2025 SC Legislative Scorecard

HCR3008 applies to Congress for an Article V constitutional convention limited to proposing an amendment that would impose term limits on members of the U.S. House and Senate. It specifies that the convention may only consider term limits, bars changes to the Bill of Rights and certain amendments such as the 13th–15th, prevents Congress from controlling delegates or procedures, and reserves South Carolina’s right to instruct or recall its delegates.

The South Carolina State Senate passed HCR3008 on May 7, 2025 by a vote of 29 to 14. We have assigned pluses to the nays because term limits undermine the right of the people to choose their representatives. More importantly, efforts to call an Article V “convention of the states” are dangerous and must be opposed. Although framed as "limited," such a convention could become a “runaway convention” with the power to rewrite or significantly alter the U.S. Constitution—jeopardizing the very protections that limit government power. Article V was intended to correct structural defects in the Constitution, not to address the failure of elected officials to uphold their oath of office. Instead of risking a constitutional convention, states should use Article VI to enforce the Constitution as written by nullifying unconstitutional federal laws. Upholding and applying the Constitution—not rewriting it—is the proper remedy for federal overreach.

S477 would expand access to hormonal birth control by allowing pharmacists to dispense “self-administered hormonal contraceptives” (such as the pill, patch, or ring), and in some cases injectables, without a patient-specific doctor’s prescription.

The South Carolina State Senate passed S477 on May 6, 2025 by a vote of 44 to 0. We have assigned pluses to the nays because this bill dangerously normalizes hormonal contraceptives by allowing them to be dispensed without a doctor’s oversight, risking missed diagnoses and potential abuse by traffickers. Many of these drugs act as abortifacients by preventing implantation of a developing preborn child, resulting in silent abortions. Government’s duty is to protect human life, not facilitate its destruction; lawmakers should work to prohibit all abortion methods and uphold the God-given right to life affirmed in the Declaration of Independence and secured by the Fifth and 14th Amendments.

S102 would let municipalities that didn’t have an operating millage (a local property-tax rate for general operations) as of January 1, 2025—or those that incorporate after that date—begin to impose one. The amount they could raise would be capped: The millage could generate up to one-third of what the municipality’s general fund cost in the previous year (or for new ones, one-third of what their proposed budget calls for).

The South Carolina State Senate passed S102 on May 1, 2025 by a vote of 37 to 2. We have assigned pluses to the nays because property taxes, like income taxes, are an immoral and unconstitutional form of government-imposed theft. True ownership cannot exist if citizens must continually pay the state for the right to keep their own land—failing to do so results in government seizure, proving that the state, not the individual, is the ultimate owner. This violates the very principle of private property, which is essential to self-government and liberty. The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment safeguard property rights by forbidding any state from depriving a person of property without due process of law. Rather than creating new avenues to tax citizens, lawmakers should protect property rights and seek to abolish all forms of taxation that threaten individual sovereignty.

S163 prohibits state and local governments from accepting or requiring payment in a central bank digital currency (CBDC) or participating in CBDC testing, while allowing individuals and businesses to use other digital currencies. It ensures digital assets such as cryptocurrency and NFTs are taxed and regulated the same as cash transactions, sets requirements for digital asset mining to avoid overloading the power grid, exempts certain mining and staking services from securities laws, and empowers the attorney general to prosecute fraud related to digital asset services.

The South Carolina State Senate passed S163 on May 1, 2025 by a vote of 38 to 1. We have assigned pluses to the ayes because Article I, Sections 8 and 10 of the U.S. Constitution grant Congress—not unelected bureaucrats or central banks—the sole authority to coin money and regulate its value. Central bank digital currencies threaten to give government unprecedented power to track, monitor, and even control every transaction, paving the way for mass surveillance and political coercion through financial deplatforming or asset freezes. Instead of embracing programmable money, states should work to restore sound money—such as gold and silver—and protect the financial privacy and economic liberty of their citizens.

S425 requires every public school district in South Carolina to annually identify how many of its students live in poverty (using criteria such as eligibility for Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, or being homeless/foster/transient) and expand access to free school meals for those students. It also mandates that districts ensure families get the application materials and help completing them, forbid penalizing students who can’t pay meal debts (e.g., by denying graduation or extracurriculars), and requires school boards to participate in the federal Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) unless that would create a financial hardship.

The South Caroline State Senate passed S425 on April 1, 2025 by a vote of 45 to 0. We have assigned pluses to the nays because feeding—and educating—children is the responsibility of parents, not government. This bill grows the unconstitutional welfare state by using taxpayer dollars to provide “free” meals, further entrenching debt, dependency, and poverty. It also advances the UN’s Agenda 2030 “Zero Hunger” initiative, which promotes state control over “food security”—something that is not the responsibility of government. Neither Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution nor any other provision grants the federal government authority to run social-welfare programs, and government schools should not push social-welfare programs on people. By subsidizing families rather than encouraging self-reliance, S425 deepens dependence on government and expands the already failing, compulsory K-12 system.