A Lot Got Done. A Lot More Is Waiting.

ALPHA STRATEGIES  | LEGISLATIVE SESSION UPDATE  |  WEEK 12

Week of March 30, 2026  |  South Carolina General Assembly, 126th Session

Week 12 at the South Carolina State House looked routine on the surface. A few major votes, a stack of new bill introductions, and members heading home for the Easter break. But beneath that calm exterior, several developments this week will shape the final stretch of the 2026 legislative session.

Here's what you need to know.

THE HOUSE WAS A BUSY PLACE BEFORE IT LEFT TOWN

The House now heads into its second scheduled furlough week, while the Senate shifts primarily into committee work. When lawmakers return to full statewide session on April 14, roughly fifteen legislative days will remain before Sine Die on May 14. The list of unfinished business, from hemp regulation to the state budget to multiple House-Senate policy disputes, is not short.

H. 4764  85-30 House • now in Senate

H. 4764, the mandatory 287(g) immigration enforcement bill, was sponsored by Rep. Travis Moore, R-Spartanburg. The bill requires every law enforcement agency that operates a correctional facility to enter into a written agreement with federal ICE under the 287(g) program. There is a fiscal hardship carve-out for agencies that genuinely cannot absorb the cost, and school resource officers are explicitly excluded. But make no mistake: this is a significant policy shift with real consequences for county sheriffs, local budgets, and communities statewide.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has already posted subcommittee hearings on it for April 8.

H. 4817  96-17 House • now in Senate

H. 4817, the Insurance Rate Reduction and Policyholder Protection Act, was sponsored by Rep. Gary Brewer, R-Charleston. After a lengthy floor fight featuring multiple tabled amendments, points of order, and contentious provisions on auto glass deductibles and insurance fraud enforcement, it passed and is now on its way to the Senate.

This bill touches roofing contractors, the Insurance Fraud Division, the SC Safe Home Program, auto insurance rating factors, and hurricane mitigation tax credits. It affects the entire property and casualty insurance ecosystem in South Carolina. 

THE STUDENT PRIVACY ACT: NOT FINISHED 

H. 4756  96-19 House/ 35-2 Senate • returned to House for concurrence

H. 4756, the South Carolina Student Physical Privacy Act, has traveled a long road. The House passed it in January. The Senate passed it 35-2 in late March with its own amendments. The bill returned to the House this week, and on April 1, the House adjourned debate on the Senate amendments until April 14.

The immediate question when members return is concurrence or conference committee. The Senate's version is not identical to the House's. Among the differences: the Senate added language permitting schools to install temporary single-occupancy outdoor facilities. This bill is not finished, and the final version is going to matter to every public school and university in the state.

H. 4763  95-18 House / unanimous Senate • returned to House for concurrence

H. 4763, the Helping Alleviate Lawful Obstruction (HALO) Act, is in the same procedural posture heading into April 14. The House passed it 95-18 in early March. The Senate passed it unanimously on March 26, but the two versions are meaningfully different. The House version included an explicit 25-foot buffer: stand within 25 feet of a first responder after a verbal warning and you face a misdemeanor, up to a $500 fine, and up to 60 days in jail. The Senate stripped that specific distance, removed language making it a crime to “harass or taunt” an officer, and replaced both with a broader standard: criminal liability for anyone who approaches, impedes, or harasses a first responder after being told to get back, with no fixed distance requirement.

Supporters say the Senate version is cleaner and more legally defensible; critics say removing the distance requirement makes enforcement more subjective, not less.

The House now has to decide whether to concur with what the Senate sent back. It is a different bill than the one the House passed, and that difference is the conversation heading into April 14.

TWO BILLS THAT DIDN'T MAKE HEADLINES. BUT SHOULD HAVE.

H. 3034  106-2 House  • now in Senate

H. 3034, now officially titled Fargo's, Hyco's, Rico's, Coba's, Wick's, Mikka's, and Bumi's Law. Yes, that is the real name, and yes, every one of those was a real law enforcement service animal. 

The bill passed 106-2 and is now in the Senate. It significantly increases criminal penalties and mandatory restitution requirements for harming or killing police dogs and horses, and it includes a provision that caught many people off guard: law enforcement agencies are now required to document and FOIA-report all police dog bite incidents, including the race and gender of the person bitten.

H. 4591  114-0 House • now in Senate

H. 4591, the Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media Act (SHASM), passed with zero votes against it. The bill requires major social media platforms earning over a billion dollars in annual advertising revenue to verify user ages, apply restricted default settings for users under 16, and obtain parental consent before minors can access the platform. The Senate has its own companion bill, S. 1103, and a unanimous House vote only accelerates that conversation.

THE HEMP BILL IS STILL A CLIFFHANGER

H. 3924  102-2 House/ 35-4 Senate • returned to House for concurrence

H. 3924, the consumable hemp regulation bill, has been one of the defining storylines of the session. The Senate passed its version, establishing age-21 requirements, a 5mg THC cap on drinks sold in licensed retail stores, and a liquor-store pathway for higher-concentration products.

The House had its own competing vehicle in H. 4758, which came up for consideration this week and was adjourned. Not voted down. Just set aside.

WHAT THE SENATE DID THIS WEEK

H. 4902 30-12 Senate / 88-22 House • Veto Overridden

The Senate's defining move of the week came Wednesday when it voted 30-12 to override Governor McMaster's veto of H. 4902, the NIL contract confidentiality bill. The House had voted 88-22 to override in late March. The law now shields college and university NIL and revenue-sharing contracts from public FOIA disclosure. A significant win for USC, Clemson, and Coastal Carolina, whose representatives appeared and argued for the bill in committee.

The argument that carried the day: competitive disadvantage. If South Carolina schools must disclose what they are paying athletes and schools in other states do not, the recruiting math simply does not work.

S. 508  41-4 Senate • amendments carry to 3rd reading

The Monument Protection Bill, S. 508, cleared second reading, with Senators Bright, Fernandez, Leber, and Martin recorded in opposition. It carries unadopted amendments into third reading. The bill significantly expands which monuments, memorials, street names, and public dedications are protected from removal or alteration by state and local governments and adds new civil standing for affinity organizations to sue to prevent violations.

S. 146/ H. 3514

The Senate also ratified six acts this week, including S. 146, the Roger A. Nutt Act, formally protecting long-term care residents' visitation rights during declared emergencies, and H. 3514, prohibiting state entities from purchasing flags not manufactured in the United States.

WHAT WAS INTRODUCED THIS WEEK

H. 5447 is the latest in a long line of closed primary bills filed this session, the 126th Session has seen more than a dozen attempts to require party registration as a condition of voting in a primary. None have moved.

S. 1095, the Unborn Child Protection Act, introduced by Senators Cash, Verdin, Fernandez, Kennedy, Garrett, and Rice, is sweeping in scope. It would prohibit abortion with narrow exceptions, add mifepristone and misoprostol to Schedule IV controlled substances, and create new civil causes of action. Referred to Medical Affairs.

THE FILING WINDOW CLOSED. THE RACE IS ON.

At noon on March 30, candidate filing closed for all statewide, federal, and legislative races in South Carolina. The June 9 primary field is now set. Both parties immediately began highlighting the shape of the ballot, including the fact that Democrats announced they had filed candidates in all 124 House districts for the first time in several years.

Six House incumbents will not seek re-election, creating open seats across the state:

• District 4 (Pickens) — Rep. Davey Hiott, R, the current House Majority Leader

• District 52 (Kershaw and Richland) — Rep. Jermaine Johnson, D, who filed for governor

• District 86 (Aiken and Lexington) — Rep. Bill Taylor, R

• District 96 (Lexington) — Rep. Ryan McCabe, R

• District 99 (Berkeley) — Rep. Mark Smith, R, who is running for Congress

• District 115 (Charleston) — Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D

WHAT'S COMING

Five weeks remain before Sine Die on May 14. In that window lawmakers must reconcile competing hemp regulation proposals, finalize the state budget, determine the final version of the Student Physical Privacy Act, and decide the fate of several other major policy proposals already moving through the pipeline. The calendar is tightening quickly, and each remaining week carries more weight than the last.

The Senate Finance Committee meets this week to continue building the Senate's version of the $15.4 billion state budget. Floor debate will not happen until late April.

April 14: The House returns for statewide session. The Student Privacy Act (H. 4756) immediately comes back up. So does hemp. So does a calendar that is getting more compressed by the week.

April 15: Joint assembly for the State of the Judiciary address from Chief Justice Kittredge, followed by elections of college and university board candidates who just cleared the Trustee Screening Commission.

That is not a lot of time to resolve hemp, finalize the budget, reconcile the Student Privacy Act, move the insurance reform package through the Senate, process the 287(g) bill, and manage everything else stacking up on the contested calendar.

Alpha Strategies tracks South Carolina’s legislative process week by week to help organizations understand not just what happened, but what it means and what is coming next.