Recycled: How SC Reused a Bill Built to Silence Critics to Move $350 Million in Pork
Last year, we warned you about H.3305, a bill that would shield politicians from their critics. Lawmakers called it the “South Carolina Public Expression Protection Act” and sold it as free-speech protection, but a closer examination proved otherwise. Instead, it would open new legal doors to punish nonprofits like ours for exposing corruption. It passed…
The $1 Trick: How South Carolina Hid $309 Million in Earmarks to Pass Its Biggest Budget Yet
After the longest stretch our legislators have gone without spending money in recent memory, the party is back in town. On Tuesday, August 11, the South Carolina House and Senate return to Columbia for a single legislative day to vote on the FY 2026-27 conference report. The same budget that blew 70 days past adjournment,…
Darline Graham: The Bureaucrat Behind the Endorsement
Critics are calling Trump’s new Senate pick a political novice. Seven years of South Carolina agency records tell a different story. “Deep dives” from local politicos and journalists are skimming the surface of the political landscape without even paying attention to the fact that there is a real record here. Ms. Graham’s is a career…
The Pork Report: What’s Holding Up South Carolina’s Budget
For the first time in recent memory, South Carolina rolled into a new fiscal year with no budget in place. While the 2025-26 fiscal year ended on June 30th and the 2026-27 year began on July 1st, lawmakers have nothing to show for their work beyond a promise to try again on July 14th. Current…
The Great South Carolina Tax Scam: What Your Legislators Did While You Were Filing Your Taxes
Have you been wondering why you owe the government more money than usual while filing your taxes this year? Or wonder where all those empty “tax relief” promises went? While South Carolinians were busy filing their returns this spring, the state legislature spent the past three weeks raising fees, blocking tax relief, doubling their own…
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