South Carolina

State vs National PER

Subscription Types

Violation Rate vs National Avg (3.6%)

Quarterly Grant Spending (FY2021-FY2025)

Top Agencies

Top Programs (CFDA)

Credit Ratings (GO Bonds)

Unemployment Rate (24 months, seasonally adjusted)

New Priorities in 2026

• +Called for assessment of whether state infrastructure and government services can handle 'unrestrained out-of-state population growth,' citing U-Haul ranking South Carolina as the #1 destination for moving trucks.
• +Proposed universal full-day 4K for all children regardless of household income, expanding beyond the 2025 focus on low-income families only.
• +Advocated for gubernatorial appointment of all state judges with Senate advice and consent, replacing the current system where the legislature selects judiciary members.
• +Proposed comprehensive magistrate court reform: state-funded judicial salaries, requirement that magistrate judges be licensed attorneys, elimination of county residency requirements, and Chief Justice oversight of magistrate court operations across all 46 counties.
• +Highlighted the completion of the new State Water Plan by the WaterSC working group and the Department of Environmental Services after the plan had 'languished without update or consensus for over twenty years.'
• +Invited the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh to join South Carolina's 250th anniversary celebration of the Revolutionary War's Battle of Fort Sullivan on Carolina Day.
• +Cited South Carolina's nuclear energy leadership more assertively, connecting the V.C. Summer reactor restart to President Trump's recognition that 'reinvigorating America's nuclear industrial base is critical' to national security.
• +Touted the state's lowest-in-the-nation recidivism rate and described corrections staffing shortages as having been 'reversed.'

Dropped from 2025

• −The proposed construction of a world-class neurological hospital with an 80-bed critical care unit and 32-bed rehabilitation unit operated by the University of South Carolina was not mentioned in 2026.
• −The specific proposal to cut the income tax rate from 6.2% to 6%, saving taxpayers $193.5 million, was replaced by a vague call to keep cutting without a specific target rate or dollar amount.
• −The $13.7 million request for the Department of Environmental Services to hire staff and establish a hard 90-day permitting deadline was absent in 2026.
• −Hurricane Helene disaster recovery funding — including $150 million for a new SC Public Assistance program, $50 million for DOT debris removal, and $40 million to replenish Disaster Relief and Resilience Reserve funds — was not discussed in 2026.
• −The call to review and reform the state's 42+ professional and occupational licensing boards overseeing 500,000 workers was dropped entirely.
• −The request for civil justice/tort reform addressing joint and several liability rules and 'crippling financial judgments' was not mentioned in 2026.
• −The proposal to allow education lottery ticket purchases via debit cards, estimated to generate $52 million in additional revenue, was absent.
• −The specific $2,000 state income tax credit for active-duty law enforcement officers, firefighters, first responders, and EMTs ($43.3 million in tax relief) was not repeated.
• −The $43.2 million request for Department of Corrections for cell phone interdiction, hiring, medical/mental health services, and deferred maintenance at 21 prisons was not specifically renewed, though corrections was praised.
• −The request for additional SLED funding to combat animal fighting and dog fighting was not mentioned.
• −The specific PEBA/State Health Plan cost containment proposal — requiring PEBA to identify savings measures after four consecutive years of $112 million annual increases — was dropped.
• −The $95 million request in lottery funds for Workforce Industry Needs Scholarships through the Technical College System was not specifically repeated, though free technical college scholarships were discussed in broader terms.
• −The $80 million proposal to ensure Pell Grant-eligible students have sufficient state aid for any in-state public institution was not restated with a specific dollar figure.

Shifted Emphasis

• ↔Teacher pay shifted from an urgent plea to raise the minimum to $50,000 'this year, not next year' (from $47,000) to an announcement of raising it to $50,500 from $48,500, framed as a culminating achievement of a nine-year effort representing a 68% increase.
• ↔The 4K program shifted from proposing 'additional investments' for low-income children (with 7% enrollment growth expected) to calling for universal 4K for all children regardless of income — a major policy expansion.
• ↔School resource officers shifted from 'let's finish this job' (177 schools without SROs in 2025) to celebrating near-completion (102 remaining), bolstered by a dramatic real-world anecdote about a kidnapping thwarted at Chester Park Elementary School.
• ↔Mental health and government restructuring shifted from an active legislative demand to make agencies into cabinet departments to a retrospective celebration of having completed 'the most significant government restructuring in over thirty years,' including the creation of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities.
• ↔Energy policy shifted from asking the legislature to pass stalled energy legislation and listing multiple energy initiatives (PowerSC, SC Nexus, Tech Hub) to framing South Carolina as the leader of a 'nuclear renaissance' tied to the Trump administration's national security priorities.
• ↔Infrastructure funding scaled up dramatically from a $100 million bridge appropriation request in 2025 to a $1.1 billion request in 2026, reframed around inflationary cost pressures threatening project delays.
• ↔Conservation and land preservation shifted from highlighting specific 2024 achievements (96,000 acres, $143.5 million invested, with named properties like Snow's Island and Waties Island) to a broader nine-year retrospective of nearly 400,000 acres preserved, including a 62,000-acre Pee Dee easement, the State Water Plan completion, and the USS Yorktown cleanup.
• ↔Higher education tuition freeze went from the sixth consecutive year call with specific dollar amounts ($80 million for Pell-eligible students, $20 million for private/HBCU tuition grants) to a seventh-year mention without specific funding figures, while the systemic review of 33 public institutions was repeated but with sharper questions about potential consolidation.
• ↔The overall tone shifted from a detailed, proposal-heavy executive budget presentation with over a dozen specific appropriation requests to a sweeping retrospective and legacy speech, with far fewer concrete dollar figures and more philosophical reflection on South Carolina's identity and future.
• ↔Capital investment announcements grew from $8.2 billion and 5,500 new jobs in 2024 (described as third-best year) to $9.1 billion and 8,100 new jobs in 2025, with cumulative totals rising from $44.7 billion to $53.7 billion since 2017.
• ↔Law enforcement pay shifted from proposing a specific $14.5 million for raises and new hires to broadly celebrating that officers have received raises 'as high as 52%' and calling for continued investment without a specific dollar amount.

NAEP Scores (2024 Nation's Report Card)

Bridges (FHWA NBI 2025)

Contributions by Party

Top Easy Wins

• 1.
  DHEC Split Transition — Streamlined Regulatory Framework(DHEC → DEPA + DPHE / General Assembly / Governor's Office)
• 2.
  LLR Processing Deadline (30-Day Statutory)(LLR / General Assembly)
• 3.
  South Carolina APA Rule Review (5-Year Cycle / Automatic Repeal)(All agencies / General Assembly)
• 4.
  DHEC/DEPA Unified Environmental Permitting Portal(DHEC (transitioning to DEPA) / DoIT)
• 5.
  Unified Professional Licensing Portal (LLR Upgrade)(LLR / DoIT / General Assembly)

Declarations by Year

Incident Types

Recent Declarations