COLUMBIA — Gov. Henry McMaster has appointed his budget director as South Carolina’s new comptroller general, ensuring state employees are paid on time with a pick that makes history.
Brian Gaines, a 16-year veteran of state budgeting and compliance roles, becomes South Carolina’s first Black constitutional officer since Reconstruction — a distinction he said he hasn’t fully digested.
“I’ve not had much time for reflection on that point,” Gaines told reporters May 12 after being sworn into office at the Statehouse. “In any regard, I think the fact I’m standing here today is a momentous occasion and a great thing not only for this state but also for myself.”
McMaster’s announcement came in conjunction with him ordering the Legislature back into session to complete their work — an order stemming from behind-the-scenes drama over who should be the state’s next chief accountant. The job has been vacant since April 30, the effective day of former Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom’s resignation.
Statehouse jockeying for his replacement began shortly after Eckstrom turned in his letter five weeks earlier amid mounting pressure over his office’s $3.5 billion accounting error.
It’s the General Assembly’s job to replace the constitutional officer through a legislative election. But many senators didn’t want the House’s chosen candidate, former Columbia GOP Rep. Kirkman Finlay, to win. So senators — who always lose in a House-Senate election battle because of their fewer numbers — refused to agree on a date for a joint assembly.
Amid the stalemate, the clock was ticking on the next state payroll for nearly 60,000 employees. A chief duty of the comptroller general is to sign off on their paychecks. Before leaving, Eckstrom did so for May 1 payments.
Gaines’ appointment, which actually occurred moments after regular session ended at 5 p.m., came just in time to ensure employees get paid on time May 16. According to the state’s posted schedule, next week’s checks had to be finalized May 11.
State law is unclear on whether a signoff by the senior deputy Eckstrom put in charge before leaving would suffice, McMaster said.
“There’s still a question,” he told reporters. “There’s no authority answering this question, and that’s one reason we’re moving quickly.”
McMaster’s choice puts a seasoned state budget analyst in the role following a $3.5 billion oops.
The error was strictly on paper. No money went missing due to Eckstrom’s office mistakenly double-counting some agencies’ revenue. And the Legislature doesn’t use the comptroller general’s annual report for budgeting, so the overstatements did not result in any deficit. But the yearslong accumulated errors infuriated legislators once they found out.
Sen. Larry Grooms, who led the Senate panel investigating the issue, was particularly adamant that the job not go to Finlay. He put Mike Shealy, the Senate’s longtime budget guru, up for consideration as an expert who would help transition the comptroller general’s job into a strictly administrative role and not run for election himself.
McMaster said he considered both Shealy and Finlay, but “this man is the man for this job,” he said about Gaines.
“He’s qualified. He’s respected by everyone. He has enormous experience,” McMaster said about his reasoning. “He’s not a political person, and everyone we discussed this with has great respect and confidence in Mr. Gaines.”
Gaines actually took a slight pay cut in accepting the job, from $154,500 as budget director for the Department of Administration’s executive budget office, to $151,000 as comptroller general. Raising his pay would be up to legislators.
Grooms praised McMaster’s pick as meeting his call for a “highly qualified seasoned professional with great knowledge of government accounting.”
Gaines “is an excellent choice,” said the Berkeley County Republican.
Asked if he would run for the job in 2026, Gaines gave reporters a one-word answer: “No.” He also made clear he will not get involved in the debate over whether to make the job an appointed, rather than elected, position. He will concentrate on the duties of the office, period, for as long as he’s in the role, he said.
When or whether the Legislature will hold a joint assembly to elect someone to the job is unclear.
Considering the maneuvering that happened to let McMaster make an appointment, it seems unlikely to happen anytime soon. The governor had that authority only because legislators let the regular session end without a temporary law limiting when they can return and what they can take up during the off-session.
The upcoming special session is not so much an “order” of McMaster’s as a mutually agreed-to solution.
“This was not a surprise with the House or Senate. They knew they were at loggerheads on a number of important issues and were running out of time,” McMaster said. “I wish they’d finish their work.”
While he thinks they had plenty of time to do so, he added, “This is allowed, and so that’s why I’ve ordered it.”
Primarily, he noted, they must pass a budget for the fiscal year starting July 1.
Other than that, he said it’s critical that legislators send him bills that prevent violent criminals from being let out on bond to reoffend while awaiting trial and increase penalties for illegal gun possession.
“We’ve got to close that revolving door, and there’s been work on that, but we know who these criminals are. They do it over and over again,” he said. “We have to have graduated penalties for those known criminals who are committing crimes with guns to have increased penalties every time it happens.”
He also wants the Legislature to send him a bill banning most abortions, saying “It’s high time to go on and make a decision.”
But, while McMaster can tell legislators what he wants, he can’t actually make them do anything or stay longer than they decide. He’s fully aware of that, using the words “I hope” and “they should” throughout the news conference.
House Speaker Murrell Smith has said he has no intentions of keeping the House in session past June 1.
McMaster declined to say whether he’d call legislators back again if they don’t complete what he wants before then.
“I hope they will finish,” he said. “I think they should be able to finish by then.”