Copper Dome Chronicle: 2026 Overtime Week 4
Welcome to this week’s edition of the Copper Dome Chronicle, sponsored by Advocatus USA. We strive for substantive writing with brevity, inspired by the book Smart Brevity.
This week’s edition, covering June 8-12 is 1,106 words or a 4 minute read. The second regular session of the 126th General Assembly adjourned May 14, but a special session began on May 15. Thanks for reading and sharing; we welcome your feedback and commentary!
Resources
FY 2026-2027 Agency Budget Requests
2026 Candidate Tracking Portal
Overtime Week 4 Preview
The Senate will hold a floor session perfunctory session on June 10 at 12pm, which means no business will be conducted. However, the time between this floor session and the Joint Bond Review Committee is thirty minutes. The water cooler talk under the dome is this session will be canceled or it will become a perfunctory session.
As of June 5 the House has not scheduled a floor session and given the lack of any conference reports to adopt, it seems unlikely a floor session will occur.
There are 12 bills in the status of a conference committee:
H.5126 (FY27 Budget)
H.3924 (regulate hemp-derived products)
S.52 (DUI)
S.11 (state employee paid parental leave)
H.3021 (Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act)
H.4763 (Helping Alleviate Lawful Obstruction “HALO” Act)
H.3387 (unlawful occupants of property)
H.4069 (patient billing)
H.4248 (shrimp country of origin labeling)
H.4337 (LAC powers & private organizations)
H.3570 (economic interests disclosures)
H.4635 (gym contract renewals)
H.4709 (Buy American Iron and Steel Act) is in an odd posture because the House nonconcurred in the Senate amendments but session ended on May 14 before the Senate could take any action. It’s unclear if the bill will remain in play or if it has died; it does not appear on the Senate calendar.
H.5573 (Spartanburg County Memorial Auditorium Commission) is local legislation regarding the commission’s composition. It passed the House on May 13 with amendments after the Senate passed it with amendments on May 7. It was referred to the Spartanburg County Senate Legislative Delegation; it remains to be seen if it will be passed.
The House has appointed conferees to S.883 (2026 sine die resolution) but the Senate has not, nor is it expected to appoint conferees.
Governor Henry McMaster has signed or vetoed all legislation presented to him. He issued four vetoes:
H.3558 (Commissioners to Article V Convention) - Veto Message
H.5164 (hospital beds in hallways) - This was vetoed because the Senate version of the bill was signed into law S.958.
S.238 (legislative session extension) - Veto Message
S.428 (fraudulent check expungement) - Veto Message
Overtime Week 3 Review
Neither the House nor the Senate held any floor sessions.
Two conference committee meetings were held:
H.5126 (FY27 Budget) - first meeting held on June 2
H.3924 (regulate hemp-derived products) - first meeting held on June 2
A second budget conference committee meeting was scheduled for June 3 but was later canceled.
2026 Political Party Nominating Contests
On June 9 voters can choose to head to the polls and participate in either a Republican or Democratic nominating contest, more commonly called a primary election. Below is a list of state office elections with candidates listed alphabetically, including those who have suspended their campaign, and an asterisk denoting incumbents.
Summary
8 Statewide Contests; 3 GOP, 5 DEM, zero incumbents challenged
54 State House Contests
34 State House Contents where an incumbent is challenged
28 State House GOP primaries; 23 contests where an incumbent is challenged
26 State House DEM primaries; 11 contests where an incumbent is challenged
Statewide Offices
Governor GOP: Pamela Evette, Josh Kimbrell (campaign suspended), Nancy Mace, Ralph Norman, Rom Reddy, Alan Wilson
Governor DEM: Jermaine Johnson, Mullins McLeod, Billy Webster
Attorney General GOP: Stephen Goldfinch, David Pascoe, David Stumbo
Commissioner of Agriculture GOP: Jeremy Cannon, Danny Ford, Cody Simpson, Fred West
State Treasurer DEM: Vincent Coe, Trav Robertson
State Superintendent of Education DEM: Lisa Ellis, Sylvia Wright
Secretary of State DEM: Jason Belton, Edwina Winter
Comptroller General DEM: Tiffany Boozer, Bruce Cole
State House
District 1 GOP: Craig Diem, Bill Whitmire*
District 1 DEM: Juni Lynch, Jasmine Williams
District 3 GOP: Phillip Bowers*, Joe Burgett
District 5 GOP: Neal Collins*, David Jones, Brandy Tarlenton
District 6 GOP: April Cromer*, Kyle White
District 8 GOP: Don Chapman*, Sherry Hodges, Patrick Orr
District 10 GOP: Thomas Beach*, Thomas Stewart, Stewart Watson
District 11 GOP: Craig Gagnon*, Jesse Turner
District 13 GOP: John Jefferson, John McCravy*
District 14 GOP: Luke Rankin*, Rick Shealy
District 21 GOP: Heather Currie, Dianne Mitchell*
District 22 GOP: Chuck Rhode, Paul Wickensimer*
District 24 DEM: Caroline Avinger, Justin Sanders
District 25 DEM: Wendell Jones*, Derrick Quarles
District 26 GOP: Elizabeth Enns, David Martin*
District 31 DEM: Mo Abusaft, Rosalyn Henderson-Myers*
District 33 GOP: Abe Harris, Travis Moore*
District 36 GOP: Adam Crisp, Rob Harris*
District 38 GOP: Josiah Magnuson*, Charlianne Wyatt Nestlen
District 39 GOP: Cal Forrest*, Katie Hall, Fred Taylor
District 40 GOP: Jonathan Ammons, Joe White*
District 44 GOP: Tripp McCoy, Mike Neese*
District 45 GOP: Russell Brazell, Brandon Newton*
District 47 DEM: Justin Bennett, Peter Martinez
District 49 DEM: John King*, Perry Sutton
District 51 DEM: David Weeks*, Melissa Weeks Richardson
District 52 DEM: Lawrence Moore, Patrick Tate, Malcolm Taylor
District 54 DEM: Jason Luck*, Betty Jo Quick
District 60 DEM: Adrian Peguese Carter, Melissa O’Shea
District 61 DEM: Pete Bember, Carol Goodman
District 63 DEM: Kory Haskins, Sloan Hilton
District 64 DEM: Michele Demery, Jack Spann
District 65 GOP: Barbara Arthur, Cody Mitchell*
District 69 GOP: John Allen, Chris Wooten*
District 70 DEM: Noah Barker, Eve Carlin, Robert Reese*
District 73 DEM: Cam George, Chris Hart*
District 79 DEM: Hamilton Grant*, Anthony Stovall
District 86 GOP: Tommy Paradise, Kim Ray
District 86 DEM: Stuart Epting, Malcolm Green
District 88 GOP: Brian Duncan, John Lastinger*
District 91 GOP: Daniel Alexander, Tyler Morgan
District 94 DEM: Sally Hebert, Collin Holloway, Bryan Sharper
District 96 GOP: Perry Finch, Hunter Hackett, Scotty Whetstone
District 99 GOP: Jarrod Brooks, Kristy Gore, David Herndon, Shawn Pinkston
District 99 DEM: Jacob Goddard, Samuel Price
District 101 DEM: Martin Cunningham, Roger Kirby*, Cheryl Lane
District 102 DEM: Montez Aiken, Katie McCravy
District 103 DEM: Carl Anderson*, Wendell Padgett
District 112 GOP: Joe Bustos*, Woody Sprouse, Brian Zuckerberg
District 115 GOP: Johnnie Garmon, Carlton Walker
District 116 DEM: Radia Baxter, David Bell, Clay Middleton
District 121 DEM: Shannon DeLoach, Michael Rivers*
District 122 DEM: Maja Moore, Korey Williams
District 123 DEM: Willie Aiken, Ann Shippy
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.
Conference Committee Meetings
As of June 6 no committee meetings have been scheduled.
Senate Meetings
As of June 6 no committee meetings have been scheduled.
House Meetings
As of June 6 no committee meetings have been scheduled.
Joint Meetings
Joint Bond Review Committee
June 10, 12:30pm 2:30pm; Agenda; Livestream
Summary: The JBRC agenda has not yet been posted.
2026 Key Dates
January 13, 2026: Session Convenes
January 28, 2026: Judicial Merit Selection Commission draft report published
January 28, 2026: State of the State Address
February 12, 2026: BEA revenue forecast update
March 4, 2026: Judicial elections
March 9-13, 2026: House floor budget deliberations
March 16-20: House furlough week
March 16, 2026: Candidate filing opens (all statewide constitutional offices, federal offices, SC House of Representatives)
March 30, 2026: Candidate filing closes
April 9, 2026: BEA revenue forecast update (cancelled)
April 6-10: House furlough week (confirmed)
April 20-24, 2026: Senate floor budget deliberations
May 14, 2026: Session Adjourns
May 19, 2026: BEA revenue forecast update
