South Carolina Policy Council

09/09/2026

NEW CEO Introduction | SC Policy Council

New South Carolina Policy Council CEO Robert Cathcart is introduced by outgoing CEO Michael Burris.

New South Carolina Policy Council CEO Robert Cathcart is introduced...

09/08/2026

South Carolina’s earmark process is not transparent.

We have a solution that lawmakers should consider. Read more ⬇️

By now, the budgetary dust has settled across the state, as the S.C. Legislature passed a general appropriations act and a supplemental appropriations act for this fiscal year allocating an additional $351 million to lawmakers’ pet projects, also known as earmarks.

09/03/2026

The South Carolina Policy Council explains how a transparent earmark spending request process could be codified into South Carolina law for future budgets.

09/03/2026

❌ BAD PROVISO: 1A.75 - Creating a public policy institute at USC

This new institute is a conflict of interest, as it is a government funded entity tasked with studying and reporting on decision-making by the very government that funds it.

The University of South Carolina, outside of the institute, receives government funds already, and any report on legislative decision making can be expected to be completely bias.

Ironically, there is also already a Legislative Audit Council appointed by legislators that is widely ignored by legislators.

It appears the new USC Institute of Public Policy will receive at least $1.8 million annually.

(Article link in comment section)

09/03/2026

“While I understand the tuition mitigation dollars are intended to benefit South Carolina students, a growing share of the overall university enrollment is coming from out of state,” Aaron added.

“That raises a fair question about why South Carolina taxpayers should continue to finance the rapid expansion of facilities that increasingly serve students from outside the state.”

“South Carolinians are subsidizing this activity, even though a sizable percentage of people in this state did not attend college and will never attend college,” Aaron said.

“I think the university needs to practice living within its means rather than returning to the Legislature every year requesting increased funding.”


Sam Aaron is the Research Director for the SC Policy Council.

Full article linked in comment section ⬇️

09/01/2026

Good and bad provisos from the S.C. budget that deserve attention ⬇️

✅ Good proviso actions:

1.112 Capping teacher superintendent termination settlements

38.28 Preventing childcare provider fraud in DSS

55.27 Roadmap for streamlining SMRs

84.18 Road buyback program

117.215 (deleted) Allow private pipeline companies to use eminent domain

117.219 Ethics filing must identify public entity and amount paid

❌ Bad proviso actions:

1A.55 (amendment deleted) Would have placed limitations on grant recipients

1A.75 Creating public policy institute at USC

49.19 Film tax incentives & 49.24 Film tax incentives for post-production

50.29 (deleted) Would have prevented Department of Commerce from entering into open-ended incentive agreements

50.30 (deleted) Would have limited funding to Scout Motors to the initial $1.3 billion

50.31 (deleted) Would have prevented new use of economic development funds for data centers and required reporting on past use

117.182, 117.205 and 117.224 (deleted) Would have eliminated vacant FTE positions

117.225 (deleted) Would have prevented legislators from receiving appropriated funds from the budget with the exception of legislative compensation unless ethics committee approves before, results in penalties otherwise

09/01/2026

‼️ We have finalized a report on some of the most notable South Carolina budget directives.

Take a look at good budget proviso actions, bad ones, and deleted items that should have remained.

One often overlooked part of the state budget is the long list of “provisos”, which are supposed to be directives for how state dollars should be spent. Legislators often deviate from the original intent of provisos to insert parts of legislation that failed to pass each chamber, create study co...

08/31/2026

“If the state is going to keep providing seemingly endless resources, it would be foolish for the university to say ‘no,’” said South Carolina Policy Council Research Director Sam Aaron.

“Ultimately, I think the responsibility falls on lawmakers for allowing university spending and state support to grow at such a high rate.”

USC has been on a massive construction spree while also setting new records around enrollment, fundraising and state dollars to fund it.

08/31/2026

“If the state is going to keep providing seemingly endless resources, it would be foolish for the university to say ‘no,’” said South Carolina Policy Council Research Director Sam Aaron.

“Ultimately, I think the responsibility falls on lawmakers for allowing university spending and state support to grow at such a high rate.”

SC Daily Gazette

08/30/2026

Help us support the Columbia Police Officer Chris DeLong Memorial Fund & Officer David Dymock Recovery Fund: https://serveandconnect.org/tragedy-response-program/

Columbia Police Department, SC