South Carolina H 3194: Jobs-Economic Development Authority

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3194 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3194

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTIONS 41-43-40, 41-43-70, AND 41-43-280, ALL RELATING TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA 
JOBS-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, SO AS TO REVISE OBSOLETE LANGUAGE AND REFERENCES; 
BY AMENDING SECTION 2-7-65, RELATING TO REQUIREMENTS THAT STATE AGENCIES 
JUSTIFY THEIR ANNUAL BUDGET APPPORIATIONS REQUESTS, SO AS TO REVISE OBSOLETE 
LANGUAGE; AND BY REPEALING SECTION 41-43-170 RELATING TO THE CREATING AND 
PURPOSES OF THE GUARANTY FUND BY THE AUTHORITY, SECTION 41-43-180 RELATING TO 
DETERMINATION OF ECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED AREAS, AND SECTION 41-43-200 RELATING 
TO COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION AND DATA.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 41-43-40 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
41-43-40. (A) The Governor shall appoint, upon the advice and 
consent of the Senate, one director from each congressional district and one 
from the State at large, who serves as chairman. Directors must have 
experience in the fields of business, commerce, finance, banking, real estate, 
or foreign trade. At least two directors must have direct commercial lending 
experience. The Governor and the Chairman of the State 
Development BoardSecretary of Commerce shall 
serve ex officio and may designate persons to represent them at meetings of the 
authority.

 (B) Directors serve for 
terms of three years; however, directors initially appointed from the first and 
sixth congressional districts and the State at large serve for three years; 
directors initially appointed from the second and fifth congressional districts 
serve for two years; and directors initially appointed from the third and 
fourth congressional districts serve for one year. Thereafter, all directors 
serve for a term of three years and until their successors are appointed and 
qualify. All vacancies must be filled for the unexpired term in the manner of 
the original appointment. Directors are not personally liable for losses unless 
the losses are occasioned by the wilful misconduct of the directors. Directors 
may be removed by the Governor for cause or at will. A certificate of the 
appointment or reappointment of any director must be filed in the offices of 
the Secretary of State and the authority. The certificate is conclusive 
evidence of the due and proper appointment of a director.

SECTION 2. Section 41-43-70 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
41-43-70. The authority shall promote and develop the business and economic 
welfare of this State, encourage and assist through loans, investments, research, technical and managerial advice, studies, data compilation and dissemination, and similar 
means, in the location of new business enterprises in this State and in 
rehabilitation and assistance of existing business enterprises and in the promotion of the export of goods, services, 
commodities, and capital equipment produced within the State, so as to 
provide maximum opportunities for creation and retention of jobs and 
improvement of the standard of living of the citizens of the State, and act in 
conjunction with other persons and organizations, public or private, in the 
promotion and advancement of industrial, commercial, agricultural, and 
recreational development in this State. In the promotion, development, and 
advancement of these programs, the authority must give consideration to the 
development of and assistance to small businesses in this State as may be 
defined by regulation of the authority.

SECTION 3. Section 41-43-280 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
41-43-280. (A) Neither this chapter nor anything contained in this 
chapter is construed as a restriction or limitation upon any powers which the 
authority might otherwise have under any laws of this State, but is construed 
as cumulative.

 (B) Notwithstanding any 
provision of law or regulation to the contrary, the authority shall continue to 
be an "agency" for purposes of Chapter 78, Title 15, but the authority is not 
considered an "agency" or "state agency" or any other form of state institution 
for purposes of SectionsSection 
2-7-65 and 2-57-60.

SECTION 4. Section 2-7-65 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

 Section 
2-7-65. (A) The Governor shall, prior to making annual 
recommendations to the General Assembly of the amounts to be appropriated to 
the various state agencies, departments and institutions, as required by Section 
2-7-60 of the SC Code, require them to justify the entire amount of money they 
are requesting. It is the intent of this section that each state agency, 
department or institution shall be