South Carolina Republicans Launch TV Ads to Salvage Tort Reform Bill

Georgia lawmakers aren’t the only ones contemplating a major tort-reform bill during the legislative session this year. Next door, South Carolina’s General Assembly is considering Senate Bill 244, which supporters say would end the state’s joint-and-several liability rules that have contributed to soaring insurance premiums and have forced a number of bars and restaurants to close.

But in South Carolina, trial lawyers and others, including – oddly enough – Donald Trump Jr., have pushed back against the changes, waging social media campaigns. The state’s Democratic Party has also joined in, calling the lawsuit-limiting bill a giveaway to big insurance companies.

Now, the South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus has launched its own advertising campaign and is planning to spend more than $250,000 on Fox News television ads to help salvage SB 244, according to the Post and Courier news site.

The bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey and 10 others, is now in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Palmetto State is one of the few remaining Southeast states that allow joint-and-several liability in lawsuits, a legal doctrine that can force minor players in an accident to swallow most of the damages – if their pockets are deep enough.

Besides repealing that rule and allowing apportionment of fault, the bill also would require more training for those who serve alcohol. In addition, it would require more responsibility from and allow new civil actions against the intoxicated individuals involved in an incident, according to a legislative summary of the bill. Captive insurance companies would be allowed to provide liquor liability insurance.

Changes to South Carolina’s liability statutes have been introduced every session in recent years, along with other ideas to reduce liquor liability costs for establishments. Some proprietors and insurance agents had hoped this year would finally see passage of the reforms. But the bill has met with some unexpected opposition.

“This bill seems like a complete disaster,” Donald Trump Jr. tweeted on X, the social media platform. “Hopefully the legislature gets smart and strikes this down!”

It was unclear why the son of the U.S. president doesn’t like the bill. Others on X claimed a senator was pushing the bill to benefit his own insurance clients.

Liquor liability insurance premiums in the state began to spike after lawmakers in 2017 required eating and drinking establishments to carry at least $1 million in liability insurance. In the last two years, several long-running and somewhat famous venues have shut down.

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South Carolina
Politics