Palmetto Freedom Agenda 2025-26
Free Market & Economic Opportunity
Comprehensive Tax Reform
With North Carolina already set to slash their corporate tax rate to zero in two years and two neighboring states without any individual income at all, South Carolina is boxed in with aggressive fiscal reformers.
We still have miles to go before we sleep on cutting our high individual income tax, our elevated corporate property tax, and our “innovation tax” that drives economic development from the Palmetto State.
South Carolina’s Energy Future
South Carolina is located in the most uncompetitive region in America for electricity, the Southeast. It is the land of monopoly energy suppliers. But even within our region, our residential, commercial, and industrial electricity bills trend higher than two of our neighbors.
Small modular nuclear reactors, an energy imbalance market, natural gas generation, and full wholesale or retail competition should be on the table.
Reform Occupational Licensing
We make it too difficult to work and do business in South Carolina. Too many jobs have unnecessary licensing barriers to hiring and too much government interference prevents businesses from functioning efficiently.
The General Assembly has opened doors to military families who have licenses from other states. This is a great start, but more can be done for all South Carolinians who have ability and shouldn’t need a license.
Protect The Right To Work
If a company receives a tax break or other incentive to come to South Carolina, that company must ensure that any attempt to unionize its workforce must be held by a secret ballot. No number of promised jobs is worth carte blanche incentives, and certainly not a vulnerability to thuggish union organizing.
Create a Regulatory Sandbox
With a few statutory changes, South Carolina can join the other Carolina as a magnet for the growing financial technology “fintech” industry (think Venmo and Zelle) by creating a regulatory sandbox. Done correctly, our new statute could capture technology entrepreneurship outside of the financial sector as well.
FIX THE STATE RETIREMENT FUND
Close the Unfunded Liability Gap
According to Pew’s Fiscal 50 analysis, for FY 2021 South Carolina underfunded the state employee retirement fund by $90.6 million.
Unfunded pension liabilities increased by 33.1 percentage points between fiscal years 2007 and 2021. Progress has been made, but a permanent fix is needed to make the system fiscally sound into the future.