(WSPA) – Governor Henry McMaster will hold a State House news conference to announce his plans to call the General Assembly back for a special session.
Thursday was supposed to be the final day of the regular session for the South Carolina General Assembly.
But debates over abortion, guns and bond reform along with the always slow-to-resolve discussions about the state budget appear to have the session going into overtime next week.
For the past 20 years, lawmakers have passed what’s called a sine die resolution, ending the regular session at its mandated day and time with a set of issues they can return and take up later as they wish. It was abortion in 2022 and redistricting in 2021 along with the perpetual items like the state budget or governor’s vetoes.
This year, the Senate and House couldn’t agree on that resolution, so it will be up to the governor to call the General Assembly back in a special session with no limits on what is discussed. Less than five minutes after both chambers adjourned Thursday, Gov. Henry McMaster announced a Friday news conference to call lawmakers back.
It’s a lot of power for lawmakers to give up to the governor and hasn’t happened since 2002 because the Republican-dominated Legislature didn’t fully trust the Republican governors before McMaster.
In theory, anything can be dealt with during the special session. But in 2023, only a few outstanding issues are likely to come up as it’s the first year of the two-year sessions and bills stay alive wherever they are in the legislative process until the 2024 session begins.
