NEARLY A DECADE IN THE MAKING REP. NANCY MACE CALLS FOR LEGISLATURE TO FINALLY PASS BILL TO SUNSET REGULATIONS

House and Senate bills would sunset bureaucratic regulations, slash red tape, and restore legislative accountability

Gubernatorial candidate Nancy Mace today called on the South Carolina legislature to take action on the Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act (H. 3021/S. 254), landmark legislation that has languished in the state legislature for nearly a decade while South Carolina’s small businesses suffocate under 83,000 regulatory restrictions spread across five million words of legal text, according to Speaker of the House Murrell Smith.

The concept first passed the House in 2018 as the “Regulatory Freedom Act” (H. 3002), clearing the chamber 107-0 before dying in Senate Judiciary. Eight years later, the same pattern threatens to repeat: the enhanced 2025 version passed the House 111-0 on March 6, was referred to Senate Judiciary, and has moved precisely nowhere since.

“Here’s a radical thought: when every single House member, Democrat and Republican, votes for a bill, perhaps the Senate might consider putting it on the calendar,” said Rep. Mace. “South Carolina’s business leaders have been waiting eight years for Columbia to get out of their way”

The Small Business Regulatory Freedom Act, sponsored in the House by Rep. Jeff Bradley and in the Senate by Sen. Tom Davis, represents the most comprehensive regulatory reform in state history. The legislation would:

• Automatically sunset all regulations after seven years, forcing agencies to justify every rule’s continued existence with real-world data—not projections and promises
• Require agencies to eliminate two regulations for every new one proposed—the regulatory equivalent of cleaning out your closet before buying new clothes
• Mandate a 25% reduction in regulatory requirements, because apparently telling bureaucrats to “do less” requires legislation
• End judicial deference to agency interpretations, requiring courts to interpret regulations independently rather than rubber-stamping whatever agencies claim their own rules mean
• Require joint legislative approval for any regulation costing more than $1 million—because unelected bureaucrats shouldn’t be writing million-dollar checks on the backs of small businesses

Research has found that federal regulations alone have contributed to 77,414 additional South Carolinians living in poverty, a 2.3% increase in income inequality, 129 lost businesses annually, 1,689 fewer jobs each year, and 7.35% higher prices across the state. State regulations compound these burdens.

The legislation currently sits in the Senate Judiciary Committee. No hearing has been scheduled.

“Anyone running for Governor must prioritize regulatory reform in the first-100-days,” said Rep. Mace. “South Carolina’s small businesses are waiting to see action on a bill that’s been ready for nearly a decade. The votes are there. What is apparently lacking is urgency. Let’s help them find it.”

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