Your SC politics briefing

Welcome to your weekly South Carolina politics briefing, a newsletter curated by The State’s politics and government team.

Rule changes aren’t necessarily the sexiest topic in government ongoings, but we think you’ll be interested in these.

The State was in the room yesterday when a panel of SC House members considered new rules and tweaks to old rules ahead of the Legislature coming back to session considering the chamber has brand new leadership.

But it’s not solely new leadership that has prompted the conversation. As Speaker Pro Tempore Tommy Pope noted yesterday, the House has been “losing a bit of decorum.”

The lack of professional attire for some is one problem, but it appears that legislators singling out their colleagues by name, yelling across the chamber is really the main issue and lawmakers want to nip that in the bud — fast.

But there’s two substantial rule changes that’ll likely raise eyebrows when legislators return.

Both the speaker and the speaker pro tempore are bound to serve no more than five consecutive terms in office.

The panel unanimously agreed that term limits for the speaker pro tempore — in this case Pope — should be removed, considering in large part that Pope’s term ends in two years and Murrell Smith just became speaker.

But the panel appears willing to talk about whether to remove the speaker’s term limits — a removal that is necessary, one lawmaker argued, so it doesn’t put the speaker in a lame duck period and create chaos in the chamber.

Powerful lawmaker’s wife wants high court seat

The wife of House Judiciary Chairman Chris Murphy has filed to run for a seat on the SC Supreme Court, an election vetted by legislators and voted on by the 170-member General Assembly.

Maite Murphy, an at-large state judge, is one of five state judges gunning for a job at the pinnacle of South Carolina’s legal galaxy — to be a justice on the state Supreme Court.

Chris Murphy is the powerful chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, through which many bills pass every year. His brother Michael Murphy III is a Dorchester County family court judge.

The five current state judges are running for a vacancy that will open up early next year when Associate Justice Kaye Hearn retires. Hearn was due to retire July 31 this year because she turns 72, the court’s official retirement age. But, last year, she ran unopposed and won a new 10-year term as a justice, though she must leave Dec. 31.

One lawyer told The State that since the 170 South Carolina lawmakers elect state judges, an influential lawmaker such as Chris Murphy has a decided advantage in rounding up votes for a family member.

“If a member asks you to do something for their family, and you don’t do it, they never forgive you,” the lawyer said. “And if a member is someone like the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, it is hard to vote against their wife.”

Watch this race closely in the coming weeks/months.

Does SC Order of the Palmetto still have value?

South Carolina’s highest civilian honor has been awarded to athletes, state lawmakers, religious leaders, retired military personnel and police officers. It’s been used to curry favor with voters and reward longtime employees and agency directors.

Rosa Parks, Ray Charles, author Pat Conroy, L.A. Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda each have one.

So does the “Terminator” and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The state’s Order of the Palmetto was created to honor and recognize a person’s lifetime of extraordinary achievement, service or contributions on a statewide level. But records dating back to 1971, when the state’s highest civilian honor was first created, show that every governor has handed them out differently, and it’s been up to their discretion who gets it and how many they give out.

So many have been given out, at least 67 people have received the once-in-a-lifetime honor more than once.

Read more here about the once-in-a-lifetime honor.

Murder. Politics. And theater!

Oh my.

For nearly two decades, Columbia theater actor, writer and director Jason Stokes has worked to launch a piece that centers on one of the most sensational incidents in South Carolina history, one that interweaves bloody gunfire, the media and the highest levels of state government.

This week, Stokes’ work will, at last, made it to the stage.

Stokes’ play “Composure” opened Thursday at Columbia’s Trustus Theatre on Lady Street. The production is about an infamous 1903 incident in which the co-founder of The State newspaper, NG Gonzales, was shot by then-Lt. Gov. James Tillman near the corner of Gervais and Main streets, right across from the State House, in broad daylight.

Never heard of this story? Did you know there’s a monument to mark it? Read more here.

Buzz Bites

▪ Joe Cunningham made national headlines when he suggested an end to the “geriatric oligarchy” in political office and said on national television that President Joe Biden should step aside in 2024 and let someone younger run. But the remarks could cost him any in-person campaign help for his Democratic governor run from two of the party’s biggest names: Biden, 79, and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, 82, the state’s highest-ranking Democrat considered a party kingmaker.

▪ Some South Carolina Republicans quickly denounced and came to Trump’s defense after the FBI searched the former president’s home at Florida’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Sen. Lindsey Graham said he believes now more than before that Donald Trump will seek reelection 2024.

▪ South Carolina Democrats have filed a lawsuit to remove Labor Party candidates from the November 2022 ballot.

▪ President Joe Biden traveled to Kiawah Island this week for a family vacation. The White House has not released any public events.

▪ Three Columbia Richland Fire Department engines were off-duty last Friday because the department did not have enough people to staff them. Thirteen other engines were reportedly operating with too few people, according to the Columbia Firefighters Association. City officials say the problem is too many sick days, rather than the department having a significant number of vacancies.

▪ A South Carolina judge revoked bond for Curtis “Eddie” Smith, a distant cousin and alleged co-conspirator of Alex Murdaugh’s, sending Smith back to jail possibly until trial because Smith was not honest about money he had and his whereabouts during home confinement.

▪ Less than two weeks after Gov. Henry McMaster vowed that a Beaufort County barrier island would stay in the University of South Carolina’s hands after the school hadn’t used it in over a decade, the university had a plan.

▪ President Joe Biden plans to nominate South Carolina Judge DeAndrea Gist Benjamin to fill a vacant seat on the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals. Benjamin, 49, became a 5th Judicial Circuit state judge in 2011. She oversees civil and criminal trials in Richland and Kershaw counties.

▪ Gov. Henry McMaster has filed a lawsuit against OSHA to prohibit the federal agency from having control of making the state workplace safety and health plan, Live5 News reports.

▪ SC Supreme Court says that a sports bar chain can not recoup damages from its insurance policy over the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent shutdown, the Associated Press reports.

▪ Attorney General Alan Wilson is asking Gov. Henry McMaster to investigate purchase card spending in Richland 1, alleging school district employees have misspent thousands of taxpayer dollars on improper purchases, including charges at grocery stores, restaurants, florists and dry cleaners.

▪ Prosecutors Atlanta said this week that they need a special grand jury to hear from Sen. Lindsey Graham because he may be able to provide insight into the efforts to influence the results of the 2020 general election in Georgia, the Associated Press reports.

Mark your calendar

Aug. 16

SC House Judiciary Committee panel, then full, meets on anti-abortion legislation, 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Hearing over the SC Democratic Party’s lawsuit to throw Labor Party candidates off ballot

Aug. 17

SC Senate Medical Affairs Committee meets at 9 a.m. to consider anti-abortion legislation

Aug. 22

Mike Pompeo to headline Rep. Jeff Duncan’s Faith and Freedom BBQ

Aug. 30

SC House returns for session, per State House calendar

Oct. 24

Early voting for SC’s general election starts

Nov. 8

SC general election

Before we adjourn

News broke yesterday that The Whig, the underground, dimly lit dive bar at the corner of Main and Gervais and directly across from the State House will close before the year’s end to make way for a new hotel.

Phill Blair and Will Green, The Whig’s co-owners, said they have been informed the bar’s lease, which runs into the fall, will not be renewed as extensive construction is expected to ramp up. The Whig opened in 2005.

“We know that our time in that space (at 1200 Main) is limited and is coming to an end,” Blair told The State. “Knowing that definitively, that’s where we are in terms of informing our staff and informing the public.”

Like us, many of you have gravitated to The Whig for a late night snack, a date night and to grab drinks with friends.

But it also served as an ideal spot to hang out at after a long day of session at the State House because of its location and the obvious fact it’s one of the few restaurants open at late hours serving good food. (Remember taco Tuesday?) It was a hot spot for traveling reporters, too, as they crossed the state during the presidential primary back in 2020.

Until the day we have to say goodbye, we’ll be getting our fill of smoked gouda mac-and-cheese and the tater tots.

This week it was Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter), senior editor of the The State’s politics and state government team.

You can keep up with her on Twitter and send her tips on Twitter at @MaayanSchechter or by email mschechter@thestate.com. To stay on top of South Carolina politics and election news, you can chat with us on Facebook, email us tips and follow our stories at scpolitics.com.