Tag: 2026

Chemical Spills Bring Crisis to the Community’s Doorstep One must question whether the Attorney General’s immediate inquiry and the release of the date for Silfab’s BZA appeal take on added urgency in light of the events that unfolded at the Silfab facility in the first week of March 2026. On March 3, 2026, a spill of potassium hydroxide prompted a HAZMAT response and drew immediate scrutiny from state regulators. Two days later, a second spill, this time involving hydrofluoric acid, a highly corrosive substance, caused Flint Hill Elementary School, located less than 1,000 feet from the plant, to close and bus students to another facility. The South Carolina Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) responded by ordering Silfab to immediately cease all operations pending a joint investigation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Operations partially resumed on March 9 after SCDES and EPA completed their on-site assessment, though Silfab was required to enter a Compliance Agreement and may not restart chemical manufacturing processes until...

South Carolina Governor Faces Legal Challenge Over National Guard Deployment to Washington, D.C. The South Carolina Public Interest Foundation and a Navy veteran have filed a lawsuit in South Carolina’s Supreme Court challenging Governor Henry McMaster’s deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., arguing the move exceeds his legal authority under state law. The complaint, filed on January 7, 2026, seeks to block McMaster’s second deployment of South Carolina guardsmen to the nation’s capital which saw 300 troops sent to D.C. in late November 2025. The plaintiffs argue that state law strictly limits when and where the governor can deploy the National Guard, and that the current deployment violates those restrictions. The Deployment in Question Governor McMaster first authorized the deployment of 200 South Carolina National Guardsmen to Washington D.C., in August 2025, responding to President Trump’s executive order declaring a “crime emergency” in D.C. That initial deployment lasted over a month before ending in late September. On November 26, 2025, McMaster announced via...

On January 6th, the SC Public Interest Foundation wrote a an article outlining events that highlighted problems with the state’s finance and accounting practices from 2012 to the present. These included accusations of lost funds, leading to the resignation of the state’s Comptroller General and a Senate trial of the state’s Treasurer. As reported in the article, the investigation was plagued by accusations and allegations, which undermined citizens' trust in their state government’s financial transparency. The article concluded, “The silver lining is the General Assembly engaged The AlixPartners, an internationally recognized financial accounting firm, to review all aspects of the state’s financial reporting procedures and to provide a report with recommendations. Their report, released on January 15, 2025, identified twenty-five recommendations: twenty of which are specific to the Comptroller General’s Office, one recommendation specific to the State Treasurer’s Office, and three combined to the State Auditor, Treasurer, and Comptroller General. The General Assembly then directed the Governor and the agencies to...

The South Carolina Public Interest Foundation have alleged constitutional violations by the Greenville County Council, with regard to its recently-adopted biennial budget and tax increase. This suit is ongoing and on February 20, 2026, Fox News Carolinas covered the story and important recent updates. Watch their coverage of SCPIF's lawsuit against Greenville County Council in the video below https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UegJTs51jm0 FOX Carolina News. (2026, February 20). Greenville Co lawsuit challenges budget process, taxpayer funds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UegJTs51jm0...

The Reality of Non-Compliance Since 1979, South Carolina law has required state agencies to practice zero-based budgeting (ZBB), justifying every dollar they spend from scratch each year. Section 2-7-65 of the South Carolina Code explicitly states that “each state agency, department, or institution shall be required to justify its recurring expenses, as well as any new or additional expenses.”(S.C. Code Section 2-7-65) This wasn’t merely a suggestion; it was a law designed to prevent unchecked spending growth and protect taxpayer dollars. Since 2011, elected officials have largely abandoned this statutory requirement, reverting to “incremental budgeting” under Governor Nikki Hailey, which only scrutinizes new spending. The consequences have been dramatic. South Carolina’s total state spending has surged from approximately $2 billion in FY 1979-80 to $5.1 Billion in General Fund spending in 2011, to $12.4 billion by FY 2025, thus representing a compounded annual growth rate far exceeding 5% when adjusted for inflation and population. (Data compiled from South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal...

Court Dismisses Citizen Lawsuit, Questions Remain About Proper Permitting Process On January 21, 2026, Judge G.D. Morgan Jr. issued an order dismissing a lawsuit brought by Dennis Floyd Bivins against York County and several of its officials regarding the Silfab Solar manufacturing facility in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The 22-page order, which was likely more than necessary for an order of this sort, dismissed the complaint with prejudice, finding that Bivins lacked standing to challenge the project and failed to state valid claims. However, a closer examination of the court’s reasoning alongside York County’s own zoning procedures reveals significant concerns about whether proper processes were followed.[1] The Court’s Decision Judge Morgan’s order addressed a lawsuit challenging York County’s approval of Silfab Solar’s manufacturing operations at 7149 Logistics Lane. Bivins, a neighboring property owner, sought declaratory relief, injunctions, and writs of mandamus and prohibition to halt the project, arguing that the county had issued permits without proper zoning compliance approval. The court dismissed the case...

The exterior of the South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina. Executive Summary After years of accusations, investigations and resignations regarding the accuracy of SC's financial accountability reporting, a professional analysis was commissioned outlining specific actions by various state agencies to eliminate similar problems in the future. The date to complete these process improvements is March 7, 2026 The Investigation: What Happened with the 2022 Financial Report? In South Carolina, state law requires an Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR). This detailed financial document covers all state government entities and is prepared by the Comptroller General’s Office (CGO) according to the standards of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB). In fiscal year 2022, the State’s ACFR, page 147, documented an accounting error as stated here: “Until being discovered in 2022, this mapping error impacted the ACFRs for fiscal years 2012 through 2021, overstating General Fund cash and fund equity … by a cumulative amount of $3.53 billion, which necessitated the restatements … This mapping error...