While most families are tightening their budgets and struggling to pay their bills, South Carolina lawmakers decided to raise taxes—and their own paychecks.
Hazlitt Coalition member and state Rep. April Cromer, who recently won her reelection primary, said voters made it clear how they felt about the pay raises on the campaign trail.
“They were very offended by the pay raise because they're feeling the pain,” she said. “They're paying more and getting less. It's just unconscionable during these times to give yourself a raise.”
The state Senate decided to raise their monthly in-district expense pay from $1,000 a month to $2,500 a month. However, this was struck down in the courts because of a prohibition in the state constitution barring lawmakers from raising their own salaries.
Lawmakers then came back and voted to increase salaries from $10,400 to $15,000, with an additional increase of the in-district expenses. The increases will take effect after this election cycle and apply to the next legislature, bypassing the court’s constitutional objection.
On top of that, the bill includes cost of living adjustments. This means an independent commission will annually evaluate legislators' salaries and increase them with the cost of living, so legislators never have to vote on their own pay raise again.
“I think the legislators backing this measure sent a very clear message that they don't care what their constituents think,” said Dan Stuart, south region field manager for Liberty Action. “This is the same legislature that failed to pass redistricting this year, failed to close the primaries, failed to pass conformity with the tax cuts that were in the Big Beautiful Bill to give their citizens tax relief, and failed to pass any sort of meaningful property tax relief.
I think the legislators backing this measure sent a very clear message that they don't care what their constituents think. - Dan Stuart, Liberty Action
“A salary increase to most people means that you're doing a good job,” Stuart added. “And I think if you were to ask most constituents, ‘Is the legislature doing a good job?’ they would say resoundingly, ‘No.’”
Cromer called the pay raises “offensive.”
“We didn't cut anything from the budget,” she said. “We grew the budget. We didn't have any property tax relief for the taxpayers. There's just so much that we could have done for the people. And as a business owner, if your employees aren't meeting the standard, you don't give them a raise. This is just a slap in the face to the taxpayers.”
This is just a slap in the face to the taxpayers. - Dan Stuart, Liberty Action
Stuart called out the legislature for not only voting to raise their own salaries, but voting to increase the burden on South Carolina citizens as well.
“The same year that legislators are voting to give themselves this gigantic pay raise to where they're never going to have to vote on their own salaries again and be held accountable to the voters, they're also raising income taxes on a quarter of the state,” he said. “So we jumped into action.”
Liberty Action began organizing a grassroots campaign to pressure legislators into voting against the income tax bill and the pay raise bill. Liberty Action facilitated ads, texts, door knocking, and phone calls. The campaign inspired citizens to talk to their legislators, even if they weren’t the ones Liberty Action was targeting.
“There was one legislator on the Ways and Means Committee for the income tax bill, we didn't even have calls running to his office, and he had a constituent drive to his office in Columbia and ask him if he was a Democrat because he wanted to raise taxes,” Stuart said. “That's organic pressure right there. We weren't even targeting the guy and he has a constituent show up to his office to wring him out.”
Cromer credited Liberty Action and its partners with increasing voters’ awareness of the pay increase.
“I'm so encouraged and thankful for all of the Hazlitt members, Make Liberty Win PAC, and Liberty Action,” Cromer said. “It's made an impact on our state because bringing attention to the issues that's happening here in our state, you get the grassroots involved and make them aware and they call and we're able to stop a lot of bad things. They still pushed it through, but I think it gave some people heartburn and a hard time on the campaign trail.”
Cromer believes many South Carolina politicians are becoming increasingly disconnected from the people they represent and from the promises they make on the campaign trail.
“As soon as you go through those chamber doors, people's personalities and their voting platform changes,” she said. “It becomes more of voting for the system instead of the people.”
Cromer encouraged lawmakers to be honest with their constituents on what they intend to do if elected.
“I would encourage them to remember going out and meeting the people face-to-face and the promises that you made and the person that you were on the campaign trail, just be the same person in Columbia.”
I would encourage them to remember going out and meeting the people face-to-face and the promises that you made and the person that you were on the campaign trail, just be the same person in Columbia. - Dan Stuart, Liberty Action
Situations like this show how important it is for citizens to pay attention to what their lawmakers are voting for and apply pressure to hold them accountable.
“Just pay attention, stay involved beyond Election Day because we have a unique opportunity in South Carolina with a Republican supermajority,” Cromer said.
Whether the compensation increases ultimately take effect or not, the fight demonstrated something important: grassroots activists can force lawmakers to answer difficult questions about whose interests they're really serving.
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