SC House leaders propose adding $26 million for school, prison safety

S.C. House leaders put forward a plan Thursday to spend an additional $26.3 million to make the state's public schools and prisons safer.

But an attempt Thursday to amend the state's $8.2 billion spending plan to include the new spending was stalled by House Democrats over a push to add another $54 million for a forensics lab for the State Law Enforcement Division.

Democrats slammed the GOP-controlled House, saying lawmakers had not had enough time to read a 38-page budget amendment — including the school and prison safety, and SLED facility proposals — that they only received Thursday.

"Republican leadership came up with this budget in secret, without proper debate," said House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, a member of the House's budget-writing committee. "What we have is a half-baked appropriations bill that does not reflect the true needs of South Carolina."

Those needs should include making all S.C. public schools and prisons safer, which is a higher priority than spending $54 million for a crime lab, the Democrats said.

The push for more spending on school and prison safety follows two tragedies.

On Valentine's Day, 17 Parkland, Fla., high school students and teachers were killed by a gunman. That incident highlighted the need for every S.C. public school to have a full-time armed officer on staff, legislators say. Now, however, 500 S.C. schools do not have school resource officers.

Meanwhile, seven inmates were killed and 22 others were injured after a prison riot broke out April 15 at Lee Correctional Institution in Bishopville. Prison officials blame that riot on inmate disagreements over territory, contraband and cellphones. But the riot also has drawn attention to staffing shortages in the state's prison system, which, in part, are due to low pay.

To partially address those safety concerns, House leaders Thursday proposed an amendment to the general fund budget the House already has adopted for the state's fiscal year that starts July 1.

They proposed:

▪ Spending $2 million a year to allow some of the state's poorest public school districts to hire a school resource officer.

Typically, that cost now falls on local school districts, local governments, county sheriff's departments and their taxpayers. But some poor school districts cannot afford the cost.

The House plan is $3 million less than requested by Gov. Henry McMaster in his January executive budget. But McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said Thursday the Columbia Republican is on board.

"It's a start. It's not the end all, be all. We were at zero dollars before," Symmes said, referring to the original House and Senate budget proposals, which did not include any money for SROs. "He (McMaster) looks forward to signing it into law."

▪ Using $10 million in S.C. Lottery money to pay for added school-safety measures.

Those measures could include metal detectors, cameras, door locks and bulletproof vests for SROs, House Ways and Means Chairman Brian White, R-Anderson, said Thursday.

▪ Giving the Corrections Department an added $5 million to pay $1,000 raises to corrections officers. That is up from the $3.7 million the House approved in March.

"This is a final phase of raise requests that we have been progressing toward," state Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, a former police officer and chairman of the House's budget panel on law enforcement, said Wednesday.

▪ Spending $13 million for security upgrades for the state’s prison system.

The S.C. House will vote on its amended budget Tuesday, sending it to the state Senate before it goes to House and Senate budget negotiators.

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 7:12 PM with the headline "SC House leaders propose adding $26 million for school, prison safety."