Gov. Henry McMaster State of the State address is tonight

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster delivered his State of the State address Wednesday night, highlighting South Carolina’s economic achievements and his legislative priorities for the current session.

McMaster spoke from inside the State House building to all state senators and representatives. 

The governor said the state is seeing continued economic prosperity, citing a $1.8 billion budget surplus and record-breaking capital investments. 

“[Last year] was the third best in state history with $8.2 billion in capital investment and 5,500 new jobs announced,” he said He praised businesses that expanded within the state, such as Google’s $3.3 billion investment in new data centers and Boeing’s $1 billion infrastructure upgrade, reinforcing the state’s business-friendly environment.

As he did in his budget proposal released earlier this month, McMaster called for continued tax cuts to support economic growth, proposing a reduction in the personal income tax rate from 6.2% to 6%. “We should keep cutting as much and as fast as we can until we can eliminate the personal income tax altogether,” he urged lawmakers.

Education was a central theme, with McMaster proposing an increase in minimum starting teacher salaries to $50,000—a 56.1% increase since 2016.  He also called for expanding school choice through the Education Scholarship Trust Fund, which would give vouchers to some students for private schools. The South Carolina Supreme Court struck down an earlier version of the project because it used general funds, which the court said violated the state constitution. But lawmakers now want to fund the program with lottery money, which they feel would be within the bounds of the constitution. 

McMaster stressed the importance of reliable infrastructure, proposing $100 million for bridge repairs and $50 million for road restoration following Hurricane Helene, the deadliest storm in the state’s history.

He also endorsed the idea that’s been floated in recent months of restarting the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station reactor project. That was a failed effort to build two additional reactors at the site in Fairfield County, a project that was abandoned by the developers in 2017 after billions in ratepayer money was spent. But a study done last year said the partially built reactors could be completed. 

“Restarting these two reactors will not only help fuel our state’s future power needs, but will also usher in a nuclear power renaissance across the country, one that will spur nationwide investment and construction of new nuclear power generation,’ McMaster said. “This will provide America with ample, clean, resilient energy for the future and deter challenges to our national security.”

Sen. Margie Bright Matthews of Colleton County delivered the Democratic response. She questioned the oversight of the accounting in the state, after a recent audit determined that a controversy over a $1.8 billion state account was due to an error made by several state agencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is now investigating, and some legislators worry about how the error could impact the state’s credit rating.