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4/1/2026 UPDATE: The SC House Ways and Means Committee voted 22-2 to pass S.831 and H.5071. It now goes to the House floor. contact your State Representative and tell them to vote against both of these bills.

The South Carolina House and Senate have each filed their own versions of legislation to “modernize” the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT). Despite coming from different chambers, both bills share many bad parts. Rather than streamlining government, improving accountability, or reducing costs for taxpayers, both proposals expand government, raise fees and taxes, increase debt, and pave the way for permanent toll roads. What else would you expect from Republican supermajorities that routinely campaign on limited government and fiscal restraint?

SCDOT Secretary Justin Powell worked closely with legislative staff, the Municipal Association of South Carolina (MASC), members of a special House ad hoc committee, and other politically connected interests to craft their wish list. The result is nearly 15,000-worded legislation that grows bureaucracy, weakens oversight, and creates many new revenue streams for the state.

How We Got Here: The SCDOT Modernization Ad Hoc Committee

Last year, House Speaker Murrell Smith announced the creation of the SCDOT Modernization Ad Hoc Committee, made up of 24 House members. The committee was charged with modernizing and expanding South Carolina’s transportation infrastructure. Since raising the gas tax, now stuck at 28.75 cents per gallon since 2022, is politically impossible, Speaker Smith asked the committee to explore alternative ways to increase revenue for SCDOT.

The committee was also tasked with reforming the permitting process, increasing accountability to the state, and updating the state’s toll road statutes. However, public hearings largely consisted of agencies, transit authorities, and private contractors asking for more money. At one point, Representative Don Chapman even joked that the committee’s logo should have been dollar signs.

After the committee traveled to the coast three times, Greenville and the Midlands for six public hearings, three subcommittee meetings, and three full committee meetings, the drafts were drawn up.

One of the slides from the presentations that were presented by the committee

The Bills: H.5071 and S.831

House Bill 5071 was filed January 29, 2026 with 45 Republican and three Democrat sponsors. Nine days earlier, Senate Bill 831 was filed by Senator Larry Grooms of Berkeley County, the Republican chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. The bills are strikingly similar and reflect the same policy priorities pushed by SCDOT leadership.

What the Bills Do — And Why It Matters

1. A New Coordinating Council and More Unelected Bureaucracy

Both bills create a new “Coordinating Council,” as requested by Secretary Powell. This council would govern metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and newly created rural planning districts. It would consist of two local representatives appointed by the governor and eight to ten state agency heads—a structure Representative Leon Stavrinakis criticized as being “very Columbia-centric.”

Currently, the governor appoints a nine-member SCDOT Commission, and that commission appoints the Secretary. The House bill makes the Secretary directly accountable to the governor. Both bills double up on the unelected bureaucracy by keeping the Commission in place and adding the new council. The addition surprised some legislators like Don Chapman and Mark Smith when they came back in January to review the bill during their final ad hoc committee meeting. Discouraged, Rep. Mark Smith said, “It seems like there’s a movement and commitment [of our current administration in the state] towards trying to eliminate the non-elected, bureaucratic government. We have such an incredible opportunity in this bill to do that.” One must ask, then, why he and Chapman have signed on as sponsors to the bill…

2. Higher Local Taxes and Property Tax Pressure

Both bills allow counties to impose a new 2% sales tax and increase annual millage beyond the limits set in the controversial Act 388. In exchange, counties would be incentivized—or required, as written in the Senate version—to take over responsibility for certain roads identified by SCDOT and approved by the Coordinating Council.

The difference between the bills is important: the House version makes the transfer voluntary, while the Senate version makes it mandatory. Either way, this should be a wake-up call for anyone who believes the Republican Caucuses are serious about reducing or abolishing property taxes.

3. Public-Private Partnerships (P3s)

These bills authorize SCDOT to enter into public-private partnerships, a policy Representative Gary Brewer advocated for more than once during the ad hoc committee meetings. P3s shift public infrastructure into arrangements that often guarantee profits for private companies while transferring long-term financial risk to taxpayers, as revealed in the next section.

4. Debt and Toll Roads: The Future of South Carolina

Both bills dramatically expand the state’s ability to take on transportation debt. They allow the Retirement System Investment Commission to finance turnpike bonds, potentially tapping into the state’s roughly $51 billion public employee pension fund.

They also eliminate $6 million of funding by alternative fuel fees from the Infrastructure Maintenance Transportation Fund (IMTF) and redirect those dollars into the State Highway Fund, which can be used to finance additional road debt. They further allow toll revenues to be used for highway projects rather than the project on which the toll is collected, removing long-standing taxpayer safeguards.

Even more concerning, the bills explicitly state that turnpike bonds do not count toward South Carolina’s constitutional debt limit and remove the requirement for public hearings before issuing those bonds. The result is a framework that enables toll roads across the state, billions in borrowing, and little to no public input. That’s a sweet deal for those P3s, creating a dedicated revenue stream that benefits private companies.

5. Massive Fee Increases on EVs, Hybrids, and Truckers

Both bills more than triple the biennial (every two years) registration fees for electric and hybrid vehicles. Hybrid fees would increase from $60 to $200, while EV fees would jump from $120 to $400. That’s a tax increase of over 300%. Electricity used to charge EVs would also be taxed at 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour, while it’s currently not taxed. Commercial truckers using alternative fuels would also be hit with increased fees. If their trucks weigh over 11,000 pounds, they must pay an additional 10% of their biennial fee.

Secretary Powell has argued these increases on EVs and hybrids are justified because gas-tax payers, according to his team’s findings, pay on average $200 per year. But for households spending $300 per month on gas at $2.50 per gallon, annual gas taxes exceed $400. On top of that, the legislature grants the State Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office sole authority to adjust all of these fees and electricity taxes for inflation every four years. That raises serious concerns about taxation without representation.

Related: Snow Hits Columbia Over the Weekend [PSW/Alaina Moore]

Why These Bills Are Bad Policy

Taken together, these bills raise taxes and fees, increase long-term debt, expand unelected bureaucracy, reduce transparency, and provide no meaningful reduction in government size. That combination directly contradicts what voters are typically promised by Republican supermajorities.

What You Can Do

The process is not over yet. House Bill 5071 and Senate Bill 831 awaits consideration by the House Ways and Means Committee and are scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, April 1st at 9:00am

Committee member office numbers:

Nathan Ballentine – 803-734-2969
Bruce Bannister – 803-734-3144
Gilda Cobb-Hunter – 803-734-2809
Micajah “Micah” Caskey – 803-734-3113
William “Bill” Clyburn – 803-734-3033
Neal Collins – 803-212-6913
Heather Crawford – 803-212-6933
Chandra Dillard – 803-212-6791
Kevin Hardee – 803-212-6796
Jackie “Coach” Hayes – 803-734-3099
Lee Hewitt – 803-212-6927
David R. Hiott – 803-734-3138
Lonnie Hosey – 803-734-2829
Leon Howard – 803-734-3049
Steven Long – 803-212-6878
Phillip Lowe – 803-734-2975
Dennis Moss – 803-734-3073
Brandon Newton – 803-212-6874
Todd Rutherford – 803-734-9441
Leonidas “Leon” Stravrinakis – 803-734-3039
Bill Taylor – 803-212-6923
David Weeks – 803-734-3102
William “Bill” Whitmire – 803-734-3068
Mark Willis – 803-212-6882
Richard “Richie” Yow – 803-212-6949

Email list for the House Ways and Means Committee:

brucebannister@schouse.gov, gildacobbhunter@schouse.gov, billwhitmire@schouse.gov, nathanballentine@schouse.gov, micahcaskey@schouse.gov, billclyburn@schouse.gov, nealcollins@schouse.gov, heathercrawford@schouse.gov, chandradillard@schouse.gov, kevinhardee@schouse.gov, jackiehayes@schouse.gov, leehewitt@schouse.gov, davidhiott@schouse.gov, lonniehosey@schouse.gov, leonhoward@schouse.gov, stevenlong@schouse.gov, philliplowe@schouse.gov, dennismoss@schouse.gov, brandonnewton@schouse.gov, toddrutherford@schouse.gov, leonstav@schouse.gov, billtaylor@schouse.gov, davidweeks@schouse.gov, markwillis@schouse.gov, richardyow@schouse.gov

Research and written by Anna Herron, co-authored by Melissa McFadden