
S. 154, an anti-racketeering bill, would add a dangerously vague definition of “criminal gang” to state law. We spoke against this bill in March, arguing that it would increase the risk of racial profiling by police while infringing on the First Amendment right to associate. We’re glad to report that this bill did not make it out of the Senate in time for crossover.
We aren’t out of the woods yet, but we’re glad to celebrate these partial victories along the way.
Good bills dead for now
This year a few worthwhile bills we were tracking didn’t pass out of their original chamber before crossover, unfortunately.
H. 3844, guaranteeing a right to counsel for tenants facing eviction from their homes, was introduced in the House and referred to the Judiciary Committee, where it picked up some additional sponsors but unfortunately did not receive a hearing. We will be back advocating for similar legislation in the 2025-2026 session. You can still write to your lawmaker about the need for tenant Eviction Right to Counsel via our campaign page. In the meantime, check out the first few episodes of our new podcast While I Breathe, which are all about the housing crisis and the civil-rights battles of our time.
Another bill we support, S. 266, would decrease the length of time that children may be held for “status offenses,” or offenses that would not be considered punishable if they were committed by an adult. Examples of status offenses include truancy and running away from home.
This bill received a hearing and picked up favorable testimony from experts including the director of the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice, but it did not pass out of the Senate in time for crossover. We remain hopeful about the prospect of removing onerous punishments for nonviolent juvenile offenses.
