The South Carolina General Assembly returned to the House of Representatives today to vote on the state budget that accelerates tax cuts, invests in education, improves infrastructure, and supports law and order. This budget represents a victory for taxpayers, teachers, state employees and everyone who dodges potholes while driving.
Since the legislature adjourned its regular session in early May, a conference committee made up of three representatives and three senators has been negotiating differences in the budget versions approved by each legislative body. This annual ritual requires a commitment. Unlike the United States Congress, where absolutists often demand that their position prevail, your state legislature works to reach agreements to deliver a balanced budget that focuses on priorities to improve our state.
This year, the budget commitment came just in time with the start of the state’s fiscal year on July 1. Last Friday, conferees agreed on the $14.45 billion General Fund spending plan. The protracted negotiations create a tight timeline for the legislature to approve the spending plan today and send it to the governor, who has five days to review it and issue line-item vetoes.
Devastating taxes
Tax cuts are the crown jewel of the 2024-25 budget.
It’s time to celebrate if you pay state income tax. This budget reduces the state income tax rate that most people pay from 6.4% to 6.2%. That adds up to almost $100 million. Just a couple of years ago, our top rate was 7%, and the legislature passed a five-year initiative to reduce the top income tax rate from 7% to 6%. This budget accelerates the schedule from five years to four. The money for the tax cut comes from excess sales tax dollars accumulated since 2020.
This budget decision represents progress, but I believe South Carolina needs to be much more aggressive in reducing the top state income tax rate to be competitive with North Carolina (4.5%) and Georgia (5.39%).
Salary increases
Public school teachers will benefit from $200 million allocated to increase their salaries. The minimum salary for an entry-level teacher would increase from $42,500 to $47,000 a year. That’s a 56% increase over the past seven years, when beginning teachers were paid just over $30,000. The budget would also allow teachers to get an annual raise for each of their first 28 years instead of the first 23. Increasing teacher salaries is essential to attracting and retaining teachers in these inflationary times.
The House and Senate split the difference on how much to raise state employee salaries. Workers earning less than $50,000 a year will receive an annual raise of $1,125, while those earning more will get a 2.25% increase. The House had proposed a larger increase.
The State will fully cover price increases for the state employee health insurance plan. This is an important benefit for state employees, as insurance premiums are skyrocketing for everyone.
Fixing roads
Next year, you’ll likely see more orange construction cones on highways, roads, and streets. This budget increases state spending by $200 million for bridge repair and replacement. This infusion increases the funds SCDOT has already dedicated to bridges. The goal is to speed up the repair of dangerous bridges.
The budget sends a whopping $200 million to county transportation committees (CTCs) to repair and pave secondary and rural roads.
The Aiken County Transportation Committee does an excellent job of wisely using the state money allocated to it annually. CTC commissioners are nominated by local legislators and appointed by the Governor. Those commissioners carefully evaluate local roads before allocating funds. They hold regular hearings at the Aiken County Government Center, where citizens can bring road-related issues to them.
South Carolina’s rural roads account for 30% of all our traffic deaths. Those roads in Aiken County and elsewhere are receiving considerable investment to make them safer. In Aiken County, SCDOT has repaved 329 miles of roads since the start of the gas tax increase in 2017, and another 75 miles are being paved this year.
Security
I have long believed that public safety is the government’s number one priority. Without public security, civil society can give way to anarchy. Look no further than Haiti, other third world countries, or the liberal “defund the police” mentality of our big cities right here in America. Not so in South Carolina.
This budget spends $29 million to upgrade the state Department of Juvenile Justice’s jails, which have experienced violence.
Another critical need is to block prisoners’ illegal cell phones. The Department of Corrections will receive $28 million, a portion of which will be spent on technologies to disable the cell phones of inmates with contraband technology behind bars. The number of state troopers on the roads is not keeping up with our state’s population growth. Therefore, the Highway Patrol will receive $1.6 million in pay increases. Another $18 million is being invested in DSS to protect children.
School safety remains a state priority. This budget calls for an additional $2 million to increase the number of school resource officers and another $5 million to map school safety using the latest technology.
universities
I serve on the House Ways and Means subcommittee that reviews the budgets of our state’s public colleges and universities, so this area interests me greatly.
Most importantly, tuition for in-state students will remain frozen for the sixth consecutive year to make college more affordable. Tuition mitigation amounts to $77 million.
This budget includes $125 million in one-time funding to complete construction of Clemson’s new school of veterinary medicine. The University of South Carolina receives $100 million for its new medical school. The MUSC School of Medicine has been allocated $22 million for its academic building.
SC State has long been neglected in providing substantial state funding for campus construction. No more! This budget provides $30 million to replace the Whittaker Library, which frequently floods and must be sandbagged during storms. Over the past three years, that’s $115 million in capital funding for SC State.
USC Aiken receives special funding of $3.5 million for the urgent need to relocate football fields from the land where the $60 million Advanced Manufacturing Collaboration is being built to the sports complex area near the Convocation Center.
Other budget highlights
Veterans’ Nursing Homes: Fully Fund Capital and Operating Expenses
Rural infrastructure assistance: $47 million
School buses: $28 million for new school buses statewide
K-12 educational materials: $89 million
Rainy day savings: $1.1 billion to fully fund our reserve fund
Social problems
As always, there are legislative issues that did not cross the finish line during the regular session and that will be included as one-year special laws in the budget.
Among the conditions is one requiring public school students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of the sex assigned at birth.
Another condition requires school libraries to provide detailed plans for how they will keep inappropriate material out of the reach of children or lose state funding.
A condition has been introduced to prohibit public school students from using mobile phones in class. Administrators and teachers say they broadly support the ban. Expert studies found that cell phones are a huge distraction in the classroom and impede learning.
Finally
The House and Senate are expected to approve the final budget today, barring any last-minute issues. We will also consider legislation passed by conference committees.
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