South Carolina Casino Push Fails in 2025, But Republicans Getting on Board With Gaming

Posted on: April 26, 2025, 10:21h. 

Last updated on: April 26, 2025, 10:21h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Casinos won’t be authorized in South Carolina in 2025
  • A prominent businessman has pitched a casino in Santee along I-95
  • State Republicans have long opposed gambling, but could be easing that position

The South Carolina Legislature is set to adjourn for its 2025 session in less than two weeks on Thursday, May 8. With a gaming bill still residing with a House subcommittee, the casino legislation’s fate is all but dead.

South Carolina casinos gambling
A rendering of a proposed $1 billion South Carolina casino resort in Santee. Casinos will remain on hold in South Carolina for at least another year, though support for gaming could be growing among the Republican-led General Assembly. (Image: Santee Development Corporation)

House Bill 4176 seeks to allow commercial casinos along Interstate 95 where local county governments passed ordinances in support of slot machines, table games, and sports betting. Casino.org reported last week on the measure being considered by the House Ways and Means Revenue Policy Subcommittee where a lively discussion with the public ensued.

Supporters and opponents of allowing Las Vegas-like casinos to come to the Palmetto State were heard. After hours of testimony, the subcommittee opted to forgo voting on HB4176.

The subcommittee, nor the full Ways and Means Committee, does not have any additional scheduled meetings before May 8. That means the 2025 casino push is presumably a bust.

Not a Total Loss 

Supporters of South Carolina reaping the benefits of legal casinos say the 2025 effort wasn’t for nothing. Democrats said many Republicans in the GOP-controlled General Assembly lifted or eased their hostility to gambling, a development that could prime a gaming bill next year for passage.

This is an opportunity, a transformational opportunity, an economic opportunity, and it’s one that I believe we cannot at this point ignore,” said Rep. Jerry Govan (D-Orangeburg).

Govan represents the county where Republican megadonor Wallace Cheves has lobbied lawmakers to allow him to build a casino resort at the shuttered Santee Outlets, a shopping center he’s owned for years.

“We strongly believe that this investment should be driven by private enterprise, not taxpayer dollars, ensuring no financial risk to the public sector. That’s why we are fully committed to not seeking a single dime of local or state funding,” Cheves said in an email to the South Carolina Daily Gazette.

Interstate Traffic

HB4176 would have only allowed casinos along the I-95 corridor, the interstate highway that runs from the Canadian border in Maine south to Miami. Instead of casinos focusing on locals, Cheves and HB4176 supporters said the I-95 component would allow the resorts to tailor their operations to out-of-towners traveling the busy Atlantic coast throughway.

Our people, schools, and businesses will benefit dramatically as people traveling on I-95 will no longer pass us by but make us a destination place to visit and spend their money,” said Sen. Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg).

Cheves’ rundown, blighted outlet shopping mall, should South Carolina greenlight casinos and give him a license, would be demolished to make way for a $1 billion casino resort. Cheves says the destination, along with slots, tables, and sports betting, would include a hotel, numerous restaurants and bars, an entertainment venue, and a spa.

The businessman says allowing casinos along I-95 in South Carolina would transform the highway long known as the “Corridor of Shame” into a “Corridor of Opportunity.” The “Corridor of Shame” refers to the many small rural, impoverished towns that border I-95. The towns are known for poor student achievement and school neglect.

Cheves says his casino could revitalize the Santee region like the BMW manufacturing plant did upstate and the Boeing factory did for the Lowcountry.