By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | When the Senate goes to debate the state budget at mid-month, the $9.3 billion document will not be much different from the one passed by the House, according to staff.
The Senate Finance Committee wrapped up budget deliberations Thursday. Its version of the budget will be printed next week prior to the floor debate, which is expected to begin April 15.
The biggest differences between the Senate and earlier-passed House version of the budget appear to be the Senate’s $11 million increase to base-student cost for K-12 education, a smaller pay raise for judges (from 33 percent proposed in the House down to 15 percent), a one-time $600 bonus for state employees making less than $70,000 per year, and a change in how the state would issue rebates from an unexpected lottery windfall. (The Senate calls for $50 per tax return, instead of the House’s version of $50 per taxpayer.)
The Senate budget also reverses a House proviso that sought to close Denmark Technical College and reopen it as a regional career center.
“I am pretty pleased with the budget that came out of the Senate Finance Committee. We accomplished what I hoped we would accomplish, which is to do right in terms of teacher pay raise and a pay raise for state employees with a one-time bonus,” S.C. Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Columbia, said Friday. “It went pretty smoothly this year.”
The Senate’s version mirrors the House on a 4-percent teacher pay raise, a 2-percent state employee pay raise, funding for state agencies (including not providing additional funds for S.C. Department of Social Services to meet a federal court order), a proviso capping tuition costs for in-state college students, and $112 million toward deferred maintenance on public college buildings.
Freshman House budget-writing chair Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, is earning praise from members in both chambers and both sides of the aisle for working with the Senate and governor’s office during the House budget-writing process.
“(Ways and Means) Chairman Murrell Smith was coordinating every step of the way with the Senate and the Governor’s Office in how to craft the best budget possible,” House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford said. The Richland Democrat serves on the Ways and Means committee. “The credit goes to the chairman.”
S.C. Sen. Sean Bennett, R-Dorchester, said the budget is “closer than we have been in the last few years.” A member of the Senate Finance Committee, Bennett served on the budget conference committee last year that hashed out differences between the House and Senate versions.
Smith could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.
Floor debate looms
But work remains in the Senate.
Jackson said the biggest debate on the floor will likely surround a proviso that authorizes bid evaluations for state-owned utility Santee Cooper through the state Department of Administration (see Andy Brack’s commentary and News Briefs for more information). Any sale would still need the General Assembly’s approval.
Another contentious point may be teacher pay raises. S.C. Sen. Greg Hembree, R-Horry, voted against the bill leaving the Finance Committee and said he is prepared to vote against it on the floor of the Senate. The reason? The bill mirrors the House on a 4-percent teacher raise.
Hembree said further raising the teacher pay would cost an additional $7.4 million and he plans to bring an amendment to the floor during debate.
“That’s my hill that I’m going to die on,” Hembree said. He said his vote Thursday was the first time he’s voted against a budget in committee. He said he will not vote for any appropriations bill that does not increase teacher pay by at least 5 percent.
Hembree chairs the Senate Education Committee, which has been steeped in education reform efforts since January. He said raising teacher pay won’t reform South Carolina public education overnight, but it would help retain and recruit more teachers, which has been identified as an issue in the profession.
Bennett also worried about teacher pay.
“We have the ability to provide a better salary increase and I don’t think we did it as efficiently as we could have in the budget,” he said.
Bennett called the state employee bonuses and taxpayer rebates “politically good.”
“I’m not sure if it’s the most efficient use of money but I would rather it go back to the taxpayer than be squandered,” he said.
Bennett and Hembree also said a proposed formula to cap college tuition also was in the Senate budget, but there were parts of it that might be controversial and would face floor scrutiny.
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