For years, city and town officials throughout South Carolina participated in the Municipal Association’s Regional Advocacy Meetings each fall to help the Association determine its legislative priorities for the coming session. This year, the effort is taking a new format: Advocacy Initiatives Building Day, coming on September 25 at the Cooperative Conference Center in Columbia.
Municipal officials and staff can choose from a morning or afternoon session with lunch in between to gather and share ideas for the upcoming 2025-2026 legislative session. The morning session will be from 10 a.m. to noon, and the afternoon session will be from 1 to 3 p.m.
The Association’s legislative team will begin each session with a brief overview of what bills passed during the 2024 legislative session. They will also discuss the changes coming to the General Assembly from the election primaries in June and potential further changes with the November elections.
Next, they will ask municipal officials and staff to give their input on Advocacy Initiatives and priorities for the new two-year session beginning in 2025. Participants will have time to share their thoughts in small groups and then participate in a discussion with a larger group. South Carolina cities and towns of all sizes and are invited to send their mayors, councilmembers and city staff to share concerns, thoughts and ideas on potential legislation that would help municipalities, or the possible legislation that would harm them.
The deadline to register for Advocacy Initiatives Building Day is Wednesday, September 18.
For questions or more information, contact Director of Advocacy Casey Fields at cfields@masc.sc or 803.933.1203. During the legislative session, be sure to subscribe to the Association’s From the Dome to Your Home reports and listen to the legislative podcasts for the latest details on legislative action.