Apply Ethics Laws to Political Party Chairmen

2025-2026 Bill 1130: Apply Ethics Laws to Political Party Chairmen - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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S. 1130
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Senators Kimbrell, Davis, Johnson, Verdin, Hembree, Turner, Massey, Rice, Cash, Reichenbach, Leber, Fernandez and Climer
Document Path: SR-0638KM26.docx
Introduced in the Senate on April 21, 2026
Currently residing in the Senate
Summary: Apply Ethics Laws to Political Party Chairmen
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

4/21/2026

Senate

Introduced and read first time (
Senate Journal-page 4
)

4/21/2026

Senate

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
Senate Journal-page 4
)

4/27/2026

Scrivener's error corrected

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
04/21/2026
04/27/2026

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING
SECTION
8-13-100
, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS CONCERNING STATE ETHICS LAWS, SO AS
TO PROVIDE THAT THE HEAD OF EACH CERTIFIED POLITICAL PARTY IS SUBJECT TO THE
STATE'S ETHICS LAWS; BY AMENDING SECTION
8-13-1300
, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS
CONCERNING CAMPAIGN PRACTICES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE HEAD OF EACH POLITICAL
PARTY IS SUBJECT TO THE STATE'S CAMPAIGN PRACTICES LAWS; AND BY AMENDING
SECTION
2-17-10
, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS CONCERNING LOBBYISTS AND LOBBYING, SO
AS TO PROVIDE THAT CERTIFIED POLITICAL PARTIES ARE LOBBYIST'S PRINCIPALS AND
SUBJECT TO THE STATE'S LOBBYISTS AND LOBBYING LAWS, AND TO PROVIDE THAT THOSE
ACTING ON BEHALF OF CERTIFIED POLITICAL PARTIES THAT ENGAGE IN LOBBYING
ACTIVITIES ARE LOBBYISTS SUBJECT TO THE STATE'S LOBBYISTS AND LOBBYING LAWS.

B
e it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
S
ection
8-13-100
(27) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
27) "Public official" means an
elected or appointed official of the State, a county, a municipality, or a
political subdivision thereof, including candidates for the office
, and the head of each certified political party
.
"Public official" does not mean a member of the judiciary except that for the
purposes of campaign practices, campaign disclosure, and disclosure of economic
interests, a probate judge is considered a public official and must meet the
requirements of this chapter.

S
ECTION 2.
S
ection
8-13-1300
(28) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
28) "Public official" means an
elected or appointed official of the State, a county, a municipality or a
political subdivision thereof, including candidates for the office
, and the head of each certified political party
.
However, "public official" does not mean a member of the judiciary except for
purposes of campaign financing. A probate judge is considered a public
official and must meet the requirements of this article.

S
ECTION 3.
S
ection
2-17-10
(14) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
14) "Lobbyist's principal" means the
person on whose behalf and for whose benefit the lobbyist engages in lobbying
and who directly employs, appoints, or retains a lobbyist to engage in
lobbying.

However, a lobbyist's principal does not
include a person who belongs to an association or organization that employs a
lobbyist, nor an employee, officer, or shareholder of a person who employs a
lobbyist. If a membership association or organization is a lobbyist's
principal, the association or organization must register and report under the
provisions of this chapter. A person is considered a lobbyist's principal only
as to the public office or public body to which he has authorized, pursuant to
this chapter, a lobbyist to engage in lobbying.
Each
certified political party is a lobbyist's principal.

S
ECTION 4.
S
ection
2-17-10
(13) of the S.C. Code is amended to
read:

(
13) "Lobbyist" means any person who is
employed, appointed, or retained, with or without compensation, by another
person
, including a certified political party,
to
influence by direct communication with public officials or public employees:
(i) the action or vote of any member of the General Assembly, the Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor, or any other statewide constitutional officer concerning
any legislation; (ii) the vote of any public official on any state agency,
board, or commission concerning any covered agency actions; or (iii) the
action of the Governor or any member of his executive staff concerning any
covered gubernatorial actions. "Lobbyist" also means any person who is
employed, appointed, or retained, with or without compensation, by a state
agency, college, university, or other institution of higher learning to
influence by direct communication with public officials or public employees:
(i) the action or vote of any member of the General Assembly, the Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor, or any other statewide constitutional officer concerning
any legislation; (ii) the vote of any public official of any state agency,
board, or commission concerning any covered agency actions; or (iii) the
action of the Governor or any member of his executive staff concerning any
covered gubernatorial actions. "Lobbyist" does not include:

(
a)
an individual who receives no compensation to engage in lobbying and who
expresses a personal opinion on legislation, covered gubernatorial actions, or
covered agency actions to any public official or public employee;

(
b)
a person who appears only before public sessions of committees or subcommittees
of the General Assembly, public hearings of state agencies, public hearings
before any public body of a quasi-judicial nature, or proceedings of any court
of this State;

(
c)
any duly elected or appointed official or employee of the State, the United
States, a county, municipality, school district, or a political subdivision
thereof, or a member of the judiciary when appearing solely on matters
pertaining to his office and public duties unless lobbying constitutes a
regular and substantial portion of such official's or employee's duties;

(
d)
a person performing professional services in drafting legislation or in
advising and rendering opinions to clients as to the construction and effect of
proposed or pending legislation;

(
e)
a person who owns, publishes, or is employed by a radio station, television
station, wire service, or other bona fide news medium which in the ordinary
course of business disseminates news, editorials, columns, other comments, or
other regularly published periodicals if such person represents no other person
in lobbying for legislation, covered agency actions, or covered gubernatorial
actions. This exception applies to the publication of any periodical which is
published and distributed by a membership organization to its subscribers at
least twelve times annually and for which an annual subscription charge of at
least one dollar fifty cents a subscriber is made;

(
f)
a person who represents any established church solely for the purpose of
protecting the rights of the membership of the church or for the purpose of
protecting the doctrines of the church or on matters considered to have an
adverse effect upon the moral welfare of the membership of the church;

(
g)
a person who is running for office elected by the General Assembly or a person
soliciting votes on the behalf of a person who is running for office elected by
the General Assembly unless such person is otherwise defined as a lobbyist by
this section; or

(
h)
an individual who receives no compensation to engage in lobbying and who does
not make expenditures or incur obligations for lobbying in an aggregate amount
in excess of five hundred dollars in a calendar year.

S
ECTION 5. This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on April 27, 2026 at 1:35 PM