Government

A new bill has been passed and is awaiting Governor McMaster’s approval, and it could change how minors use social media and screen time overall. The South Carolina Social Media Regulation Act passed the General Assembly and was ratified by the State Senate. Aimed to protect minors and set restrictions on large tech companies, the goal would require those companies to provide tools to limit addictive features. If passed, this would allow parents to restrict their child's access to social media platforms mostly during the later hours, from 10 P.M. to 6 A.M. Another goal of the bill is to limit social media during school hours. This bill was passed by lawmakers to make companies give more power to parents. The goal is more parental control and to protect minors from harmful or explicit content when they are online. This also limits how much data social media companies can collect on minors and limits platforms that earn more than 25 Million dollars from doing so. This won’t be the lawmakers' only move as they plan to further push to make tighter protection for minors. The bill raised concerns for places such as small-owned businesses that rely on social media to promote products. An additional concern is reaching customers through social media. It would be addressed as only targeting for one demographic and would not damage any small businesses. Under the new proposed law, social media companies would be charged for handling minors' data, such as collecting and sharing. If improperly reported data comes the social company is charged. They would need to make reports from third-party auditors detailing features and the minors' activity. Failure to do so cost them. Governor McMaster will review the bill being passed once it hits his desk, and if signed, the new law will take effect. The bill passed both the House and Senate and was sent to the Governor on February 4, 2026, but it will take effect as soon as Governor McMaster signs it off.

SC Lawmakers are a step closer to dismantling the 113-year-old South Carolina High School League. The SCHSL is the governing body for high school athletics in SC. This move marks a long-running feud between the General Assembly and the league, which has overseen sports in the state since 1913. Under the House Bill 4163, State leaders cited multiple primary reasons from multiple legislative complaints. Student athletes public safety, Pointed out by legislators, failures to ensure EMS staffing at athletic contests showed a lack of accountability by SCHSL. This is one of the big reasons why legislators want to dissolve the league. Transferring: a changed transfer rule would allow student-athletes to be eligible to play immediately after transferring once during middle school and once during high school. The current league rule forces student-athletes to sit out a season unless they win a formal appeal. The changes won’t be huge, but they will be significant and include revamped rulings in South Carolina Sports. The S.C. House of Representatives voted 112-0 to pass the bill, but it was heavily revamped and allowed SCHSL to keep its name. This changes multiple rulings and is put under legislative oversight and a few other agencies. Clover High School's Athletic Director Bailey Jackson, when asked about issues with SCHSL, said, “I would be in favor of being more strict on the transferring, they're moving in another direction where it's less strict. The new rules will eliminate 16 different exceptions and one free transfer.” “As for them supposedly favoring charter schools, if they live outside the little attendant zone. They only have 500 to 600 kids as opposed to 2,800 like we do. They are put in a bigger classification to balance it. It's called competitive balance to make it more competitive.” “The EMS situation in my opinion is an isolated event, we have athletic trainers and like any other school we all have emergency action plans written down that goes through every specific thing that we could possibly encounter. Injuries and transport to the hospital is one of them.” With the bill potentially going into effect and significant pressure from SC lawmakers. As of March 2nd, Jerome Singleton, the SCHSL Commissioner since 2005, is now set to retire as late as July 1st, 2027 with approval of the league executive committee unanimously approving of his said retirement. As of early 2026 the bill has passed the state house. The bill still has to be passed by the state senate and signed by Governor Henry McMaster. Moving from SCHSL to a more state-controlled athletics, would be the most significant reorganization of South Carolina youth sports in 113 years.

YORK COUNTY - York County Council approved an impact fee for Clover School District on Dec. 15, setting the amount at $8,000 for single-family homes.

The Impact Fee Ordinance is up for its third and final reading on Dec. 15, 2025, after passing its second reading unanimously on Nov. 17. However, it only applies to the Urban Service Boundary.

York County Council listens to D2 residents: Approves impact fees 

YORK, SC - York County Council met on Feb. 3 and Feb. 17 to hear multiple issues. Most zoning business was approved, as well as an approval for expenditures from the Pennies 5 program. Zoning Issues Case #24-63 involves rezoning two parcels that total 6.73 acres on Dulin Road in Clover from Urban Development (UD) and Residential Mixed 20 (RMX20) to Rural Development (RUD).