COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Henry McMaster today issued Executive Order 2025-40 directing state government agencies to no longer execute spending, procurement, or contract awards based on unconstitutional and discriminatory race-based quotas or set-asides required by existing state law.

The Governor also announced that Senate President Thomas Alexander and House Speaker Murrell Smith are collaborating with him to prefile bills this month prioritizing a repeal of the unconstitutional provisions when the General Assembly returns next month. 

"Nowhere should any person be treated differently because of their race," said Governor Henry McMaster. "State government spending and procurements should be awarded based on merit and value to the taxpayer, not on set-asides or quotas. This order ensures that until South Carolina's procurement process complies with the United States Constitution and treats every individual equally under the law, contracts will not be executed."

“We are a nation and a state dedicated to the principle that ‘all men are created equal, endowed by their Creator,’ as reflected in the Constitution’s requirement of equal protection of the laws,” said Senate President Thomas Alexander. “When existing laws no longer align with that constitutional command, it is our duty to correct them. I am confident my colleagues in the Senate share my belief that state government must reflect equality under the law in all its endeavors and ensure our statutes fully comply with the Constitution.”

“I am proud the members of the House began addressing these issues during last year’s legislative session,” said Speaker of the House Murrell Smith. “Discrimination is wrong, and its misguided use as a remedy is worse. The House will address this when we return in January.”

Under current state law (S.C. Code Ann. § 12-28-2930), the South Carolina Department of Transportation is required to award a minimum of 5% of certain contracts for highway and infrastructure funds to minority businesses every year.

A different state law (S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-5240) requires each state agency to develop and submit a utilization plan demonstrating that 10% of the agency's total controllable annual budget is spent through minority-owned businesses.

Recently, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that race-based programs “must comply with strict scrutiny, they may never use race as a stereotype of negative, and – at some point – they must end.” Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard Coll., 600 U.S. 181, 213 (2023). These two statutes do not comply with any of the Supreme Court’s instructions.

Earlier this year, President Trump issued a sweeping executive order stating that these quotas and set-asides “undermine our national unity, as they deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence and individual achievement in favor of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system,” Executive Order 14173, Sec. 2, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit - Based Opportunity (Jan. 25, 2025).

The executive order is prospective only. No state agency shall breach any existing contract under the order.