- A South Carolina state senator proposed a bill that would ask relocators to pay $500 to move there.
- New residents would pay $250 to register their vehicle and $250 for a new driver's license.
A state senator in South Carolina has proposed a tax that would require new residents to pay $500 when they move to the state.
Under the terms of the bill, individual counties would hold referenda on whether to introduce one-time fees for people who relocate to South Carolina: $250 to register their vehicle there and $250 to get a new driver's license.
Most states, including South Carolina, require newcomers from different states to get a new license upon arrival. It costs $25 to get a driver's license in South Carolina, which typically lasts for eight years.
The money collected would need to be spent on county infrastructure, public education, and green space conservation or preservation programs. South Carolina's Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office said the local revenue impact of the bill was "undetermined."
Around the Statehouse, the license fee bill has been nicknamed the "Yankee tax" by lawmakers, per the Post and Courier.
State Senator Stephen Goldfinch first proposed the bill in November and it was introduced to the state Senate in January. The South Carolina Senate's finance committee on Tuesday voted 11-6 in favor of the bill. Two other state senators were added as co-sponsors of the bill on Wednesday.
"We in South Carolina do not require a capital contribution of anybody that moves here from out of state, although they take advantage of our roads, our bridges, our schools, and our green spaces immediately on day one ... I just find that to be totally unfair on to our constituents who already live here," Goldfinch told the finance committee on Tuesday.
The bill doesn't aim to deter migration to South Carolina, Goldfinch told the committee.
"For somebody to say that $250 is going to impact their decision on moving to South Carolina is a little bit ludicrous," Goldfinch told the committee. "The purpose is not necessarily to stop people ... the purpose is for the people showing up to pay their fair share."
Since 2010, South Carolina's population has grown by around 600,000 to 5.2 million, according to US Census data.
Each year between 2015 and 2020, the state had a net migration of more than 50,000 people, Census data shows. The pandemic has driven a surge in migration from cities like San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago, with sunny, low-tax southern states – primarily Texas and Florida – pulling in remote workers.
California lawmakers in 2020 proposed a one-time exit tax that high-income individuals would have to pay for up to 10 years after they left the state. The bill died.