SC Senate OK’s budget with teacher raises, state worker bonuses, but fate uncertain
The South Carolina Senate on Tuesday in a 40-3 vote adopted a budget for the state’s 2020-21 fiscal year, which includes pay increases for teachers and state worker bonuses.
However, it’s uncertain whether the House will agree with the spending plan.
The House will get to have its say on the spending plan once the Senate formally sends it over.
House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, a York County Republican, said once the Senate budget is sent over, it will go to the House Ways and Means Committee for review.
One top S.C. official would prefer to continue without passing any new spending.
Gov. Henry McMaster wants legislators to wait on adopting a new state budget as the economy remains in flux in the pandemic. Instead, he wants lawmakers to stick with the continuing resolution passed earlier this year, which keeps spending at pre-pandemic levels. The continuing resolution keeps spending levels the same as the previous fiscal year.
Sticking with the continuing resolution may lead to mid-year budget cuts as the economy still remains an unknown, some senators said Tuesday as they adopted the new budget.
Under the plan, senators allocated $86 million in new recurring money the state is expected to receive, as well as $775 million in one-time dollars.
Under the spending plan, $570 million would be set aside in reserves to offsets any mid-year revenue short falls and costs related to the virus’ spread.
“There’s still a lot of economic uncertainty,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield. “If you listen to the economists, the (Board of Economic Advisors), they’re clearly concerned that we could have additional economic drops, and if that happens, you need to have some money set aside, in order to meet the expenses,”Massey said. “The last thing you want to do is to give teachers a pay increase and then have to furlough, so that extra amount of money in there should be enough to cover any type of a downturn the comes.”
In the Senate plan passed on Tuesday, $20 million is set aside to give one-time $1,000 bonuses to about 14,000 state employees who earn less than $50,000 a year for coming into work during the pandemic.
Senators also included $50 million to cover the costs of a pay increase for teachers whose school year has already begun.
“Our teachers have been working incredibly hard under unprecedented circumstances, and I’m glad that this budget includes the reinstatement of salary step increases for our educators,” said Senate Democratic Leader Nikki Setzler of Lexington County.
Senators also set aside $50 million for prison security upgrades, $34 million for charter school growth, $6 million for school nurses, and $4.2 million for for additional poll worker stipends.
A general fund budget wasn’t the only spending approved by the Senate on Tuesday.
Senators, in a 40-3 vote, also adopted a plan on how it would spend the remaining $668 million in federal COVID-19 relief money sent to South Carolina during the coronavirus pandemic.
The money includes $93 million for statewide testing carried out by the Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Medical University of South Carolina.
The Senate proposal also includes sending $420 million to the unemployment insurance trust fund, which was heavily tapped as layoffs and furloughs spiked because of the pandemic.
Senators also plan to send $115 million to colleges and universities and local governments.
Another $20 million would be set aside for a relief program for nonprofits, and $20 million more would go to create a minority owned small business relief program.
An effort by state Sen. Richard Cash, R-Anderson, to open up the relief program to businesses making less than $50,000 a year failed in a 28-12 vote.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 5:36 PM.
