South Carolina 126th General Assembly Status: Introduced

H 5444 — A BILL TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 15-73-10, RELATING TO THE LIABILITY OF A SELLER FOR SELLING A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT, SO AS TO DEFINE NECESSARY TERMS; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 15-73-30, RELATING TO THE INTENT OF CHAPTER 73 CONCERNING THE LIABILITY OF A SELLER FOR SELLING A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT, SO AS TO PROVIDE LIMITATIONS ON THE LIABILITY OF A DISTRIBUTOR, WHOLESALER, DEALER, RETAILER, OR SELLER OF A DEFECTIVE PRODUCT.

Last action — Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Ballentine

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the House. Introduced March 26, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Product Liability

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Ballentine

  2. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Burns

  3. Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Wickensimer, Oremus, Neese, Vaughan

  4. Referred to Committee on Judiciary (House Journal-page 22)

  5. Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 22)

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 14 co-sponsors · 155 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (14)

Not signed on (155)

155 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 155 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

public-safety labor
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does H 5444 do?
Product Liability
Who sponsors H 5444?
H 5444 is sponsored by Representative Nathan Ballentine, Representative James Mikell "Mike" Burns, Representative David Vaughan, Representative Mike M. Neese, Representative Melissa Lackey Oremus, Representative Paul B. Wickensimer, Representative Thomas R. "Randy" Ligon, Representative Brandon L. Cox, Representative M. Brian Lawson, Representative Steven Wayne Long, Representative Gary S. Brewer, Jr., Representative Donald G. "Don" Chapman, Representative Sylleste H. Davis, Representative Marvin "Mark" Smith, and Representative Heath Sessions.
What is the current status of H 5444?
This bill has been introduced in the House. Introduced March 26, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track H 5444?
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Last checked for changes 3 months ago · updated continuously

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