Legislative Outcomes
Review the results of important legislation and the impact of our united advocacy efforts.
How They Voted: 2024
Investments in South Carolina
$199.4 million to accelerate the reduction of the individual income tax rate from 6.4% to 6.2%
$15 million to the Statewide Water and Sewer Fund
$2.5 million to the Department of Social Services for the Working Families Child Care Scholarships and Support.
$200 million to SCDOT to accelerate bridge infrastructure improvements and modernization
$30 million to the Office of Resilience for their Disaster Relief and Resilience Reserve Fund
$1 million to Veterans Trust Fund which provides grants to organizations providing Veteran’s services in SC
$5 million to the Economic Development Closing Fund
$20 million to SC Nexus to continue developing, testing and deploying exportable energy technologies.
$78.65 million to fund the SC Workforce Industry Needs Scholarship Program (SCWINS)
$5 million to ReadySC for Economic Development Training.
Funding to raise teacher pay from $42,500 to $47,000
Funding for to freeze in-state tuition at public colleges and universities and relieve the tuition burden for SC students.
This legislation expands the educational background caregivers may have and updates the health and safety training required of the childcare workforce. These changes will help ensure a quality childcare workforce is in place to meet the rising demands of parents in South Carolina.
Would allow insurance companies and employers to create their own voluntary insurance coverage options that fit their business needs, from type of policy to eligibility requirements, to duration of leave and percentage of salary paid on leave to who is responsible for the cost. The policy would function similarly to any other supplemental policy an employer offers, like dental, vision or short-term disability. This adds another tool in the toolkit as our small businesses compete to recruit and retain talent.
Would alleviate the burden placed on business owners who have fallen behind on unemployment insurance payments. As it currently stands, employers who have missed a payment are moved to the highest rate class, paying a substantially higher fee, until they can become current. Under this legislation, if an employer is acting in good faith and has entered into a department approved payment plan, and remains current on the plan, they will be reverted to their original rate class. This legislation is key in helping keep our small businesses stay afloat, at a time when inflation, rising insurance costs, and wage pressures are already impacting their bottom line.
South Carolina’s economic development incentives work well to recruit manufacturing companies. However, the incentives are not adequate for recruiting regional/corporate headquarters or white-collar companies in sectors like med tech, cyber, life sciences, and engineering amongst others. White collar incentives are crucial to maintain a diverse and resilient economy as well as retaining our SC college graduates. South Carolina competes for economic development projects with other states across the Southeast. This includes states like Tennessee, Florida, and Texas that already have no income tax.
The bill creates clarity for businesses when completing their taxes. SC currently advertises itself as a separate entity apportionment state, but the SC Department of Revenue (SCDOR) can force a combination. This bill articulates criteria and standards to justify separate filing.
The bill increases the Industry Partnership Tax Credit Fund operated by the SC Research Authority from $9 million to $12 million. The goal of the fund is to fuel SC’s innovation economy by accelerating academia, entrepreneurship, and industry.
Expand the current apprenticeship tax credit from $1000 to $4000-$6000 depending on the type of apprenticeship. There are currently 935 active apprenticeships in SC. To increase this number, legislation is needed to incentivize more businesses to participate.
Extends the tax credit to 2035 and increases the maximum amount from five hundred thousand dollars to seven hundred thousand dollars for each abandoned building site.