{"id":569,"date":"2025-04-23T13:31:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T13:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=569"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:09:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:09:42","slug":"south-carolina-casino-legislation-fields-fiery-public-input","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/23\/south-carolina-casino-legislation-fields-fiery-public-input\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina Casino Legislation Fields Fiery Public Input"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>South Carolina lawmakers are reviewing legislation to allow commercial casinos<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The public is divided on whether casinos would help or hurt local communities<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The long-closed Santee Outlets site is targeted for a casino<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Legislation to allow commercial casinos in South Carolina was considered by the state House of Representatives Ways and Means Revenue Policy Subcommittee on Tuesday. The review garnered stern public opinions.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_350321\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-350321\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-350321 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"South Carolina casino legislation gambling\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Post_Card_Image_1-2-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>An aerial view of the long-shuttered Santee Outlets in Orangeburg County where a South Carolina businessman wants to build a casino resort. A hearing this week on gaming bills in a South Carolina House of Representatives subcommittee fielded public testimony from both sides of the debate on whether gaming is in the state&#8217;s best interests. (Image: Google)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">House Bill 4176, filed in March by a group of bipartisan lawmakers, seeks to allow commercial casinos in certain counties that contain a section of Interstate 95 and where county governments have passed ordinances in support of slot machines and table games.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"> The legislation is backed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-carolina-casino-floated-by-controversial-developer\/\">Wallace Cheves<\/a>, the powerful businessman with much political clout in Columbia who wants to bring a casino resort destination to the shuttered Santee Outlets shopping plaza in Orangeburg County, a 40-acre redevelopment site along I-95 he acquired for $700K in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The gaming bill before the Ways and Means Subcommittee would create the South Carolina Gaming Commission and task it with considering and issuing casino licenses. Another bill, House Bill 3625, would add sports betting as a permissible form of gambling.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Public Discourse<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The House Subcommittee heard hours of public testimony on why they should and shouldn&#8217;t move the gaming bills forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Supporters argued that casinos along I-95 would provide a much-needed economic spark to the many communities near the north-south interstate corridor. Thousands of new jobs and millions in new tax revenue, the latter of which could help lift downtrodden areas, they said.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We can eradicate a whole lot of poverty by allowing this casino to come to Santee. Give hope, where there&#8217;s a lot of people who&#8217;ve been in despair,&#8221; said Orangeburg resident Hayes Gainey.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Orangeburg Chamber of Commerce President James McQuilla also thinks a casino would be a win for the county.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The schools will benefit; your local economy and restaurants will benefit. Whenever you have jobs that are there for local individuals, then you&#8217;re going to see a decrease in crime,&#8221; McQuilla opined. &#8220;It could be a destination &#8212; not just a drop-off.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Cheves pledged, if allowed, that he would build a casino resort in &#8220;a locally tasteful way.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">There was, of course, much opposition, too.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">[Casinos] are systems that feed on desperation. They promise hope, but they deliver harm. They&#8217;re built to profit from loss and disguise addiction as opportunity,&#8221; declared local Steve Pettit. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Opponents also cited their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-carolina-christian-colleges-oppose-casino-gambling\/\">religious convictions<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;You are the shepherds of this state. We pray you will do everything that is good, just, and right for our state,&#8221; said a local who remained anonymous.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Bill Acknowledges Gaming Doesn&#8217;t Align<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The authors of HB4176 acknowledge that casino gambling, on its face, doesn&#8217;t vibe with South Carolina&#8217;s traditions. However, they contend that allowing slots and table games, as well as possibly sports betting, could better the Palmetto State.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The General Assembly finds that casino gaming is not consistent with nor compatible with the economic, labor, or tourism industry profile for most communities in South Carolina. However, the General Assembly recognizes and further finds that certain counties along Interstate 95 represent rural and impoverished school districts. The General Assembly further finds that casino gaming in these counties is consistent and compatible with their economic, labor, and tourism profiles and that revenue, job creation, and economic improvement from such gaming would substantially enhance the educational opportunities of children living in these areas,&#8221; HB4176 begins.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Gov. Henry McMaster (R) has pledged to veto any gaming legislation that reaches his desk. To override the governor, a two-thirds majority in each chamber of the General Assembly is needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-carolina-casino-legislation-fields-fiery-public-input\/\">South Carolina Casino Legislation Fields Fiery Public Input<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Carolina lawmakers are reviewing legislation to allow commercial casinos The public is divided on whether casinos would help or hurt local communities The long-closed Santee Outlets site is targeted for a casino Legislation to allow commercial casinos in South Carolina was considered by the state House of Representatives Ways and Means Revenue Policy Subcommittee on Tuesday. The review garnered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":572,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569\/revisions\/572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}