Execution Mode Has Begun: What Moved, What Matters, and What to Watch Next

Week of February 2, 2026

There are early-session weeks where activity feels procedural, scattered, and difficult to interpret from the outside.

Inside the South Carolina State House, the mix of introductions, committee posture, and floor activity made something clear. The session is not finding its footing. The footing is already there. What we are seeing now is execution, as early structure begins translating into policy movement and the first outlines of where momentum may build.

Senate Introductions

S.897 – Vaccination and Immunization Requirements (MMR) was introduced. The bill would remove the religious exemption for the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, meaning a child could no longer claim a religious exemption to opt out of the MMR immunization. Under the bill, children would be required to receive both doses of the MMR vaccine between the ages of 1 and 5 as a condition of school attendance.

H.4760 – Abortion-Inducing Drugs; Controlled Substances; Criminal Penalties advanced out of the House and was received and referred to the Senate Medical Affairs Committee. The bill establishes criminal provisions related to abortion-inducing drugs, schedules mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled substances, and creates possession penalties with defined exceptions.

S.880 – Legislative Resignation Special Election Resolution was introduced. The bill addresses the timing of certain legislative vacancy special elections by allowing them to align with spring candidate filing deadlines.

House Introductions

In the House, a coordinated set of juvenile justice bills was introduced following the work of the House Juvenile Crime Assessment and Strategic Reform Ad Hoc Committee.

H.5117 – Transfer of Jurisdiction establishes prerequisites before cases can be transferred from Family Court to General Sessions Court, including investigation, hearings, and required judicial findings.

H.5118 – Comprehensive Assessments connects assessment requirements to detention and commitment decisions and modifies how evaluations inform DJJ placement outcomes.

H.5119 – Juvenile Parole Authority updates statutes governing the juvenile parole board’s authority for juveniles adjudicated for violent felony offenses.

H.5120 – Information Sharing and Records clarifies when schools receive disposition and incident information and sets parameters around the handling of juvenile fingerprints and photographs.

H.5121 – DJJ Certification Pathway establishes a certification framework for Community Juvenile Crime Prevention Programs operated by public or nonprofit entities and directs DJJ to promulgate regulations.

Floor and Leadership Signals

S.52 – Driving Under the Influence; Felony DUI Resulting in Great Bodily Injury passed the Senate and was sent to the House. The bill adds penalties when an intoxicated driver causes serious injury rather than death, strengthens enforcement provisions, and addresses procedural issues tied to testing and evidentiary requirements.

H.4759 – Intoxicating Hemp-Derived Beverages was the THC bill that reached the House floor and drew several hours of debate. The bill would restrict hemp-derived THC to regulated beverages sold through liquor stores, limit purchases to individuals age 21 and older, and cap THC content at 5 milligrams per 12-ounce container. The framework would limit permitted products to regulated low-dose THC beverages and would not allow other consumable THC products, including edibles. After extended floor debate, the House voted to send H.4759 back to the House Judiciary Committee.

H.4758 – Consumable Hemp Products; Regulation and Penalties, the companion measure aimed at broadly prohibiting consumable hemp-derived THC products, did not reach the House floor before adjournment and ended the week without a floor vote.

H.4757 – Parental Rights Act moved out of the House 3M Subcommittee and advanced to the next stage of consideration. The bill outlines and expands certain parental rights related to their minor children’s education, health care, and access to records, and requires parental consent for specified medical and mental health decisions. Its advancement places it within a broader policy conversation around family rights, institutional authority, and youth autonomy.

What This Week Told Us

The coming weeks will provide clearer answers on which issues accelerate, which stall, and which evolve into something larger than originally introduced. For those tracking the session closely, this is the point where early movement begins to matter, committees start to take shape, and positioning becomes clearer.

At Alpha Strategies, we will continue monitoring how these issues develop and where alignment begins to form as the session moves forward.

Alpha Strategies tracks and analyzes legislative and policy activity in South Carolina to help organizations understand what is changing, why it matters, and how to respond.