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The April Fool’s meeting of the South Carolina House of Representatives “supermajority” was – as so many of these gatherings have been of late – incredibly tense.
And, per usual, full of fools…
The difference with this particular drama du jour? It was precipitated by arguably the most colossal, unforced error GOP leaders have made since they took control of the House in 1994. Basically, House “Republicans” took an issue that was supposed to unite the party (and the public) behind them and wound up crapping the bed worse than a laxative-addled lactose intolerant who overindulged on cheese-covered refried beans at a cheap Mexican buffet.
Last week, S.C. House speaker Murrell Smith belatedly unveiled his proposal to reduce the Palmetto State’s punitively high top marginal income tax rate from 6.5% to 4.99%.
Good, right? Absolutely… if that were all Smith’s bill sought to do.
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Unfortunately, that’s not all it seeks to do. Smith’s proposed legislation, H. 4216, tinkered with numerous other parts of the tax code in an effort to maintain a steady flow of revenue to state government – turning what could have been a billion-dollar tax break into a modest $216 million cut (out of a $41.7 billion proposed spending plan).
The anemic nature of the cut isn’t the real problem, though – it’s the answer to the age old question, cui bono (i.e. “to whom the good?”). Or in this case, cui malum (“to whom the bad?”).
On Monday (March 31, 2025), the S.C. Freedom Caucus and the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs (SCRFA) office both published analyses of the bill which exposed glaring flaws in the political calculus of the GOP leadership.
The biggest flaw? According to SCRFA’s fiscal impact statement (.pdf), a whopping 59.4% of South Carolina tax returns – six out of ten, essentially – would see an increased tax bill totaling a whopping $938.7 million. Another 21.2% of tax returns would see no change in their bill.
That’s right… eight out of ten South Carolinians would either see a higher tax bill or get zero relief from the House tax plan.
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RELATED | FREEDOM CAUCUS BLASTS GOP TAX BILL
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Even worse, per the Freedom Caucus report, the tax burden on middle class income earners would climb by anywhere from $327 to $924 – hitting individuals making between $40,000 and $80,000 the hardest.
Supporters of the bill insist this pain would only be temporary. They claim such “adjustments” are necessary to transition the state to a lower, flat tax moving forward. Furthermore, they argue anyone receiving a higher initial tax bill probably wasn’t paying their fair share of taxes in the first place.
“There will always be be someone who pays more because so many people were paying nothing at all,” one supporter of the proposal told me.
Supporters also argued those in upper income brackets – who would see approximately $1.15 billion in relief under the proposal – are over-taxed and likely to use their newfound largesse to invest in the economy via jobs and other purchases.
Maybe…
But… in what universe is a tax hike on a majority of the citizenry (with a particular gut punch to middle class income earners) going to make South Carolina more competitive economically?
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Middle income earners drive our economy. How is taking a billion dollars out of their pockets at a time when they are struggling mightily to make ends meet going to help our state? How is it going to stimulate the sort of underlying economic activity GOP leaders insist is necessary to drop the Palmetto State’s top marginal rate even further?
Here’s the thing: It won’t.
Which begs the question: Does the GOP want this tax “cut” to fail?
Then there’s the real reason “Republicans” were compelled to raise taxes on the middle class in this plan – they don’t want to stop their wasteful spending.
The current version of the 2025-2026 budget contains more than $1.5 billion in new spending (a number which could increase in the weeks to come). Last year, GOP lawmakers blew $435 million on pure pork. If “Republicans” simply froze spending at last year’s levels and cut the pork – they could provide another $2 billion in tax relief across all income brackets.
And that’s before we get to things like leasing out our government-run port infrastructure, selling our government-owned utility company (Santee Cooper) and privatizing non-essential functions of government like the über-woke higher education-indoctrination complex.
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Rep. @JosiahMagnuson told @FITSNews most S.C. taxpayers will pay "$700 to $900" more under the GOP's proposed tax "cut."
— Dylan Nolan (@dnolan2000) April 1, 2025
An insider admitted to Magnuson that "people aren't going to know they got hit with any tax increases in 2026, so we'll be fine for re-election." pic.twitter.com/09yFOZDxM8
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It’s also before we start adding to the revenue side of the equation with things like casino developments – which would have the added benefit of breaking up a government-run gambling monopoly.
Bottom line? The GOP doesn’t want to address its spending addiction. Nor do its leaders want to stop their costly meddling in the private sector.
The consequences of this ongoing, systemic failure are now coming home to roost in a big way.
Rank and file members of the House GOP caucus were livid with their leaders for selling them on a so-called “tax cut” that put them on the wrong side of eighty percent of their constituents. Four members have already taken the very public step of removing their names as sponsors of the bill – and more defections are likely.
You’ve heard the expression “measure twice, cut once?” Yeah, well without putting too fine a point on it, no matter how many times they measured – Smith and the GOP caucus cut their dicks off on this one.
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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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9 comments
These assholes would lie to Jesus if he was standing in front of them! Murrell Smith is a total POS!
Sounds just like Trump’s tax “cuts”. Take from the lower and middle class and give to the rich.
Yep!
I can relate to your disappointment with the proposed bill. But your use of vulgarity to express your disappointment is disappointing, to say the least. We are sick of the crude, vulgar language used that is becoming much too common. Please clean it up and speak/ write with appropriate language or we will find other writers who can. Thank you.
Straight out of Trump’s and Elon’s playbooks. Screw the people and tell them you are doing it for them. But it will be ok. There are so many dumb Trump cult members in this state they will never understand or believe they have been screwed. MAGA
I wish that I could find the words to say ,however a great man said that one politician at the bottom of the ocean is a good start. I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire I have no use for any politician.
This is why they did that anti-DEI bill first. They figured if they just insulted black people and uppity educated women first, they’d make their constituents happy enough they wouldn’t notice they were about to be robbed.
It’s called tax and spend and it’s beyond out of control, federal, state and local.
Found and old Barnwell county tax receipt dated 1905. It was for 104 acres and the tax was $4.23 with a 5 cent late charge, marked paid at$4.28. I ran CPI adjusted calculator on Google and it calculated the 2005 tax should be $130.19. We are taxed, taxed and taxed. Soon they will figure out a way to tax our taxes.
I’m not going to worry about it. They are up for election every 2 to 4 years vote them out