Budget Vetoes: Were lawmakers even there?
THE BUDGET VETO “DEBATE” INVOLVED PRECIOUS LITTLE DEBATE If you followed the coverage of the governor’s budget vetoes – rallies outside the State House, op-eds denouncing specific vetoes – you…
Veto Recap
LAWMAKERS REDUCED THE STATE BUDGET BY A TINY FRACTION OF A TINY FRACTION Lawmakers began public meetings on the state’s 2012-13 budget January 10 of this year – the first…
The Battle over Vetoes
SORRY, BUT TAXPAYERS LOST THE REAL BATTLE MONTHS AGO Yesterday the South Carolina House overrode the majority of Gov. Nikki Haley’s budget vetoes. The vetoes themselves were minimal – at…
What Did – and Didn’t – Gov. Haley Veto?
$57.1 MILLION SOUNDS LIKE A LOT. BUT IS IT? The release of the Governor Nikki Haley’s vetoes for the 2012-2013 budget has predictably been met with cries that the governor…
The State Budget: Your priorities – or theirs?
YOU’RE A TAXPAYER? SORRY, YOU DIDN’T MAKE THE PRIORITY LIST This year, the General Assembly had more than $1 billion in new revenue to appropriate. The final version of the…
Senate Budget Priorities: The Un-funded Tax Relief Reserve Fund
The Senate has passed their version of the budget, and it is now headed to the House for a final vote there. The budget includes an un-funded tax relief reserve…
The Great Pork Debate
Tucked away at the tail end of part 1B of the budget bill is proviso 90.20, which deals with state non-recurring revenue: that is, revenue that’s only available for one…
Ask Not, and Ye Shall Receive Anyway
Most state agencies submitted their budget requests back in November. (State law requires them to submit requests, but a few just never get around to it.) When an agency submits…
Health and Human Services Director agrees with the Policy Council
Our coverage of the health care debate, beginning in October of last year, dispelled the myth of a free market health exchange and highlighted the growing costs associated with the…
Who should manage the OPEB funds?
You probably are like many other South Carolinians who haven’t heard of the little-known OPEB trust fund. The OPEB, Other Post Employment Benefits, trust funds consists of: a health insurance…
Port-Deepening: Something Everyone Agrees On
The House, Senate Finance Committee, and Governor Haley all have something in common: each has expressed a commitment to deepening Charleston’s port. Although the governor’s conviction fell into question late…
Here’s how complicated state government can be
The Superintendent of the Department of Education (DOE) and lawmakers had an interesting discussion at the Senate Finance Committee meeting yesterday: why does the House-passed budget include the First Steps…
Comptroller General, nonprofit present budget requests
The Comptroller General (CG) appeared before the Senate Finance Constitutional and Criminal Justice Subcommittee to provide his budget request for FY 13. When the CG stated he had no request…
New Lt. Governor makes first funding request
Yesterday, newly sworn in Lieutenant Governor Glenn McConnell presented the budget for his office to the Finance Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. His major request to the subcommittee was…
Finance Committee Has Lots of Ideas for Windfall
The Senate Finance Committee met yesterday to hear budget testimony from the Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) and the Office of State Budget (OSB). You can view the PowerPoint presentation…
House Budget Provio 90.20, or “The Slush Fund”
Each year during the budget process, state lawmakers take “left over” money from the General Fund (we’ve talked about how we feel about the idea of “left over” taxpayer money…
Funding the Arts Commission
As recently reported by The Nerve, a bill that establishes a steady source of funding for the Arts Commission, S. 1210, has passed through the Senate Education K-12 Subcommittee. The…
Education Provisos in the House Budget
Two proposed provisos – both of which failed – would have required the State Superintendent of Education to accept federal education funding. The first proviso would have required the Superintendent…
The House Budget Passed Unanimously. Here’s Why.
Last week, the South Carolina House passed its budget on second reading by a vote of 117 to 0. Then members passed it on third reading by a vote of…
House Passes Largest Budget in State History
With the budget passed by the House of Representatives in hand, we’ve been able to make some early growth calculations: the total projected budget of $22, 856, 794, 900 (as…
House Passes Budget
On Wednesday the House passed the budget by a vote of 115-0. The bill contains, among other things, pay raises for state employees, millions of dollars for the state’s deal…
Ways and Means Budget Largest in State History – Yet Again
The House is currently debating the budget recommended by the Ways and Means committee after months of hearings. With just over $535 million in “new” recurring revenue[1], lawmakers justify spending…
Economic development for the Arts Commission?
Amazingly, now even the Arts Commission is trying to get funding for “economic development” programs. We found this tidbit in the Arts Commission’s FY12-13 budget request: Artist Development: The agency…
USC Greenville Medical School
The House appears to be set to send $17.2 million to the USC Greenville School of Medicine.
The House meets today for budget debate
The House Ways and Means committee officially released their FY 12 – 13 budget on Tuesday. You can find the bill here. The bill, coming after weeks of budget hearings…
The Governor’s Budget – A Sign of What’s to Come?
The governor’s budget is only the first in a series of budget drafts before we arrive at the final state budget later in the spring. Generally – in fact, without…