The $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus plan is law. What’s in it for South Carolina?
South Carolina will see billions of dollars pumped into state and local governments now that the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan was signed by President Joe Biden.
State coffers are set to get nearly $2.1 billion under the law meant to help respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to the House Committee on Oversight Reform. An additional $1.5 billion will be distributed to local governments around South Carolina.
No Republicans in Congress voted for the measure, and 21 Republican governors, including Henry McMaster, and one Democratic governor, objected to how allocations were based off of unemployment rates instead of population.
South Carolina also is slated to receive $188 million for capital projects through the new law.
The money is in addition to the $1,400 direct payments single people earning $75,000 or less a year and $2,800 for married couples earning $150,000 or less will receive. An additional $1,400 also will be paid per child or adult dependent.
The first wave of payments could start flowing into bank accounts this weekend and will continue through the next several weeks, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.
The decision on how to spend the state’s $2.1 billion allocation will fall to legislators.
House Ways and Means Committee members have already proposed a budget for the full chamber to consider later this month. However, House budget writers expect to come back later in the spring to decide how to spend additional money, including additional recurring revenue if it is certified by the Board of Economic Advisors, which provides regular updates on the state’s budget forecast.
“I think that’s going to be a significant debate that we’re going to engage in,” said state Rep. Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, who serves as chairman of Ways and Means. “We’re going to be looking at a lot of options with (the federal stimulus) but that’s something we need to work with the governor’s office and the Senate on before we start floating out ideas.”
States urged to expand Medicaid
Among the provisions in the new law are incentives for the 12 states, including South Carolina, who have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, to reconsider.
The expansion was meant to cover people with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid, but too low to qualify for savings in the health insurance marketplace.
An expansion would cover an additional 188,000 adults in South Carolina, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of 2019 American Community Survey data.
Under the American Rescue Plan, South Carolina could receive $790 million in federal matching funds over two years to expand Medicaid, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The state would have to spend $190 million for the first two years of the expansion.
But the GOP-controlled state probably won’t be interested in the enticement.
“The governor has no intention of expanding Medicaid in South Carolina,” said McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes. “At the end of the day, regardless of whatever incentives the federal government wants to throw at it, the state is still on the hook. The governor believes it would be financially and fiscally irresponsible to expand Medicaid still.”
Cities, counties get a boost
Local governments also are slated to receive money.
Richland County is set to get $80.6 million. Lexington County will get nearly $58 million.
The City of Columbia is slated to receive $25.93 million, Mayor Steve Benjamin said in a news release.
“I am greatly encouraged that The American Rescue Plan Act will provide this crucial support to help our hardest-hit small businesses keep their doors open and revitalize restaurants and food/beverage establishments, with additional resources to help small and disadvantaged businesses navigate and access COVID relief programs,” Benjamin said.
