Why USC's President Pastides said 'thank you' to this SC senator

South Carolina’s junior senator got a big “thank you” for his work on the GOP tax bill Tuesday from University of South Carolina president Harris Pastides.

Pastides gave a “shout out” Tuesday to U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, whom Pastides credits with protecting colleges and universities in the final version of the bill, which passed a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday and could become law by the end of the week.

“I just want to send a great ‘thank you’ to Sen. Scott,” Pastides told USC’s board of trustees. “This is a shout-out to Sen. Tim Scott.”

Scott served on the conference committee that wrote the final version of the bill. Pastides credited him with ensuring student loan interest will still be tax deductible and graduate students won’t have to pay income tax on stipends or tuition waivers. The bill also maintains a “lifetime learning” tax credit for educational expenses.

Some earlier versions of the bill had threatened each of those benefits, but the final version kept them intact. USC’s president said he got Scott’s assurance on the final shape of the tax plan when the North Charleston Republican visited campus.

“He had been with me during a football game a few weeks ago,” when Pastides outlined his concerns about the bill, he said.

USC still has other concerns about the bill. Seating rights at college athletic events will no longer be tax-deductible, said chief financial officer Leslie Brunelli, and up to five executives at a university with income over $1 million would be liable for an excise tax.

But on balance, Pastides praised the result of Scott’s efforts.

“We’ll be sending him a letter of gratitude from universities in South Carolina and beyond,” Pastides said.

This story was originally published December 19, 2017 at 4:41 PM with the headline "Why USC's President Pastides said 'thank you' to this SC senator."