Bills and Ratifications - May 9, 2025
H. 4510 (Reps. Rivers, Howard, Kirby, Cobb-Hunter, Spann-Wilder, Anderson, J.E. Johnson, Henderson-Myers, Waters, Gilliard, McDaniel, Alexander, Govan, J. Moore, Bauer, Clyburn, Jones, Luck, Wetmore, Bamberg, Garvin, Bernstein, Dillard, Reese and Weeks) — Allows heirs to redeem property owned by deceased individuals under certain conditions.
H. 4511 (Rep. Wetmore) — Allows service by publication to occur in either the print or online version of a general circulation newspaper in the relevant county, or on the South Carolina Probate Court's centralized website.
H. 4512 (Rep. Wooten) — Limits bond premiums, establishes a minimum fee, allows payment agreements over 10%, and removes references to restrictions on bond agreements.
H. 4513 (Rep. Pope) — Requires county boards of voter registration and elections to maintain records that qualified electors can request at no cost. Citizens have the right to observe election processes, and there are protocols for recordkeeping and chain of custody for voting equipment. Mandatory post-election audits require all votes to be counted by hand, and specific actions must be taken if discrepancies arise between audit results and tabulated vote counts that exceed a defined threshold.
H. 4514 (Reps. Long, T. Moore, Bannister, Yow, Mitchell, J.E. Johnson, Guest, Herbkersman, Burns, Jordan, Gilliam, Taylor, Pope, Hiott, Bowers, Willis, Rankin and Haddon) — Removes certain judicial procedures for minors seeking abortions.
H. 4515 (Reps. Long, Bannister, T. Moore, Haddon, Yow, Mitchell, Taylor, W. Newton, Guest, Gilliam, Herbkersman, Rankin and Hiott) — Bans changes to a person’s gender on their original birth certificate, with some exceptions. It permits specific corrections through a court petition. It also updates the definition of "child abuse or neglect" and includes additional provisions.
H. 4516 (Rep. White) — Changes the membership and qualifications of the Judicial Merit Selection Commission.
H. 4517 (Rep. White) — Prohibits appropriations bills or amendments from including earmarked funds allocated for specific projects or entities outside the main budgetary process.
H. 4518 (Rep. Herbkersman) — Mandates surety bonds for residential builders and trade contractors, outlining liability limitations for these bonds. It also addresses the South Carolina Residential Builders Commission and eliminates the annual distribution of builders' and contractors' rosters to county court clerks.
H. 4519 (Reps. Holman, Brewer, Neese, Yow, Mitchell, Herbkersman, Guest, M.M. Smith, B.L. Cox, Bannister, Crawford and Willis) — Prohibits public entities from requiring individuals to disclose their race on admission or employment applications. This includes all state agencies, political subdivisions, and institutions such as public schools and charter schools.
H. 4520 (Rep. White) — Requires voter registration to include party affiliation and that closed primaries be conducted. The State Election Commission shall develop necessary procedures to implement this act.
S. 650 (Sen. Climer) —Authorizes the over-the-counter sale of ivermectin tablets.
S. 651 (Sen. Climer) — Creates the Office of Parental Rights in the Governor's Executive Office, defines "parent," and prevents the state from infringing on a parent's rights to govern their minor child's upbringing, education, and health care. The office will also investigate complaints of unlawful governmental interference and address any violations.
S. 652 (Sen. Matthews) — Repeals provisions that revoke driver's licenses for unpaid child support and eliminates suspensions for failure to pay. The bill also allows individuals with revoked or route-restricted licenses to apply for a new driver's license.
S. 656 (Sen. Johnson) – Requires the Public Service Commission to take specific factors into account when assessing an application from a public utility to acquire property or assets used for providing water, sewerage collection, or sewerage disposal that are owned by a county, municipality, or special purpose district.
S.664 (Sen. Devine) – The "South Carolina Speed Safety Act of 2025" allows local government agencies to implement speed safety systems, eliminates citations for certain traffic violations, and repeals the issuance of uniform traffic tickets for specific offenses.
The following bills have been sent to Gov. Henry McMaster for approval or veto:
R26, S. 51 (Sens. Davis, Grooms, Stubbs, Massey, Garrett, Sutton, Turner, Graham, Gambrell, Zell, Johnson, Rice, Campsen, Sabb, Tedder, Fernandez, Leber, Devine, Climer, Cromer, Hutto, Young, Kimbrell, Matthews, Jackson, Blackmon, Adams, Hembree, Corbin, Williams, Goldfinch, Bennett, Reichenbach, Elliott, Chaplin, Verdin, Kennedy, Alexander and Walker) – A joint resolution to encourage Santee Cooper to issue a request for proposal for entities that may be interested in using the assets of V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3.
R38, S. 367 (Sen. Campsen) – Creates new provisions for dealing with abandoned watercraft and the seizure of abandoned watercraft and creates two new offenses for dealing with abandoned watercraft.
R42, H.3333 (Reps. Davis, B.J. Cox and Caskey) – Authorizes military development projects to include certain affordable housing projects.
R43, H. 3432 (Reps. W. Newton, Mitchell, Yow and Moore) — Amends the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities to extend the period upon which a nonvested property interest becomes invalid from 90 years to 360 years.
R44, H. 3472 (Reps. McCabe, W. Newton, Pedalino, Hixon, Gibson, Gagnon, Calhoon, Mitchell, Yow and Ligon) – Increases the limit of a small estate to $45,000.