The State House Gavel: House passes K-12 voucher bill, young lawmakers start new caucus

By Maayan Schechter, Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney | South Carolina Public Radio

Statehouse reporters Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney and Maayan Schechter are back at the Capitol reporting what you need to know when lawmakers are in Columbia. They’ll post news, important schedules, photos/videos and behind-the-scenes interviews with policymakers.

Welcome to Thursday, the final legislative day of Week 7 of the South Carolina General Assembly. 

As always, we will have a recap and wrap up on Friday. 

You’re reading The State House Gavel, a daily reporter notebook by reporters Gavin Jackson, Russ McKinney and Maayan Schechter that previews and captures what goes on at the South Carolina Statehouse this year while lawmakers are in session.

Before we get into the seriousness of Wednesday’s session, we would be remiss if we didn’t point out the collection of lawmakers’ sneakers for the annual Suits and Sneakers Cancer Action Day at the Statehouse. 

Some went old school. Others went more practical. 

And some, like House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, went flashy, with a curated pair donning the colors of his alma mater, Wofford College. 

Notebook highlights:

• The S.C. House approved a bill to expand school choice by using tax dollars to cover K-12 private school vouchers with an addition that chamber leaders hope is a workaround of the S.C. Supreme Court’s September ruling.
• Millennial and Gen-Z state lawmakers launch a new caucus to put their issues at the forefront.
• State Treasurer Curtis Loftis’s moment arrives in front of a Senate finance panelskewering the $1.8 billion error.

Lawmaker under 45? There’s a new caucus for you 

Are you a state lawmaker? 

And are you under 45 years old? There’s a new caucus for you. 

On Wednesday, state Sen. Deon Tedder, D-Charleston, and House Rep. Brandon Newton, a Lancaster Republican and House majority whip, announced the launch of a new caucus, called the Future Caucus, geared toward millennial and Generation Z legislators. 

South Carolina is now the 35th state with a Future Caucus, created to help young lawmakers work across the aisle, build relationships and identify bipartisan policy that particularly affects younger people. 

“I’m excited to find ways that we can bring a little bit of modernization to our laws,” said Newton, who is 30 years old. 

Thirty-four-year-old Tedder, who was the youngest senator when he was elected but is no longer, said the group hasn’t fully formed what policy priorities they want to push (they need to build up membership first) but he named housing, for example. 

Newton says the group only plans to push bipartisan legislation, “that way we don’t lose the spirit that we’re after.”

That also could include, he said, modernizing laws with technology and policies around at-home delivery.