Copper Dome Chronicle: July 2025 Meetings and Activities
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Copper Dome Chronicle, sponsored by Advocatus. We strive for substantive writing with brevity, inspired by the book Smart Brevity.
This post will preview the month of July 2025. Any meetings or relevant activities by the General Assembly will be chronicled on this page, which will be updated as needed.
The 2025 regular session of the 126th South Carolina General Assembly adjourned sine die on Thursday, May 8. Thanks for reading and sharing; we welcome your feedback and commentary!
Resources
2025 Regular Session Statistics
With the conclusion of the budget process, the 2025 regular session has truly concluded its work. Below are some fun statistics about this session.
94 Acts (but 97 ratifications)
80 statewide bills and 14 local bills
49 House bills and 45 Senate bills
3 ratified bills were vetoed and are pending veto override consideration
Legislators with the most enacted legislation
The 5 Act Club
Senate Finance Chair Harvey Peeler
Senate Education Chair Greg Hembree
The 4 Act Club
Senate Fish, Game and Forestry Chair Chip Campsen
House Judiciary Chair Weston Newton
House 3M Chair Sylleste Davis
House Ag Chair Bill Hixon
Representative Cody Mitchell
Overall 43 legislators saw their legislation as a prime sponsor become law in 2025, including first-term Senators Russell Ott and Jeff Zell.
Committees with the most enacted legislation
Senate Judiciary - 25 Acts
House Judiciary - 17 Acts
House LCI and House EPW - 13 Acts
Senate Education - 12 Acts
39 Acts were not referred to a committee in one or both chambers
Legislator In-District Compensation Increase Paused
The South Carolina Supreme Court granted a preliminary injunction on June 25 that paused the implementation of an increase for legislator’ in-district compensation. In-district compensation is appropriated via Proviso 91.13 in the General Appropriations Act and was set to increase from $1,000 per month to $2,500 per month beginning July 1. However, the Court’s injunction resulted in the entire proviso being put on hold, not just the increase, so no legislator will receive any in-district compensation until the matter is settled. Filings from all parties are due by September 4.
2026 Governor’s Race
Candidates wanting to succeed Governor Henry McMaster - South Carolina’s longest-serving elected governor in state history - have begun making their intentions know. Below is a list of those who have officially announced and those who have stated they are considering a run.
Republicans
Attorney General Alan Wilson (officially announced)
State Senator Josh Kimbrell (officially announced)
Lt. Governor Pamela Evette
Congressman Ralph Norman
Congresswoman Nancy Mace
State Senator Sean Bennett
State Senator Wes Climer
Democrats
State Representative Jermaine Johnson (officially announced)
State Representative RJ May Suspended From Office
State Representative RJ May was arrested on June 11 and charged on June 12 with ten felony counts in federal court. May was denied bond and remains behind bars. House Speaker Murrell Smith suspended him from office as required by S.C. Code of Laws 8-13-560. May kept a low-profile during the 2025 regular session and rarely attended full and subcommittee meetings of the House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee. May was a founding member of the SC House Freedom Caucus, which is a group of approximately 19 House members elected as Republican candidates but who do not participate in the SC House Republican Caucus.
Committee Schedule
If a livestream link is not provided with a committee meeting that means livestream is not available. Additional meetings may be added during the week and while 24 hours notice is generally given, it is not always possible to provide such notice.
Joint Meetings
None.
Senate Meetings
None.
House Meetings
House Ethics Committee
July 1, 2:30pm; Agenda; Livestream
Summary: The committee will consider one complaint and several appeals of ethics fines.
House Legislative Oversight Subcommittee
July 8, 10:30am; Agenda; Livestream
Summary: The subcommittee will hold its second meeting on the study of the Department of Insurance.
House Legislative Oversight Subcommittee
July 30, 10:30am; Agenda; Livestream
Summary: The subcommittee will hold its third meeting on the study of the Department of Insurance.
House Legislative Oversight Subcommittee
July 30, 10:30am; Agenda; Livestream
Summary: The subcommittee will hold its sixth meeting on the study of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
2025 Key Dates
July 19-23, 2025: Southern Legislative Conference (Birmingham, Alabama)
July 25-26, 2025: National Governors Association Summer Meeting (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
August 4-6, 2025: NCSL Legislative Summit (Boston, Massachusetts)
September 25, 2025: BEA meeting on FY25 closeout and FY26 first update.
September 26, 2025: Agency budget requests submitted (projected).
November 18, 2025: BEA forecast for FY27 Executive Budget.
2026 Key Dates
January 13, 2026: Session Convenes
January 2026: Judicial Merit Selection Commission final report published (TBD)
January 2026: State of the State
March 9-13, 2026: House floor budget deliberations (projected)
March 16, 2026: Candidate filing opens (All statewide constitutional offices, federal offices, SC House of Representatives)
March 30, 2026: Candidate filing closes
April 20-24, 2026: Senate floor budget deliberations (projected)
May 14, 2026: Session Adjourns
