COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Senate has approved a bill that would give tax breaks to the Carolina Panthers so the NFL team will build its new practice facility and team headquarters in South Carolina.
The measure was approved on a 27-15 vote Thursday afternoon, after several hours of final debate.
The bills allows tax exemptions and tax breaks to professional sports teams that move to the state. The Panthers want to build a new practice facility and team headquarters about 15 miles south of its current facilities in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Governor Henry McMaster said he was pleased with the Senate's decision to approve the bill.
"Having the Panthers practice facility and all that goes along with that including a hospital and convention center will be an enormous boost for South Carolina. That is a great picture of economic prosperity and progress for the whole state. It shows that SC is wide open for business and the best place to do it," McMaster told WLTX on Thursday.
In recent weeks, Governor McMaster, House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, and Senate President Harvey Peeler, all Republicans, have expressed public support for the bill.
"For us not to accept this would be a huge blow to the state of South Carolina," McMaster said last week.
However, the bill has met fierce opposition in the Senate led by Democrat Dick Harpootlian.
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper said without the bill, the team would keep facilities in North Carolina.
"Quite frankly, it's going to cost us a lot of money to go down to South Carolina," he said. "We're going to have to put out real money down there. So, it's not like we get that money from South Carolina and that's it. It's a lot of money in a facility that we have to invest....Otherwise, I got a bubble, you guys see the bubble going up there? I've got a cafeteria building, I'll stay in Charlotte I can stay home."
The South Carolina House had previously approved the measure. McMaster has essentially said he would sign the bill if it came to him.
The bill will be headed to conference committee before it goes to the Governor to iron out differences between the House and Senate on the bill's amendments.