Subcommittee advances bill to make Department of Consumer Affairs a cabinet agency after contested testimony

A House subcommittee on Thursday advanced Senate Bill 3-25, which would move the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs into the governor’s cabinet, after hours of public testimony and questioning of agency leadership. Chair Chris Wooten, Lexington County District 69, called for a vote after hearing several speakers for and against the measure and announced the bill received a favorable report to full committee.

Opponents — including Jay Friedman, vice president of the South Carolina Pawnbrokers Association; Lynn Teague of the League of Women Voters; Sue Berkowitz of the South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center; Pete Balthazar (appearing as a concerned citizen); Frank Knapp, president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce; and the department’s administrator — warned that placing the agency under gubernatorial control risks politicizing enforcement and weakening an independent consumer watchdog. "Placing the department under the control of a political administration threatens this balance," Jay Friedman said, adding that the commission structure has allowed the department to be "an effective nonpartisan regulator." Lynn Teague told members the commission structure provides insulation from political pressures and asked lawmakers not to forward the bill with a positive recommendation.

Carrie Ruby Laubacher, the department’s administrator and consumer advocate, described the agency’s work (enforcing roughly 120 statutes, intervening in utility rate cases and providing mediation and education) and defended its record. Laubacher noted that the office’s interventions in utility rate cases have saved residents "over $46,000,000," and she pointed to a recent legislative oversight review (February 2023–August 2024) that did not recommend a change in governing structure. She also acknowledged a circuit court order awarding attorney’s fees that is currently on appeal and said there is confusion about the scope of the department’s authority in light of conflicting administrative decisions and litigation.

Supporters of the bill included Sims Floyd, executive vice president of the South Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, who urged members to weigh a 36-page court decision that found the department’s position — that it could access dealers’ books, accounts and records broadly — to be "patently absurd and contrary to law," describing the court’s characterization of the agency’s approach as an "intrusive investigation amounting to a warrantless search." Floyd said that ruling shows the current governance is not working for his industry and that moving the department into the cabinet is warranted.

Committee members pressed both sides on accountability and whether making the agency a cabinet office would necessarily undercut consumer protections. Representative Roger Kirby asked for evidence that cabinet agencies are less effective; opponents said change would create uncertainty and could let enforcement priorities "wax and wane" with different administrations, while supporters pointed to recent Senate support for the measure and to oversight tools already available to the legislature. After debate and questioning, the committee took a voice/hand-raise vote and Chair Wooten announced the favorable report moving S.3-25 to full committee.

The measure will be considered at the next full committee meeting; no roll-call vote was recorded in the subcommittee.