May 24th Weekly Update

Sunday, May 24, 2026

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I hope you are enjoying a relaxing time with family and friends as we honor the many men and women who gave their all in the line of duty to protect our country. Fighting to protect our freedoms cannot ever be taken lightly, because even in times of peace the role of our military is both dangerous and essential. Right now, the effort by our President to end the global reign of terror by Iran weighs heavily on all of our hearts and minds. The current theocratic regime seems determined to prevail and keeps killing its own people to suppress any uprising to overthrow this horrific dictatorship. We do not know the end result, but thankfully President Trump recognizes that Iran cannot be left with the capability to have a nuclear weapon. Their sponsorship of brutal terrorist attacks around the world for so many years proves that they would not hesitate to use it if they had it, likely to obliterate Israel, other neighbors in the Middle East who have supported the USA, our own country, and any other nation that gets in their way. Please join me in prayer for our military and our nation as we face down this evil empire and attempt to bring peace to the region.

End of Session Newsletter
The House worked late into the night during the final week of session to make sure key conservative legislation made it across the finish line and onto the Governor’s desk. From protecting children and supporting law enforcement to improving schools, fixing roads, and cutting red tape, House Republicans finished the session strong and continued delivering on the promises made to South Carolina families. Here are a few major bills recently signed into law by Governor McMaster: 

• S.831 – SCDOT Modernization — Speeds up road projects, reduces congestion, cuts government red tape, and modernizes transportation planning across South Carolina.
•   H.4591 – Stop Harm from Addictive Social Media (SHASM) Act — Protects children online through stronger parental controls and restrictions on addictive social media features targeting minors.
•   S.32 – Pregnancy Care Tax Credit Act — Encourages support for pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, and organizations helping mothers and families across South Carolina.
•   H.4804 – Sexual Exploitation of a Minor Penalty Increase — Increases penalties and strengthens consequences for repeat child exploitation offenders while closing dangerous legal loopholes.
•   H.3058 – Disclosure of Intimate Images — Strengthens protections for victims of revenge porn and AI-generated explicit image abuse by increasing criminal penalties and holding offenders accountable.
•   H.5073 – Truth in Grading Act — Restores accountability in schools by ensuring grades reflect actual student performance and classroom achievement.
•   S.28 – AI Child Abuse Protections — Makes AI-generated child sexual abuse material illegal and gives law enforcement stronger tools to protect children and crack down on predators.
•   H.3034 – Fargo’s Law — Increases penalties for harming police K9s and horses that serve alongside law enforcement officers in the line of duty.
•   H.5097 – Roadside Markets Bill — Reduces unnecessary regulations on local farmers and makes it easier to sell fresh South Carolina-grown products.
•   H.4292 – Street Takeover Crackdown — Gives law enforcement stronger tools to stop dangerous street takeovers and keep our roads and communities safe.
•   H.4799 – Veterans Homes Expansion — Cuts red tape so veterans homes can expand more quickly and improve access to care for those who served our country.
• H.4477 - Heirs Property Tax Relief - This is my bill which finally passed fully in our very last week. The act removes the clearing of the original title from the 1800's to modern day as a trigger for tax reassessment. The new law has the potential to encourage families to transfer property into the current owners' names so they can build homes on their own land, creating generational wealth rather than destroying family-based communities.

Promises Made, Promises Kept
The past few weeks have been incredibly busy at the State House. This legislative session, we fought for freedom, families, and a more affordable South Carolina, passing major conservative legislation focused on lowering taxes, improving public safety, fixing our roads, strengthening schools, defending constitutional rights, and growing our economy.

From historic income tax relief to cutting red tape and investing in infrastructure, House Republicans remained focused on putting South Carolina families first and continuing to move our state in the right direction. Together, the General Assembly passed more than 265 bills this legislative session while advancing a responsible, balanced budget that provides over $1 billion in tax relief, all without raising taxes.

We promised results, and we delivered.

Sine Die
The General Assembly has now adjourned Sine Die, officially concluding the regular legislative session for the year. As a part-time legislature, lawmakers spend part of the year in Columbia working on legislation, passing the state budget, and representing the people of South Carolina. The remainder of the year is spent back home in our communities, meeting with constituents, local businesses, schools, and organizations across the district.

With the regular session now complete, I look forward to spending more time back home in the district, hearing directly from you, and continuing to work on the issues that matter most to our community.

H.5683 Redistricting
Even after the regular legislative session officially ended, the work continued. Governor McMaster called the General Assembly back into special session to take up congressional redistricting for South Carolina. With other states across the country aggressively redrawing congressional districts to strengthen their political influence in Washington, South Carolina cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. The recent Callais v. Louisiana decision from the United States Supreme Court significantly changed the legal landscape. The Court made it clear that partisan objectives and political considerations may be factors in the process, but not race or ethnicity. States across the country are now reevaluating their maps to ensure compliance with updated constitutional standards.

As a conservative state, our goal is to ensure South Carolina continues sending strong Republican leadership to Congress to fight for lower taxes, secure borders, economic growth, and the strong values that matter to our communities. Debate on the House floor stretched late into the night as members discussed the future of South Carolina’s congressional districts. Our GOP Members stood at the Well discussing how the updated map helps strengthen South Carolina’s rural communities that have too often been overlooked, keeps more communities of interest together, and creates greater opportunities for economic growth and representation across our state. Regarding communities of interest, there has been some serious misinformation spread by local leadership. It has been said that Mount Pleasant will be separated from Charleston, and that we will lose the Port and other important businesses. This is simply not true. During the last redistricting following the 2020 Census, South Battery all the way up the neck and on to North Charleston were pulled from the 1st District and added to the 6th District under Congressman Jim Clyburn. Currently, the 6th District runs from the tip of the Charleston Peninsula all the way to Columbia. If you view at it on a map, it is the most gerrymandered-looking district by far in our state. With the new map, Charleston, West Ashley, James Island, Folly Beach, and much of North Charleston will be restored into the same district as Mount Pleasant, which makes far more sense since we are all Charleston County. The natural dividing line would be the Stono River.

Another aspect that has caused widespread confusion and concern is that by being in the 7th District instead of the 1st, we will now be together with Myrtle Beach and Horry County. First of all, Myrtle Beach is about 2 hours away, but so is Hilton Head and we are currently in the same District with those voters. We would switch from one to the other. Prior to the redistricting after the 2010 Census, we were with Myrtle Beach and had Congressmen such as Arthur Ravenel, Henry Brown, Tommy Hartnett, and Mark Sanford (first time around). What did they all have in common? They were all from the Charleston Metro Area, not Myrtle Beach. With our larger population, we will likely have a strong chance of electing representatives from this area in the future.

After hours of non-stop berating by our Democratic colleagues on how horrible, racist and un-Christian we all are for even considering this process, we were finally ready to move to a vote around 8:30 PM. Suddenly, one of the Democrat members made a motion for the House Reading Clerk to read the entire bill. The verbiage of the bill is only about one page, but it contains over 90 pages of geodata from every single voting district in South Carolina, all represented by numbers. We sat there for nearly 4 hours, not permitted to even go to the kitchen for a glass of water as we listened to an endless litany of numbers read off to us. Sometimes this process actually forces members to hear what they are voting on in case they did not bother to carefully read a bill. In this case, it was clear that this was a pure delay tactic with the hope that it would get so late that we would recess until morning. Instead, it backfired on them as we made it through to the end. Because it was past midnight, we were able to take the vote at 12:20 AM on Wednesday, which was 74-36, adjourn for the day, and then return for the new Session day at 12:30 AM. We immediately had the third reading and fully passed the bill to the Senate. The legislation is now being debated in the Senate and will resume on Tuesday morning. House Republicans remain committed to ensuring South Carolina’s voice is strengthened in Washington for years to come.