Well, y’all, January 13th is coming whether we’re ready or not, and the General Assembly is about to crawl back into Columbia like mosquitoes after a summer rain. The 2026 Legislative Session is fixing to open with the most ultra-conservative supermajority this state has ever seen, which begs the question: Are they about to fix anything… or are we just restocking the popcorn?
Last year felt like trying to herd cats on a trampoline. Lots of noise, very little progress, and somehow everybody still left mad. Now we’ve got even more conservative members in the mix, so I’m not sure if we’re headed for productivity or just a brand-new record for legislative whiplash.
The Senate: New Faces, Old Fights
We’ve lost Senator Roger Nutt, who at least knew how to work a room without setting it on fire. But don’t worry — the political merry-go-round has brought back Senator Lee Bright, the original architect of the great Bathroom Bill Debacle, a piece of legislative folklore that still gives Columbia heartburn.
So the question on the porch is simple:Are we about to talk about roads, schools, kids, and budgets… or are we about to re-litigate which bathroom a Girl Scout can use in Greenville?
Because somehow, in a state where traffic is a contact sport and classrooms are begging for help, the legislature still manages to put women’s bodies and bathroom doors at the top of the priority list.
The House: Freedom Caucus Gone Feral
Meanwhile over in the House, the Freedom Caucus has grown like kudzu after a thunderstorm. More members, louder voices, and a whole lot of “hold my Bible, I got a bill idea.”
They did finally say goodbye to RJ May after he pleaded guilty to child pornography — a sentence that should never have to be written in a legislative recap, yet here we are.
But let’s not pretend that one departure leveled the playing field. The House is still a cage match between ambition, ideology, and a deep resistance to grown-up supervision.
And Then There Are the Judges
And Then There Are the JudgesNow this one’s a doozy.
South Carolina lets the legislature elect judges, which is kind of like letting the students grade their own final exams. This year, the big whisper is whether the House will elect one of their own — yes, that former Speaker — or whether they’ll shock the system and choose the best qualified candidate instead of the best connected.
Y’all might want to clutch your pearls now.
What the People Actually Need
Out here on the porch, the needs are pretty simple:
• Schools that don’t have to beg for copy paper
• Roads that don’t resemble the surface of the moon• Infrastructure that works when it rains
• A budget that makes sense to people who don’t own three yachts and a PAC
But experience tells me we’ll spend a good chunk of the session arguing about symbolic nonsense while the real problems sit on the back burner burning the pot clean dry.
So What Happens Next?
Will this ultra-conservative supermajority finally put its muscle to work for the people of South Carolina?
Or will 2026 go down in history as the year we achieved new levels of confusion previously thought unattainable by humans with college degrees?
Either way, I’ll be right here on the porch, rocking chair tuned up, laptop nearby if I feel brave enough to open it, watching to see who actually shows up to make South Carolina a better place to live — and who just shows up to hear themselves talk.
Pass the sweet tea, y’all. Session’s about to start.
WHILE I BREATHE 