South Carolina Republicans Include School Vouchers, Omit Abortion in 2025 Legislative Priorities
After securing a supermajority in both the South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate following the 2024 elections, the South Carolina Republican Party has unveiled its legislative priorities for the 2025 session, set to begin in January.
One key issue notably absent from this year’s agenda is abortion.
In 2023, South Carolina passed a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. However, some Republican lawmakers had hoped that if the Senate changed its composition, they could push forward a bill to ban abortion outright from the moment of conception. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, speaking to The State, acknowledged that abortion remains a sensitive and divisive issue among members of his party.
“That issue is different,” Massey said. “It’s much more personal and individual, and so that’s one of those things I’ve got to talk to everybody and try to get a better feel for where people are.”
While the South Carolina House had previously passed a bill banning abortion at conception, the measure failed in the Senate due to insufficient Republican support.
School Voucher Legislation
Another top priority for the GOP in 2025 is the reinstatement of private school vouchers for South Carolina students. In 2024, lawmakers passed a law that aimed to expand access to private school scholarships. However, the South Carolina Supreme Court struck it down, ruling 3-2 that the law violated the state constitution's prohibition against using public funds for private schools.
With the state’s high court now under new leadership, including Chief Justice John Kittredge, who authored the dissenting opinion on the voucher ruling, Republicans are optimistic about a potential reversal.
“The SC Supreme Court’s flawed ruling on educational scholarships devastated thousands of students and their families who counted on these funds,” a statement from GOP leaders read. “We must restore this option for these children … and continue the fight for true school choice in South Carolina.”
Income Tax Cuts
GOP leaders are also focusing on further expanding tax relief for South Carolina residents. In 2022, the legislature passed a law that gradually implemented a $1 billion tax cut. Now, Republicans are pushing to double the planned 2025 tax cut to $200 million, despite South Carolina already having one of the lowest income tax rates in the country, according to the SC Daily Gazette.
Looking Ahead
The 2025 South Carolina legislative session will begin on January 14, 2025, and the state’s political landscape is poised for significant debate on key issues like abortion, school choice, and taxes.
What "annoys" me is that an issue as important as abortion is being handled within "the party". Shouldn't women have a say? Or maybe we the people? Or maybe women? This is the problem with one party rule.
Decreasing taxes in a state that already has some of the lowest taxes in the country is nothing more than pandering and trying to appease a state population of unrealistic and entitled folks who want their cake and eat it too and who don't seem to understand how government works, (or should work)!
Lower or abolish taxes - but - hey - also fix my damn roads and mitigate the increasing traffic problem!