Murrell’s moment begins: Sumter Republican elected next SC House speaker
South Carolina Rep. Murrell Smith ascended Thursday to the House’s top and most powerful position.
After a unanimous vote, the South Carolina House elected the Sumter Republican as the next speaker of the House — an influential role that now gives Smith power over setting the agenda for the chamber, decision making over who gets placed on which committee and where bills go, determining whether legislation lives or dies.
The 53-year-old lawmaker, an attorney who has served in the House for more than two decades, will assume the purple robe and gavel full time at 5:01 p.m. May 12, or sine die, the last day of the Legislature’s regular working calendar.
“As your speaker, my commitment to you is that my door is and will always be open to you. Each one of us are elected by the same amount of people in this state, and every member deserves a voice in what we do here,” Speaker-elect Smith told his House colleagues after taking his oath of office. “I believe this body should operate with a spirit of collaboration and collegiality, but, most importantly, (a) mutual respect for all.”
As speaker, Smith will succeed House Speaker Jay Lucas, 64, who is stepping down from the dais May 12. His resignation comes during his fourth term as speaker after the Darlington County Republican decided to leave at the end of 2022 — one of 13 House incumbents who are retiring this year.
Lucas, a Hartsville attorney, first became speaker temporarily in 2014 after former Speaker Bobby Harrell pleaded guilty to spending violations and left office. Lucas was later elected to the job full time, becoming the first speaker to serve in the role from Darlington County.
Smith, Lucas said Thursday from the floor, “has truly distinguished himself in this body.”
“The role of House speaker is a great honor and a great responsibility that carries with it a distinguished history,” Lucas said after nominating his colleague and friend as speaker. “The speaker, therefore, should be elected as the finest from among us.”
“After 24 years in elected office, I’ve learned that power is not willingly shared in Columbia,” Lucas continued. “Murrell, however, understands that this body functions best when each member is personally involved. You need to look no further than his most recent tenure as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.”
Hailing from a rural area, Smith told reporters Thursday that he plans to represent interests of the entire House.
“I think it gives a voice in rural South Carolina and that’s very important, and that’s what I hope to continue to do,” he said. “But I also recognize that I don’t just represent rural South Carolina. I just don’t represent Sumter County anymore, but I represent the entire state of South Carolina and all the legislators who represent the state.”
Before he sets new chamber priorities, Smith said he’ll be focusing on completing any lingering issues from the session that will include coming to an agreement with the Senate over the budget and how to spend federal COVID-19 relief.
“We’ve always had dramatically different budgets in the past and we seem to reconcile those differences,” Smith said. “And look forward to working with (Finance) Chairman (Harvey) Peeler and reconcile those differences.”
‘An honor of my lifetime’
In recent years, Smith quickly rose through leadership ranks.
In 2018, Smith was elected chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee after Lucas ousted Smith’s predecessor, Rep. Brian White, R-Anderson, a month before the 2019 legislative session started. Smith had previously chaired the committee’s health care panel. Her served on the House Judiciary Committee for eight years before joining Ways and Means in 2009.
Smith announced Thursday morning he will step down as the chairman of the House’s budget-writing committee, effective end of day May 12.
House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York, who, like Lucas, is retiring at the end of this year, will fill in as budget chairman as the two chambers hash out differences over the spending plan that starts July 1. The House and Senate are more than $1 billion apart in their spending proposals, with major differences over teacher pay, how to distribute money to school districts, a state employee bonus and a $1 billion one-time tax rebate for filers.
“We really wish you well as you elevate to your new position,” state Rep. Gilda Cobb Hunter, D-Orangeburg, the vice chairwoman of the Ways and Means Committee, told Smith Thursday.
In addition to Ways and Means, Smith said he intends to resign from the Judicial Merit Commission, which vets judicial candidates, the Joint Bond Review Committee and State Fiscal Accountability Authority. Smith had already stepped down from the House Ethics Committee and the Electricity Market Reform Study Committee.
“Through the years, I’ve had the privilege to serve in many roles in the South Carolina House. The most interesting and personally challenging role has been as both a member and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee,” Smith told the budget committee upon his resignation as chairman. “It’s been an honor of my lifetime to serve with each and every one of you. Not only are you my colleagues, but you’ve been my friends and my confidants and I appreciate the honor that you’ve bestowed upon me.”
Senior editor Maayan Schechter contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 11:17 AM.
