Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, answers reporters' questions about legislative pay and other 2026 proposals during a session preview in Senate chambers on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
COLUMBIA — After an attempt at a raise backfired last year, senators approved a bill that would give legislators back their longstanding $1,000 monthly expense allowances.
The Senate Finance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to send the proposal to the floor. It was quickly approved by the full Senate on Wednesday.
The bill includes backpay starting in July 2025, the first month legislators didn’t get their money, and would give them a lump sum of whatever amount legislators would have received by the time the governor signs it.
The state Supreme Court declared unconstitutional that portion of legislators’ paychecks, meant to cover expenses that come up outside the legislative session, as part of a decision striking down a budget clause that would have increased the amount from $1,000 to $2,500 monthly. Since legislators simply changed the amount in the budget, the 30-year-old monthly payments got caught in the crossfire, effectively cutting legislators’ pay by $12,000 per year.
The allowance stopped before the court’s November decision. In June, just before the financial year began, the court put the payments on pause pending a final decision, meaning legislators haven’t received their monthly pay for nearly six months.
Legislators continue to receive their annual salaries of $10,400 annually, and after the legislative session started again last week, they began receiving their $240 allowance intended to cover their costs for dining and staying in Columbia each day of session. They also get mileage for one round-trip weekly.
A raise is still possible, but the first step is restoring the pay legislators have come to expect since 1995, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey told reporters ahead of the legislative session’s start.
Although many legislators have jobs that allow them to cover costs out of their own pockets, others, including retirees on fixed incomes, need to know how much they can expect to receive each year, the Edgefield Republican said. They may struggle to afford the extra expenses without the help, he added.
“Those folks, those who cannot have other employment, those people who are retired, they make plans based on what you’ve told them the income is going to be,” Massey said. “And when you tell them that they’re going to get $1,000 a month, they plan for that.”
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One ex-legislator, who’s been in jail since last summer, is excluded from the back pay: former Rep. RJ May.
Senators put in an exception for any legislator who’s convicted of or who pleaded guilty to a felony during the pay pause. That only applies to the West Columbia Republican. The founding member of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus pleaded guilty in September to sending videos of children being sexually abused. He was sentenced earlier this month to 17 years and six months in federal prison.
May resigned from the House in August, one month after the pause began. His resignation coincided with those of Sen. Roger Nutt, a Spartanburg Republican who resigned following an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and Rep. Bobby Cox, a Greer Republican who initially planned to run for Nutt’s seat before later changing his mind and withdrawing. Rep. Chris Murphy, a Dorchester County Republican, turned in his resignation a week later, which took effect Jan. 5.
Those three would receive backpay until their effective resignation date. The legislators elected to replace them would get backpay starting after their swearing-in ceremonies.
No legislators have yet proposed a standalone bill that would put the pay raise back on the table. The idea is worth discussing, Massey said, but a pay increase would likely face an uphill battle this year, as members of the House campaign to keep their seats.
Yet, if legislators want a raise, this could be their only chance to get one for another three years.
The state Supreme Court decided pay raises can only take effect after an election, when a new General Assembly is chosen. If legislators miss the January 2027 window, they will have to wait until January 2029, following the 2028 elections, to get an increase.
Some opponents of the pay raise, including Massey, wouldn’t be against increasing the amount legislators receive. The bigger problem for Massey was the late-night addition of the raise to the state budget, which received little debate and no input from the public.
Senators made a point to reinstate their pay through a stand-alone bill voted on in a public hearing, not through the budget process as it was in the past.
“Whatever we do, my hope is that it’s going to be much more transparent and open than the process that we had before,” Massey said.
Editor’s note: This article was updated Wednesday, Jan. 21, with the full Senate approving the bill.
