Hotlist: March 16, 2026
We’ve officially passed the halfway mark of the 2026 legislative session, and many bills, including key conservation priorities, are now in a race to the finish line.
Activity started early last week, with the House taking up the state budget on Monday and wrapping up midweek, passing the budget without significant changes, including conservation-related line items. The House is on furlough this week, and the budget now heads to the Senate. Between budget votes, the House also approved the Senate version of income tax reform, which could influence future spending decisions depending on revenue forecasts.
Meanwhile, the Senate began debate on its Department of Transportation (DOT) reform bill as well as legislation regulating hemp products. For our issues, the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee held another hearing on data center legislation (S.867). Additionally, Concurrent Infrastructure Requirements (S.227), a major conservation and growth management priority, advanced to the Senate floor!
This week, we expect continued floor debate on hemp and DOT reform, but also potential movement on two key conservation priorities: Transferable Development Rights and Concurrent Infrastructure Requirements. Both measures are now positioned for potential Senate floor action, placing two of the most important tools for managing South Carolina’s rapid growth at the forefront of the conversation.
Dive in for the details, and how you can get involved!
Updates
Concurrency and managed growth of our state
The Senate Concurrent Infrastructure Requirements bill (S.227) was heard before the full Labor, Commerce & Industry Committee last Thursday, and despite the debate being interrupted by a tornado warning and a voluntary evacuation, the committee voted for a favorable report and sent the bill to the Senate floor. Bill sponsor and committee chairman, Senator Tom Davis, noted that he would contest the bill while continuing to work with stakeholders to get it right. There have been a number of amendments to the bill since its introduction, and CVSC and partners are working to maintain a piece of legislation that empowers local governments rather than restricting them.
With the bill likely up for a floor debate in the near future, now is a perfect time to contact your Senator and ask them to support sustainable planning tools like Concurrent Infrastructure Requirements. Visit our Action Center below to make your voice heard.
Conservation in the budget
House budget week was last week, and we once again saw significant investments in land protection, with broad support from House members. The SC Department of Natural Resources was given $27.5M for land protection, and the SC Conservation Bank was given $37.5M, including $1.75M for the newly established Working Agricultural Lands fund. These investments are key to continuing to work toward South Carolina’s goal of protecting 10 Million Acres of land and water.
The budget debate followed a familiar pattern, with some lawmakers advancing provisos calling for sweeping spending cuts in the name of smaller government. These proposals are typically debated and often defeated. One example last week was a proposal to cut funding for the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, which provides critical scientific expertise that helps South Carolina protect coastal ecosystems, support coastal economies, and strengthen resilience. Thankfully, the proposal was ultimately rejected, along with large cuts to other state programs and universities.
The budget now heads to the Senate, where it will go through the Finance Committee and likely emerge on the Senate floor sometime next month, and then the two chambers will reconcile any differences.
Data center hearing, ‘self regulation’, and narrowing timeline for House action
The Senate continued committee work on data center regulation last week with a hearing on Senator Davis’ Data Center Development Act (S.867), featuring testimony from SC electric utilities. Utilities argued that new customer protections are unnecessary, as existing or planned measures already ensure ratepayers will not bear data center power costs.
We were happy to see pushback from Senators on this “self-regulation” approach, including Senator Russell Ott, who raised concerns about relying on a patchwork of utility-created protections:
“I want to make sure if we have a product at the end of the day, that it’s enforceable, that we’re going to be able to hold our utilities, public and private, hold their feet to the fire to ensure what we put in place is actually done. That’s important to me.”
The committee closed the hearing by indicating the proposal will be refined through amendments over the next two weeks. CVSC and partners are working with senators and staff to close gaps and ensure the final bill includes strong protections for electric customers across the state, local communities where data centers are sited, and our natural resources.
The Senate is clearly engaging seriously with the issue, but the timeline for action is narrowing. Any final legislation must still pass the House, where no hearings on data center regulation have been held despite multiple bills filed. As CVSC works to strengthen the Senate proposal, we are also engaging conservation champions in the House to encourage timely action. Once large data centers have located and signed power contracts, opportunities to put meaningful protections in place may be much harder to secure.
Action Center
Here’s a round-up of current actions you can take to help us advance conservation policy during this legislative session. If you’ve already taken these actions, thank you! We’ll add more actions and provide updates as progress unfolds.
- Tell your senator to vote in favor of sustainable planning tools: CIR
- Tell your representative to vote in favor of sustainable planning tools: CIR
- Tell your senator to vote in favor of sustainable planning tools: TDRs
- Tell your legislators that your energy bill is too high
Events
SCCC Lobby Day & Oyster Roast | March 31, 10:30 am & 5:30 pm
Join CVSC and over 50 conservation organizations for a full day of speaking with lawmakers to help advance environmental policies, followed by a celebration of our collective progress that evening.
Stop the Edisto gas plant | March 23 in Walterboro, April 7 in Columbia or virtually.
As Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper push forward with plans to build an expensive, polluting gas plant on the Edisto River (supported by a pipeline across the ACE Basin), it’s our last chance to tell regulators to stop the plant. You can register to speak here—the last day to sign up for the Walterboro hearing is TOMORROW. Sign up today and tell regulators to protect the Lowcountry from industrialization!
In the News
Workshop aims to ready residents to comment at hearing on proposed Edisto gas plant | ABC 4 News
The Legislative Hotlist is a weekly update from CVSC’s Senior Vice President of Policy & Government Relations, John Brooker. Sign up for emails to get the Hotlist delivered directly to your inbox!