Tax reform, high school sports: What to expect for SC 2024 Legislative Session
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — South Carolina lawmakers are heading back to the Statehouse as the second year of the two-year 125th Session gets underway on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
State legislators have already been at work with dozens of bills pre-filed in both the House and Senate ahead of the session, but there are several items News 2 Political Analyst John Brisini said will likely take priority.
Brisini said the state budget is always a top priority as it is the most important item the General Assembly takes on each year. He predicts that state revenues will level off this year after increases during the pandemic. While he believes this could lead to lawmakers trimming some of their wish list items this year, he still thinks infrastructure will remain at the top of the list. If that’s the case, Brisini said it could be beneficial for the Lowcountry.
“It’s good for Charleston — we have some very influential members that could help steer some of those infrastructure needs our way,” he explained. “Sen. Larry Grooms chairs the Transportation committee — they certainly have a big voice when it comes to infrastructure – he is from the Lowcountry. State Rep. Leon Stavrinakis is from Charleston, he plays a very influential voice on the House Ways and Means committee which is really where the budgeting process for the state really begins.”
Other hot topics for South Carolina include tax reform to modernize the state’s tax code, legislation to streamline local elections, and education. Brisini said this year there could be changes made to how the state General Assembly addresses high school sports. So far, lawmakers have been divided on how to tackle the issue, with some advocating for a complete overhaul of the existing system that oversees high school athletics, while others favor classification changes based on a school’s on-field success.
While some of the pre-filed legislation in the House and Senate could be considered, Brisini said it can be difficult to move these bills forward.
“Pre-filed legislation very rarely — I don’t want to say all the time — very rarely moves — and at the end of the day, it’s really just a highlight from a lawmaker usually from a constituency perspective what their priorities are, what they would like to see done,” he said. “But at the end of the day, you have got to have the will of the entire body wanting to take an issue up, and with a lot of the pre-filed legislation that just isn’t the case.”
Brisini also added that because it is an election year with almost all of the House and Senate up for re-election, it’s possible there may not be much movement with controversial legislation.
“We’re entering into sort of a grand election cycle where the entire General Assembly is up for re-election so it remains to be seen what the appetite is to take up some of the really big controversial issues,” he explained. “Sometimes we see where they maybe shy away from those in election years in hopes of not polarizing large swaths of voters, but at the end of the day this could be a big year where they want to make a big splash and they really want to maybe appeal to some of their bases.”
The regular legislative session ends on the second Thursday in May.
