1st time in 2 decades, McMaster calls SC lawmakers back to pass abortion ban, bond changes

The South Carolina legislative session isn’t over just yet.

Gov. Henry McMaster on Friday officially called state lawmakers back to work, starting Tuesday, for a special session — the first time a governor has called legislators back to the State House in two decades.

“The General Assembly did not close the revolving door for criminals. It remains wide open,” McMaster said in a statement Friday. “They have not passed bond reform, and they have not enhanced the criminal penalties for illegal gun possession. In addition, the General Assembly must complete the state budget, and they must pass legislation that stops our state from becoming a destination for abortions.”

McMaster also Friday appointed Brian Gaines, who heads the executive budget office within the state Department of Administration, as South Carolina’s new comptroller general — or at least until lawmakers elect a replacement for Richard Eckstrom.

Gaines now becomes the first Black constitutional officer in South Carolina since Reconstruction.

State lawmakers wrapped up the regular session Thursday but without a sine die agreement, leaving the state budget, possible new abortion restrictions, new penalties for illegal gun possession and a handful of other bills left on the table.

Without that agreement, which prevents the governor from calling the Legislature back but outlines what legislators can debate after the regular session ends, lawmakers can debate any piece of legislation they want to.

“We need to have a budget. We need to settle the abortion question,” McMaster told reporters Monday. “We have an obligation to finish the work. So we’ll come back and finish.”

McMaster is the first governor to order a special session since then-Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges in the early 2000s.

Former Gov. Nikki Haley tried to call lawmakers back to Columbia in 2011, but was stopped after court intervention.

The House will return Tuesday afternoon to start what is expected to be an hourslong debate over an amended version of the Senate’s six-week abortion ban, which would ban the procedure after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, usually around the sixth week of pregnancy, and before most people know they are pregnant.

The debate follows months of disagreement between Republicans in the House and Senate over abortion restrictions after the June 2022 U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. That ruling allowed states to further restrict or expand abortion restrictions.

In South Carolina, the previous 20-week ban remains in effect.

House Democrats say they have filed more than 1,000 amendments to the abortion bill, meant to stretch the debate and further keep it from passing.

“Be prepared to be here as long as it takes,” House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, told colleagues Wednesday. “We will not adjourn until we finish. That also means we’re not going to be breaking. Bring supper, dinner, breakfast, lunch or whatever for days or however long you want to get through amendments, but we’re going to get through that bill and have a final vote on that bill.”

House Republicans also are looking at making changes to the legislation, which could further push away some senators when the legislation returns to the upper chamber.

“If there’s going to be things in this bill that builds a foundation for a push at some point in the future to extend the jurisdiction of the state further in time back to the point where the sperm fertilizes the egg, if I see that that’s in there and if I think that’s a concern, then I’m not going to support it,” said state Sen. Tom Davis R-Beaufort, who with five other Senate Republicans joined Democrats to vote against the House’s near-total ban in April. “But I have to see what they pass.”

Meanwhile, House and Senate budget negotiators are expected to finalize the state spending plan to start July 1.

There are a handful of budget differences between both chambers, including over member projects, commonly referred to as earmarks. The Senate has proposed a $13 billion budget, but the House, with an additional $800 million projected by state economists, proposed a $13.8 billion budget.

The two chambers already agree on several key spending items, including pay raises for teachers and state employees.

Brian Gaines named SC comptroller by McMaster

Richard Eckstrom, who was last reelected to a four-year term in November 2022, resigned in April after it was disclosed that his office miscounted how much cash the state had on hand for a decade, inflating the state’s cash position by $3.5 billion.

As comptroller, Brian Gaines will run the state’s payroll, pay vendors, operate the state accounting system and compile an annual financial report. With the governor, treasurer and budget chairs, Gaines also will sit on the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, a panel which acts as oversight on state spending and facility improvements and leases.

“I do have a general understanding of what goes on in the Comptroller General’s Office with my current position in state government,” Gaines said. “But first, priorities are going to be figuring out what’s going on and what needs to be (done) moving forward after that point.”

Gaines, who is Black, is the first African American comptroller since Reconstruction, and currently now the only Black statewide constitutional officer. He was sworn in by S.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty, the only Black member of the state Supreme Court.

“I’ve not had much time for a lot of reflection on that particular point,” Gaines, 41, said. “But I’m sure as time goes on, I will have an opportunity to fully digest what this means not only me, but for the state of South Carolina.”

Gaines, who lives in Columbia and earns $154,500 a year in his current job, has served as budget director for the last six years. He previously worked for the S.C. Budget Control Board and state Department of Employment and Workforce.

Gaines said he has no plans to run for the job in 2026, even if lawmakers decline to move the role into the governor’s Cabinet.

McMaster had said he preferred the state’s top accountant to be someone with experience in finance or accounting and with no political ties.

Part of the reason the governor has called lawmakers back for a special session is because neither chambers could ultimately agree on who should be the comptroller after Eckstrom’s resignation.

The House wants former Republican state Rep. Kirkman Finlay, who lost his Richland County seat to a Democrat in November. Meanwhile, the Senate has pushed for Mike Shealy, a longtime budget staffer. Shealy, who currently works for the administration department, will take over the executive budget office until Gaines returns to his job.

On Friday, McMaster said Gaines is respected by the General Assembly and state agency directors.

“His expertise on the budgeting process and experience in the state government will allow him to provide a fresh perspective to the Comptroller General’s Office, while at the same time allowing for a smooth transition,” McMaster said.

Eckstrom resigned after an investigation by the Senate Finance Committee, led by state Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Berkeley, who applauded Gaines’ appointment Friday.

“After the former comptroller general resigned, I made it clear that I wanted a qualified professional in the position, someone who would put the interests of the state ahead of his own,” Grooms said.