COLUMBIA — Investigations into legislative misconduct combined with election losses and other departures have brought dozens of new faces into the Statehouse in the last few years.

About one-third of the House’s 124 members will start the session in January with less than three years of experience.

Almost half of the 46 senators have been elected to that chamber within the last five years.

Some legislators say the turn toward new blood could result in more of the people’s business getting done.

“Most people who come in 'new' aren’t interested in playing games. They get difficult only if you’re not doing anything,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, first elected in 2007. “It makes it easier for me to move legislation because that’s why they came.”

In a chamber where seniority is paramount, Republican senators unanimously chose the 42-year-old Edgefield Republican to lead their caucus last year after Sen. Harvey Peeler, first elected in 1980, stepped down from that role. Several senators younger than Massey were elected last year in a chamber that prides itself as being deliberative.

Sen. Katrina Shealy, who was among 10 senators newly elected in 2012, said newer legislators want to see progress.

“More seasoned legislators are used to things not moving quickly,” Shealy, R–Lexington, said. “I do see that as a positive step forward.”  

An ongoing investigation into Statehouse corruption so far has, forced two House GOP leaders to resign since 2014. Two other legislators remain suspended after being indicted this year on misconduct allegations. More left for other reasons. 

Of the 10 seats vacated this year, one was due to the corruption probe. One lawmaker pleaded guilty to beating his wife. Other resignations were non-criminal. Three left for other political offices. One legislator died.

In the prior four years, five other legislators were forced to resign for reasons ranging from ethics violations to alleged harassment of House staff.

“All this turnover does erase institutional knowledge, which is invaluable,” said former Rep. Boyd Brown, a Democrat from Fairfield County considered a young firebrand during his four years in the House. But “if new blood is what it takes to get rid of bad blood, that’s not the worst thing.”

Senate Minority Leader Nikki Setzler, D-West Columbia, said he views the turnover as natural — neither good nor bad.

He has noticed, however, that the Senate hasn’t become as bogged down by extended filibusters. Changes in Senate rules have made it easier to sit a filibustering senator down.

Setzler, first elected in 1976, recalled when budget debates got sidelined by separate votes on hundreds of similar amendments.  

Changes are “also a sign of people working together,” he said.

House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R–Rock Hill, said freshman legislators are no longer expected to be “quiet and on the sidelines.”

The era when a freshman “was to be seen and not heard is passe,” said Simrill, first elected in 1992.

“I don’t see intimidation and arm-twisting. I see consensus-building," he said. "It’s a different format for legislation. There’s more opportunity for freshmen today, and those new to the process to be more involved than ever before.”

Assistant Columbia bureau chief

Adcox returned to The Post and Courier in October 2017 after 12 years covering the Statehouse for The Associated Press. She previously covered education for The P&C. She has also worked for The AP in Albany, N.Y., and for The Herald in Rock Hill.

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