Staff reports | House and Senate negotiators this week put finishing touches on an $11 billion state budget for 2021-22 that legislators will consider next week. The new fiscal year starts July 1.
Earlier this year, House members voted to approve a 3 percent pay hike for state employees, while the Senate sought a 2 percent increase in a year that is awash in cash from unspent reserve funds. Members of the House and Senate conference committee compromised by splitting the difference — a 2.5 percent increase that will cost about $60 million.
The budget also includes a $1,000 per-teacher salary hike, which will cost about $72 million, as well as a bigger pay hike for law enforcement officers to allow them to maintain force strengths.
The proposed budget also has big increases for education, including millions of infrastructure spending as well as more for full-day kindergarten, per-pupil funding, bus driver pay, public charter schools and instructional materials. More: The State | The Post and Courier
In other recent news:
2 S.C. executions halted until firing squad formed. The S.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked the planned executions of two inmates by electrocution, saying they cannot be put to death until they truly have the choice of a firing squad option as set out in the state’s newly revised capital punishment law. More: AP News.
McMaster picks businessman to lead S.C. commerce. Gov. Henry McMaster on Thursday nominated business executive Harry M. Lightsey III to serve as the next state commerce secretary, putting forth the first new name to lead the agency in more than a decade. More: AP News | Columbia Business Report.
S.C. gov calls for ‘transformative’ investments for COVID-19 relief funds. South Carolina will receive a nearly $8.9 billion share from the latest federal COVID-19 relief package pushed by the Biden administration. More: The Post and Courier | WCSC TV.
McMaster signs Santee Cooper bill, pushes for sale of utility. McMaster says he still wants to sell state-owned utility Santee Cooper after signing into law a bill to overhaul the company. More: WCBD TV.
Cunningham announces plan to curb gun violence. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Joe Cunningham released a plan to curb gun violence in the Palmetto State as Charleston gears up to mark the sixth anniversary of the Emanuel AME Church shooting. More: The Post and Courier | WCBD TV.
Sanford pens book on post-Trump Republican Party. Former S.C. governor and congressman — and one-time Donald Trump Republican presidential primary adversary — Mark Sanford has written “Two Roads Diverged: A Second Chance for the Republican Party, the Conservative Movement, the Nation and Ourselves.” Sanford, who is now working for the lobbying firm Shumaker Advisors in Charleston, told The Post and Courier that he wanted to not only reflect on what post-Trump America looks like but also wants to lay out a political path for making the country successful again. More: The Post and Courier.
Juneteenth becomes federal holiday. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a measure into law making Juneteenth, an annual celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S., take effect immediately. That means today is considered the first Juneteenth federal holiday despite the occasion formally being on Saturday, June 19. More: The New York Times | The Washington Post.
In S.C. stop, Harris pushes for COVID vaccinations. Vice President Kamala Harris stopped in South Carolina Monday to kick off a nationwide push to vaccinate millions more Americans against the coronavirus ahead of the July 4 holiday. She spoke at a vaccine mobilization event in Greenville. Harris will next head to Atlanta on Friday. More: AP News.
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