Have you ever felt like the decisions made at the South Carolina Statehouse are a mystery? As the 2026 legislative session begins, hundreds of bills on critical issues are on the table, but for many, influencing the outcome seems impossible. This episode provides a masterclass on the South Carolina legislative process, demystifying how you can make your voice heard in Columbia. We break down the core problem many citizens face: how to effectively monitor and get involved in state-level government.
Join host Katy Smith as she speaks with GP McLeer, Director of Public Policy for Together SC and the Mayor of Fountain Inn, for an insider's guide to state government. This detailed discussion provides actionable statehouse advocacy tips, starting with the importance of timing and knowing who to talk to. GP explains why the best first step is to pick a single issue or bill and follow it closely, much like picking a single car to watch in a NASCAR race, to truly understand the system. From there, we dive deep into how a bill becomes a law in South Carolina, covering everything from pre-filed and carry-over bills within the two-year legislative cycle to the crucial roles of committees, subcommittees, and the three "readings" a bill must pass. You'll learn what happens during a second reading debate, how a conference committee resolves differences between the House and Senate versions of a bill, and what it takes to override a governor's veto. The conversation also provides a practical guide on how to track legislation in South Carolina using the free tools available on the Statehouse website and app, which can send you notifications for every update. Finally, we explore how to contact South Carolina legislators, offering advice on finding their information and building a productive relationship, transforming the intimidating legislative process into an accessible avenue for civic engagement.
Episode Resources:
Introduction to the South Carolina Legislative Session
Katy Smith: This episode is posting on the first day of the 2026 legislative session in South Carolina. Our legislature has hundreds of important bills filed on topics ranging from abortion to guns to education to taxes. And there are likely at least a few for which you have opinions on how your representative or senator should vote.
But for many South Carolinians, how to monitor and get involved in the legislative process is a mystery. I'm Katy Smith with Greater Good Greenville. And on this episode of Simple Civics Greenville County, we aim to demystify that legislative process.
I talked with GP McLeer, the Director of Public Policy and Community Engagement for Together SC, who is very familiar with the statehouse and the goings-on within it. He'll walk us through how a bill becomes a law, how to track legislation in which you're interested, and how to connect with your elected officials in Columbia and here at home.
It is a masterclass in state-level policy. GP is also the mayor of Fountain Inn and a previous guest here on Simple Civics Greenville County. He shares lots of resources that, as always, we'll post in the show notes.
GP, you have done so much to help educate nonprofits and philanthropic funders and just general citizens of South Carolina on how to engage in government. I'm so glad that you're here to do that with our listeners and really with me, too.
GP McLeer: I'm happy to be here. I watch C-SPAN more than ESPN, so this is one of my favorite topics.
Defining Advocacy and Setting Expectations
Katy Smith: You're the perfect person. Clearly, I personally enjoy advocacy and do it for work and have talked a lot about county council and city council. We've talked about the legislature and have even interviewed candidates, but I have to say I'm not super comfortable engaging in Columbia. I would love if we could just start with a bit of an overview about what to expect.
GP McLeer: I agree, Katy. A lot of times the statehouse can feel daunting to come across or to go into, let alone Capitol Hill. I'm always interested in helping make sure folks feel a little bit more comfortable and confident than they did before our conversation.
I always like to flip it first and ask, what do you expect when I say we're going to the statehouse and try to move the needle on an issue? What is going to the statehouse or advocacy, if you took a picture of it? I always like to ask, what does that picture look like?
Katy Smith: So some of the pictures are ones that I have actually seen. Sometimes I picture people gathered on the statehouse grounds, holding posters and listening to a speaker and chanting or shouting.
I also picture people balled up in that small lobby of the statehouse under a statue. I always hear about people grabbing legislators in the hall, though I don't exactly know what that means.
I like to picture that I would be going to someone's office, but I don't know what that looks like. I've never been to a legislator's office. My picture is fuzzy and probably informed by things I've seen in movies.
GP McLeer: You're not wrong. Those are all correct. The picture of advocacy includes all of that. But I always like to highlight that there's a lot to get to that picture.
You've already said you don't even know where the offices are or any of that. There are a couple of things that folks need to keep in mind before they go visit. The statehouse is beautiful and the grounds are beautiful. A lot of important decisions are made there.
It can be intimidating to some degree, but we always want folks to feel comfortable and confident in walking in there. In order to be best prepared to go down to Columbia and start engaging in the legislative process now that the session is starting here in 2026, first you need to assess where you are plugged in.
Tips for Following Legislative Issues
GP McLeer: Advocacy is not just about raising your voice. It's also about raising your voice at the right time because timing matters. You don't want to go in after someone's already voted and say you had a concern about that. You want to do it at the right time.
Plug in to understand the landscape. Think through either yourself individually, or if you're a part of a team, think about your organization or your business paying more attention in Columbia.
First, let's assess where we're getting everything from. That includes your associations, your local media, and your elected officials and their newsletters. Get an idea of what's going on first so that you can understand the ground that you're about to walk into, metaphorically speaking.
I also always tell people to pick something and follow it. If this is brand new to you, pick something and follow it. Katy, have you ever been to a NASCAR race?
Katy Smith: No, I've seen them on—actually, I've been to a Greenville-Pickens Speedway race.
GP McLeer: That counts. I've only been to one NASCAR race. I'm not a big NASCAR fan, but I went with my dad. It was interesting. It's a great place to go if you don't want to talk to someone for four hours because it's so loud.
The first 20 minutes of that NASCAR race were exhilarating. It was like the clothes shaking on your back. It smells like burnt rubber and engines and exhaust and everyone's cheering. It's pretty exciting.
After 20 minutes, I started going, they do just make left turns. And I have 545 more laps to go. I was able to go to this because of a friend's generosity, so I wanted to be sure I enjoyed it.
GP McLeer: I picked number 14 and I followed him. I said, I hope he beats whoever's in front of him. I started to really grow an appreciation for why NASCAR is popular, why people have their favorite drivers or their favorite cars. I really started to understand how this works.
I equated those first 20 minutes to the first 100 days of an administration. There's a lot going on and it can be very overwhelming to try to monitor all of that all the time.
If this feels new and a little foreign to you, I recommend picking something and following it, whether that's an issue or a specific bill. You can do that for free through the statehouse website. Maybe follow your own elected official who represents you.
Pick something and follow them through this legislative process, because through that you'll learn how this works. In order to move the needle on the issues that matter most to you, you want to be effective.
GP McLeer: Sometimes that means having a bunch of people at the statehouse steps. Sometimes that strategy is having the right meeting at the right time. Pick a specific issue, like conservation. You can search conservation on the statehouse website and see what pops up.
You can make a mental note or track it on the website. By picking something and following it, you'll learn there was a public hearing. It is good to know that there's a public hearing as a part of this process.
Maybe you can go watch it or sign up to speak at it. You'll start to learn how things operate. That's helpful because when you talk to your elected official and you're asking them to do something to advance your issue, you want to be sure you're asking them to do something they can actually do.
You also want to be sure you're asking them to do it in the process that they have to follow. One House representative can't just create a new law, and filing the bill doesn't mean it's going to pass.
Understanding that is really helpful because advocacy is relationship management. You want to be able to have a good rapport with that elected official. Part of that equation is making sure your requests are things they can do and are appropriate in their process.
The Legislative Process: How a Bill Becomes Law
Katy Smith: Let's talk about process then. I know there's bills that have prefiled and bills that carry over. Can you talk about how a bill becomes a law, Schoolhouse Rock style, right here in South Carolina?
GP McLeer: If you've listened to the Schoolhouse Rock version, it's not too far off from the state version, but there is a set process that bills have to follow. There is no real deviation from this process. The speed can change, but these core elements have to exist.
Every December, bills are pre-filed. Those are bills that a legislator has been working on over the summer with constituents or with their staff. It could be as a result of hearings that have been held or an idea they've been wanting to do.
They will work with legislative staff and put together the bill in the legalese format. In December, they can pre-file it. That means it's pre-loaded and ready to go so that when they come in January, there are already bills in queue.
The legislature starts the second Tuesday in January every year. You don't want to get there on the first day and have nothing to do. These are bills that are already in the queue.
You mentioned bills that are carried over. This is the start of the 2026 session. Our legislature operates in a two-year cycle, much like Congress does. Every two years, bills have two years to live.
You can file a bill in January of 2025, and that bill can be decided on through this coming May of 2026. After May of 2026, it's going to die. It's a clean slate the following year.
2026 is the start of year two of the two-year cycle. Any bill that you see at the Statehouse website right now that's active, this is its last chance between now and May to get passed. If it doesn't pass, then you have to start all over again.
There's the breadth of bills. Sometimes over 2,500 bills are filed during that time frame. Not all of them become law.
Katy Smith: I'm sure they don't just come straight to the floor for everyone to vote on. Can you talk about that process of when and how they consider it?
GP McLeer: Once a bill is filed, it can be filed by a House member or a senator. It is then assigned a committee through first reading. Bills in the state house have to be read three times. For all intents and purposes, you can consider reading equals vote.
The first reading is pretty perfunctatory in both the House and the Senate. That is when a bill is introduced. A representative says they have a bill, the clerk reads the title, and the Speaker assigns it to a committee.
The committee then deliberates those bills at its own pace. All bills go to a committee. The committees will deliberate. They will sometimes put it into a subcommittee or make amendments.
The committee will debate that bill and they may change it. At the end of the day, they will have their version of the bill and a committee report. That then goes back to the body that introduced it.
Not every bill that's filed becomes law, nor is every bill that is filed voted on more than that perfunctatory first reading. The chairs of the committees have great latitude on what they will consider.
If a chair does not bring that bill forward, the bill does not see the light of day again. It has two years for that to occur. At the end of those two years, if it hasn't been heard or brought forward, it is officially dead.
If a committee is not willing to debate that bill for a myriad of reasons—political, logistical, or material—it isn't guaranteed its day on the floor. The second reading is where all members of the House or Senate are able to debate the bill and offer their own amendments.
Maybe they weren't on the committee, so they've got some other thoughts or questions. On the second vote, they vote on all of the amendments and then they vote on the bill.
In the House, that vote occurs on a voting board. You can see red and green. If you watch the Statehouse livestream, you can see that occur.
Katy Smith: It's kind of exciting.
GP McLeer: It really is. It's great real-time feedback. The Senate still does roll call. Each senator's name is called out and their vote is recorded. That is at second reading.
There is then a third reading, usually the next legislative day. That is a cleanup. It is the final version after it was amended and tweaked. They will vote on that as well.
Then that's the bill's journey in that chamber. If that whole process happened in the House and passed, it now goes to the Senate, where it repeats the same process. It is introduced, given to a committee, deliberated, debated on second reading, and then voted on again at third reading.
If a body passes a piece of legislation, it automatically goes to the other body as it was amended. The other body will pick it up and do this whole thing again. They don't just give it an up or down as is.
They have the same latitude to change things. You can't have a bill passed that looks different from both bodies. Those differences have to be worked out.
If one version of the bill is different in one body than the other, they will appoint a conference committee. That is three senators and three House members. Their job is to go into a room and work on a compromise.
The conference committee will then present the version they agreed upon. It goes back to the House and the Senate, and they will vote up or down on that. They can't amend it or change it; it is up or down on that conference committee's report.
At that point, the bill has been passed by the House and the Senate. It is the same and it goes to the governor's desk. The governor can sign it into law.
If the governor chooses to not agree with the law, they can veto it. That means it doesn't become law right away. It has to go back to the House first, and the House has to vote on overriding the governor.
Overriding requires a two-thirds majority. If the House votes to override, it moves to the Senate, who has to do the same thing. Only if both bodies vote to override does the bill become law.
Direct Engagement with Elected Officials
Katy Smith: This is great. We began by talking about how folks can follow issues they're interested in or a particular bill. Let's get specific now on the how do you engage? Things like how do you call, how do you write, when you go, and what to expect.
GP McLeer: Almost everything we're going to talk about is on the Statehouse website. The website is pretty cumbersome and it's not as user intuitive as some other websites, but it's extremely robust.
You can find your legislator there. They will tell you who your statehouse rep is and your state senator based on your address. They'll also tell you your congressional rep as well.
You'll have a link to their profile at the statehouse. Their profile has a way you can click to email them. You can call the numbers that they want listed, which could be their Columbia office.
A lot of them put their personal numbers on there too, as well as their office address in Columbia. If they have an office that's open to the public at home, those are sometimes listed.
If you can find their phone number or have a conversation with them, that's a really strong way to start engaging. Make an attempt to make a connection with your legislator and get to know them as people.
There are 170 legislators in South Carolina. They're people. They live in your neighborhood and they're shopping on the weekends. They are stuck in traffic and going to your parks.
Getting to know your neighbor is what makes South Carolina great. It's like the smallest state in the nation because we want to get to know the people around us. I think getting to know your legislator is important that way too.
I encourage folks to make a connection. It can start with an email, but make sure you're making an effort. You can start that journey at the Statehouse website, on their newsletter, on their social media, or at a town hall.
Tools for Tracking Legislation and Visiting Columbia
Katy Smith: That's great. They've familiarized themselves with who their elected official is and maybe they've even sent a "how are you" email. They are following the issues now and they know there's a bill that's been introduced. Can you quickly walk us through how they follow it and when they intercede?
GP McLeer: The Statehouse website is the best source for this. There is a free tracking element to it. You can create a free account and find the bill number or the committee.
If you're interested in everything a committee is going to talk about, you can do that too. You can click things to track or input a bill number, and it will send you an email every time that committee meeting is scheduled.
It'll send you an email every time there's a change to the bill that you're following. You can click over and read that change. The state house also has a great app that's very easy to use.
You can click for notifications on bills, on committees, or when the state house or Senate are going into session. On all of those platforms, you can also watch the live stream.
You can also go to Columbia. All of these meetings are open to the public. The statehouse itself is gorgeous. You can go to the public gallery and watch the floor debates happen.
That's when all 124 House members are in their chamber, or all 46 senators are in their chamber. You can sit and watch for pretty much as long as you want. You can bring your computer, and they've got Wi-Fi, so you can also track the actual text as it's going on.
The same thing is true for subcommittee meetings and committee meetings. You can walk over to the two buildings behind the state house where the House has offices, the Blatt Building, and the Senate has offices, the Gressette Building.
That's where the legislators' offices are and also where all the committees meet. You can walk in, go through security, and go see your legislator's office. The committee rooms are on each floor.
You can sit and watch the committee meeting and go to another committee meeting. It's very approachable. You don't have to speak or sign up to go into the room. You can just show up any day you'd like and listen.
Conclusion
Katy Smith: That's great. Well, GP, thanks so much for joining us and for all that you do to help folks all over the state engage with our elected officials.
GP McLeer: Thank you, Katy.
Credits
Simple Civics: Greenville County is Produced by Podcast Studio X.
A Greater Good Greenville project.
