South Carolina H 5504: Fred W. Hoover

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5504 Text of Previous Version (Apr. 30, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5504

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

Amended

April 29, 2026

H. 5504

Introduced 
by Reps. Crawford, G. M. Smith, Teeple, C. Mitchell and Bernstein 

S. Printed 4/29/26--H. [SEC 
4/30/2026 10:54 AM]

Read the first time April 2, 2026

________

statement of estimated fiscal impact

Explanation of Fiscal Impact

State Expenditure

This bill establishes the "Foreign 
Influence Operations Out of American Education Act," to prohibit state 
institutions of higher learning and affiliated groups or associations from 
certain actions related to a foreign adversary nation, a foreign principal of 
that nation, or a foreign terrorist organization as defined by the bill. 
Institutions and their personnel or affiliate organizations may not solicit or 
accept a gift from, engage in professional travel to, or enter into cultural 
exchange agreements with these foreign adversary groups. Under the bill, a gift 
is defined as a transfer of money or property of any kind, including a gift, 
grant, contract, research sponsorship, endowment, award, program agreement, 
formal partnership, or donation, whether direct or indirect, and whether 
conditional or unconditional. The bill defines foreign adversary nation as the 
government of one or more countries, one or more nations, one or more 
provinces, or a political subdivision or agency, instrumentality, or other 
person acting on its behalf, including a foreign government designated as a 
foreign adversary by the United States Department of Commerce pursuant to 15 
C.F.R. section 791.4. Student or scholar organizations may not coordinate 
activities with these groups, and any such coordination must result in a 
termination of the affiliation by the institution. No foreign adversary nation 
or agent may be permitted to hire staff, define curriculum or educational 
content, establish school policies, or restrict the free expression of students 
or faculty under the bill. 

Institutions must also report to the STO 
any gift or contract from any foreign country or foreign principal that is 
valued at $10,000 or more or aggregating $50,000 or more within a twelve-month 
period as well as specified information regarding the donation or contract 
funding source, country of origin, and any purposes or stipulations for the use 
of the funds. The bill requires the report to be submitted to the STO within 
one month of receiving the gift or executing the contract and must be submitted 
in a digital format that is searchable and sortable. The STO must maintain a 
public online database containing the information required under this section. 
The bill then requires the STO to provide a summary report containing 
information received by the institutions of higher learning to the Speaker of 
the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, the OIG, and the 
SCAG by October 1 of each year. The bill provides that the OIG may investigate 
and address or enforce an alleged violation of the section and must develop a 
process and platform for filing complaints regarding potential violations, and 
the SCAG may enforce the section and bring an action for injunctive or 
declaratory relief in a court of competent jurisdiction. The bill requires the 
STO to annually inspect or audit a random sample of at least 10 percent of 
institutions of higher learning, including any institution that did not submit 
a report under this section, to determine compliance with the requirements of 
this section.

The bill further establishes the Committee 
to Review Foreign Contributions, membership of which consists of nine 
appointees, three appointed by the House of Representatives, three members 
appointed by the Senate, and three members appointed by the Governor. The bill 
requires members to serve conterminously with the appointing official, with 
vacancies filled in the manner of appointment. The bill states that members may 
be reimbursed for per diem and travel expenses as provided for state 
commissions and boards. Under the bill, the committee must establish criteria 
to be used for the designations outlined in the section prior to July 1, 2027, 
and must report to the General Assembly the names of foreign nations or 
principals that are funding any institution of higher learning by July 31, 
2027, and annually by July 31 each year thereafter. The committee must also 
designate any additions to the list of entities that should be prohibited from 
funding institutions of higher learning by these dates. The bill provides that 
an institution of higher learning may apply to the committee for a waiver to 
accept a gift from a country or foreign principal of a foreign nation which 
must explain the terms of the proposed donation