On June 5 the South Carolina General Assembly adjourned its current session. Among the proposed bills killed by this action was S153, which had passed the Senate and was waiting for action in a House committee. As outlined in another story on this page, this bill would have established a 19-member "Science Standards Committee" to "(1) study science standards regarding the teaching of the origin of species; (2) determine whether there is a consensus on the definition of science; (3) determine whether alternatives to evolution as the origin of species should be offered in schools. "

SB1125 was introduced in the state Senate on April 29 and referred to the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs. This bill is very similar to HB1782 which was tabled in the House of Representatives on April 30. The Senate committee has taken no action to date on SB1125.

On April 29 the South Carolina Senate passed S153 and forwarded it to the House of Representatives, where it was referred to the Committee on Education and Public Works. This bill originally dealt with instructional materials for public schools. On April 9 Sen. Michael Fair proposed an amendment which would have required a disclaimer in all kindergarten through 12th grade science books stating "The cause or causes of life are not scientifically verifiable.

The Justice Department on April 22 announced that it was closing its inquiry into complaints of religious discrimination by Texas Tech student Micah Spradling against biology professor Michael Dini. See the Justice Department’s press release for details.