Committee adopts subcommittee amendment and reports STEM Opportunity Act favorably

The LCI Committee reviewed the STEM Opportunity Act (Item F) and adopted a subcommittee amendment before reporting the bill favorably to the floor.

Rebecca, committee staff, summarized the bill: it would add an article to Chapter 1 of Title 13 to establish the South Carolina STEM Coalition (a successor to the Coalition for Mathematics and Science and STEM Centers SC), create a separate South Carolina STEM Education Fund to accept appropriations, donations, bequests and earnings, and establish an 11‑member advisory council to approve spending and measure impact. The bill names specific appointing authorities for council seats, including the executive director of the Department of Employment and Workforce (or designee) as chair, the state superintendent of education (or designee), appointees from legislative leaders, business‑sector appointees by the governor, and representatives from the technical college system, public higher education, University of South Carolina and Clemson University.

A subcommittee amendment reduced the number of governor appointees from three to two, clarified initial appointment dates (08/01/2026), and added language that the coalition’s duties and obligations are subject to the availability of funds in the STEM Education Fund or other specified Clemson-managed funds. Staff emphasized the amendment was largely technical; the subcommittee amendment was adopted by voice vote and the committee voted to report the bill favorably.

The bill directs the coalition to coordinate STEM education across K‑12 and higher education, promote industry partnerships, maintain a statewide database of STEM assets, support educator professional development and seed school‑based pilot programs, and submit an annual report by July 1 each year to the governor and relevant education bodies. The committee’s action advances the measure to the Senate calendar for further consideration.