Starting the week of February 3, an exciting new nationwide membership system will improve the member experience, streamline operations, and strengthen state and local Leagues.

The Statehouse Report
Another “surplus” of almost $2 billion in last year’s “unexpected revenues” that SC lawmakers can now dole out in one-time expenditures caught the eyes of some good government advocates.

“The state has so many needs and this surplus isn’t genuine,” S.C. League of Women Voters Vice President Lynn Teague told Statehouse Report. “This is money that needs to be used [for critical programs].”

S.C. Education Association President Sherry East echoed Teague’s concerns about the process.“You’ve got state workers, teachers, public employees, and they’re really hurting,” East said. “With more accuracy in the projections, [lawmakers] could make a long-term commitment to educators and firefighters and police officers in the budget.

On January 21, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee will consider four bills. S. 35 would propose a constitutional amendment that would delete the Comptroller General from the list of constitutional officers. S.36 would modify provisions for establishing polling places, including numbers of registered electors and notice to electors of persons whose registration is transferred. S.37 addresses municipal elections, following on the last-minute failure in the 2024 session of a bill to standardize dates and reform processes. S.38 would standardize the special election dates, including primaries and runoffs.

Bills have been prefiled and next Tuesday the South Carolina General Assembly will return for the 2025 session. As usual, there are issues and bills that relate to our ability to make democracy work in South Carolina.

The Statehouse Report

Statehouse handicappers say 2025 may be the year that lawmakers require South Carolinians to declare allegiance to one political party or the other when they register to vote, a long-time wishlist item for many GOP legislators. But Lynn Teague, vice president of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of South Carolina, says a switch would not be in the interests of nonpartisan voters. “The League opposes both bills,” Teague said in a Jan. 9 statement. “Although either would be acceptable if all unaffiliated voters could vote in any primary, without further conditions.”

Our voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts in South Carolina contributed to the highest turnout ever in a presidential election. But important work remains. Now, more than ever, the League of Women Voters needs to—and will—combat threats to democracy and work courageously and persistently to ensure that South Carolina laws and government protect the interests and reflect the diversity of the people of our state. To do so we need to be bigger and bolder. We hope you will continue to stand by our side.

CoverSC, the statewide coalition that includes the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, advocates for Medicaid Expansion in our state.. Closing the health insurance gap would cover over 200,000 South Carolinians.

Affordable healthcare will reduce medical debt and improve financial independence for families. Expanding coverage contributes 30,000 new jobs in South Carolina, bringing employment and healthcare to rural communities. Find out more about the coalition at www.CoverSC.org.