Senate budget panel to consider stop-gap spending plan

The S.C. Senate’s budget committee will consider a stop-gap spending proposal Tuesday.

Budget negotiators said last week they would not reach a compromise on the state’s roughly $8 billion general fund budget by Tuesday, when lawmakers originally were set to return to Columbia.

In anticipation of possibly not passing a budget by July 1, the Senate Finance Committee will consider Tuesday a bill that would fund state government at current levels.

Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, said he did not anticipate needing the resolution, adding, with more than five weeks until state’s new fiscal year starts July 1, now is “certainly not time to panic.”

The S.C. House has canceled its Tuesday session to take up the budget. House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Darlington, will decide when to call House members back to Columbia after a budget compromise has been reached.

The full state Senate still plans to meet Tuesday and could take up the stop-gap spending plan once it passes out of committee.

House and Senate budget negotiators have been unable to compromise over how to bail out the state’s underfunded pension system. Both agreed to put roughly $150 million into the system. But they disagree over how to use the money.

The House proposes sending the money — to cover part of the higher pension costs for schools, cities and counties that employ public-sector workers — directly to the pension system. However, the Senate approved sending $30 million of that money to the state’s local government fund, not directly to the retirement system.

Some cities, including Columbia, say the local government fund’s distribution formula would shortchange them.

Under the House plan, Columbia would get roughly $900,000. However, under the Senate plan, Columbia would get roughly half that amount – $440,000.

Other House-Senate budget differences include how much to spend on:

▪ K-12 schools. The Senate approved an added $69 million for schools, based on their enrollment, increasing state spending to $2,435 a student, roughly $500 below the level set by state law. That is about $30 million more than the House approved.

▪ S.C. colleges. The Senate approved $16 million in added money for colleges, including $2.4 million for the University of South Carolina. The House did not budget any added money for colleges.

This story was originally published May 22, 2017 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Senate budget panel to consider stop-gap spending plan."