April 26th Weekly Update 

Sunday, April 26, 2026

Week 15 Legislative Update
School Safety, Child Protection, and Putting South Carolinians First
Last week at the State House, we focused on strengthening school safety, protecting children, and advancing policies that put South Carolina families first. From restoring order in our classrooms to protecting our land, elections, and access to essential services, we’re continuing to deliver real, commonsense results that impact your day-to-day life.
 
Putting South Carolina First
We also continued advancing legislation that protects our state, our rights, and our way of life. The House unanimously passed the Foreign Ownership of Land Act (H.3408), which prevents foreign adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from owning or controlling land in South Carolina. This is a commonsense step to protect our farmland, critical infrastructure, and national security.
 
We also unanimously passed the Guarantee Banking Act (H.5538) to ensure fair and equal access to banking services. This legislation follows action at the federal level, including a directive from President Trump to guarantee fair banking for all Americans after growing concerns and documented cases of financial institutions denying services based on political or ideological beliefs. Here in South Carolina, we took that directive seriously, examined the issue, and acted. This bill ensures banks make decisions based on financial risk, not personal viewpoints, protecting individuals and businesses from discrimination.
 
In addition, the Citizens-Only Voting Constitutional Amendment (S.582) advanced in the House Judiciary Committee. This measure makes it clear that only U.S. citizens can vote in South Carolina elections, protecting the integrity of our system as other states like California, Maryland, and Vermont move to allow non-citizens to participate in certain local elections. This is another priority highlighted by President Trump, and here in South Carolina, we’re taking action to ensure our elections remain secure and our laws are clearly enforced.
 
School Safety & Stronger Classrooms
We took important steps to support teachers and make our schools safer for students across South Carolina. We also unanimously passed the Safe Schools Act (H.5201), a major step forward in strengthening school safety. While many schools already have plans in place, not all are consistent or fully implemented. This bill ensures every school in South Carolina has a real, actionable safety plan, backed by coordination, training, and accountability, moving us from reactive responses to a proactive, statewide system designed to better protect students and educators.

The Educator Safety & Classroom Authority Act (H.5483) advanced out of the House Education & Public Works Committee and is now headed to the House floor. This legislation restores clear authority for teachers to manage behavior and maintain discipline in the classroom, something educators across our state have been asking for. By addressing rising classroom disruptions, it helps create safer, more focused learning environments and supports teacher retention.
 
Additionally, the House debated the Foreign Influence Operations Out of American Education Act (H.5504), which addresses growing concerns about foreign adversaries influencing our education system. This legislation strengthens transparency and oversight around foreign funding and partnerships in schools, helping ensure decisions are made in the best interest of South Carolina students, not outside governments.
 
Protecting Families & Preparing Our Future
We also worked on legislation focused on protecting children and preparing the next generation for success. The House debated the Workforce Readiness Act (H.3197), which focuses on preparing students for real-world success. By better aligning education with workforce needs, this legislation helps ensure students graduate ready for high-demand careers or continued education.
 
Finally, we took action on the Hemp-Derived Products Bill (H.3924). On Wednesday, we amended the legislation and sent it back to the Senate to keep it moving forward. Our goal is clear: keep intoxicating hemp-derived products, like drinks and gummies, out of the hands of children. These products have been showing up in places they shouldn’t, and we’re stepping in to close those gaps. We will continue working with the Senate to finalize a responsible, enforceable framework that protects kids and provides clarity for businesses.

H.4477 Heirs' Property Tax Relief Passes the House
This week in the House, we passed my bill, H.4477 Heirs Property Tax Relief, unanimously! This simple, two-page bill will represent a tremendous opportunity for families in our settlement communities and other heirs' property to establish individual ownership of their inherited land and create generational wealth for their families. This came about when a member of our own Phillips Community asked me to review a bill by former SC Senator John Scott, who had recently passed. His bill was to create a Study Group for Settlement Communities with Heirs' Property. Knowing that passing a bill is very difficult, and a Study Group could take years to actually solve a problem, I sat down with leaders from all of our settlement communities East of the Cooper to ask them how I could help them in the State House. After two hours of meeting, and several pages of notes, I promised to begin working right away on what was a very reasonable (and long overdue!) list of needs. First on the list was to remove the terrible deterrent of clearing a title from the original owner from the mid-1800's to all the rightful descendants and owners today. Imagine knowing you own a piece of land in Mount Pleasant on which you might want to build a home, or perhaps in some areas open a small business, but because it is not officially titled in your name, you cannot do anything at all with the property! Now imagine that the land will be subjected to an increase in taxes of 10 to 15 times the amount it is today if you clear that title. This may be the primary catalyst for why so much property of families descended from Freedmen who were either granted a tract of land or purchased it 150+ years ago has been sold off to developers to build housing communities that often are not in keeping with the surrounding community. We have often heard it is the developers' fault for wanting to buy up this land, but in fact, the land was often sold off as a full parcel because the family, with some members here but others in faraway cities could not afford to pay the taxes before taking ownership of their individual plots of land. By removing this tax trigger of reassessment at the time of clearing the title, owners, including many young people who might consider the idea of coming back home to Mount Pleasant, will be able to utilize their property to get a construction loan or permit for other purposes. And if someone does not live in the area and still wants to sell, they can sell their individual lot to a neighboring family member rather than destroying the integrity of the community by selling to an outside developer. My original bill H,4071 was submitted in February 2025 but was sent to the wrong Committee, so I had to modify it and resubmit in May last year. In February 2026, Members (including Rep. Herbkersman pictured below with Habitat for Humanity representatives) of both the Senate and House submitted similar bills, so we know the Senate is watching for this bill and will do our best to be sure it passes into law this year. 

Around the District and the Lowcountry

This week we welcomed a very special group of students and their teacher to the State House. My great friend Bob Menges from the Lowcountry is a Constitutional Law expert who has been teaching classes for 26 years. Over those years he has taught around 300 students. This current group is a class of high school homeschooled students taking a two-semester course. I was so blessed to be Bob's student while running for office back in 2020, because in my case he applied Constitutional Law concepts directly to the work I would be doing as an elected official and legislator, which has continued to serve me well to this day. I introduced the students, Sophia, Isaac, Levi and Joen to my fellow members of the House, and we gave them  a hearty welcome with a standing ovation. They stayed for some time to observe, and asked me questions about what they had seen regarding the debate over the Hemp bill, which was quite a complicated series of actions. Earlier, they sat in on several hours of the proceedings in the SC Supreme Court. Thanks to Bob for bringing this enthusiastic and inquisitive group of students to Columbia to see in action the concepts they are learning from you. What a tremendous, instructional field trip!