South Carolina Is Wondering: Where Is Murrell Smith’s Promised Tax Cut?

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The first jobs report of 2025 is in the books… and it was not a good one for South Carolina. The Palmetto State’s historic struggles on the employment front continued into the new year, and another disappointing data point is set to be released later this week.

With a double-barreled blast of bad news headed their way, what are South Carolina “Republican” lawmakers going to do about it? That’s a good question… sadly, it’s one ranking GOP members of the S.C. General Assembly seem to be in no hurry to answer.

Gifted with supermajorities in both the S.C. House and State Senate, GOP leaders have been far too busy carrying water for corporate welfare recipients, big government bureaucrats and the über-liberal trial lawyer lobby to cut your taxes.

For months, S.C. House speaker Murrell Smith has said tax “reform” was his top priority this legislative session. But more than halfway through the first year of 126th S.C. General Assembly, Smith has made no public statements about a tax plan, introduced no legislation to accomplish tax reform nor indicated any other method of achieving this purported priority.

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Earlier this month, Smith signaled his intentions on tax reform… but never followed through with an actual proposal. As we reported two weeks ago in our Palmetto Political Stock Index, Smith reportedly wants to take South Carolina’s punitively high top marginal income tax rate of 6.2% down to at least 3.99% – which would be a flat tax on all income earners. From there, the rate could potentially proceed on a glide path down to 2.5%, depending on the availability of state revenue.

“There will be triggers to 2.5 percent,” one of Smith’s closest confidants told us.

While that’s a far cry from the complete elimination of the levy proposed by the S.C. Freedom Caucus (and by Democrat lawmaker Justin Bamberg), the plan would mark a significant reduction (assuming the speaker doesn’t attempt to “offset” the cut with tax or fee hikes elsewhere in the state spending plan).

According to our legislative sources, Smith is concerned whatever tax cut he proposes will be “one-upped” by S.C. Senate finance chairman Harvey Peeler. That concern is valid, too.

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“Harvey is waiting for Murrell to go first,” a Senate staffer familiar with the chairman’s plans confirmed to this media outlet.

Whatever proposal lawmakers come up with, it should be infinitely better than the laughably anemic plan put forth by status quo “Republican” governor Henry McMaster – which would lower the rate from 6.2% to 6.0%.

South Carolina has the highest marginal income tax rate in the southeast, a levy which has acted for decades as a disincentive when it comes to job growth, raising income levels and small business development. If Palmetto State leaders ever hope to reverse our atrocious employment numbers, they need to start cutting… yesterday.

FITSNews has called for tax cuts for decades – only to be ignored by so-called “conservatives” in Columbia, S.C. We keep hearing this is going to be the year lawmakers finally heed our counsel, but the clock is ticking.

So far, Smith has been the definition of “all talk” on this issue… which, sadly, seems to be the “Republican” way of doing business under the S.C. State House dome.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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