S.C. legislature in brief

The seventh week of the legislative session:

STATE BUDGET: The budget writers approved Thursday a $5.2 billion spending plan that cuts welfare, Medicaid and college spending and stands to affect broad swaths of the state's poor, professionals and students. A backlash is on the way as groups say they'll organize a march to tell legislators to come up with better ways of dealing with a $700 million budget gap and meet the state's needs. A coalition of faith groups, teachers, state employees and other activist groups plans a mass Statehouse rally March 12 to tell legislators they can find ways to pay for needed services instead of cutting them. The House Ways and Means Committee closed the spending gap with budget cuts, unused reserves, a tax increase passed last year on cigarettes and growing tax collections as the economy recovers.

MEDICAID: House budget writers' $5.2 billion spending plan would pay doctors less for caring for Medicaid patients. The state's Medicaid programs are $225 million short on cash for the current budget year. Anthony Keck, the Medicaid agency's director, laid out plans Wednesday for the budget year that begins July 1 that would save $201 million. That includes a $125 million cut in doctor and hospital reimbursement rates. There's also a plan to temporarily delay $36 million in payments to managed care groups that pay doctors and hospitals. Keck called it a cash management strategy. House Minority Leader Harry Ott said the rate cuts would take $500 million out of the state's medical care system when federal matching dollars disappear and would cost jobs, particularly at rural hospitals. Keck said that wouldn't happen.

SOCIAL SERVICES: The House budget committee has locked in lower welfare payments. Its $5.2 billion spending plan continued for 2011-12 more than $25 million in spending reductions the Department of Social Services made during the past several months as it erased a deficit for the current budget year. Those included reducing the average monthly checks for a parent with two children from $270 to $216 monthly. People getting the checks have to work at least part time or be in a training program.

CHARTER SCHOOLS: The House approved a bill meant to increase charter schools statewide without forcing school districts to cough up the money. The House voted 85-32 on a measure designed to provide more money to charter schools organized under the statewide district, which get state and federal, but no local, money. The original bill required school districts to send local property taxes to charter students within their borders. But lawmakers agreed to a change that leaves the funding to the state. The bill gives more options for charters to form and allows for boys-only and girls-only schools. The House budget-writing committee approved spending up to $25 million on schools in the statewide charter in 2011-12, with schools that have buildings getting more per student than virtual schools.

GUN LAWS: Gun-rights activists applauded a vote Thursday to allow South Carolina citizens to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. The measure applies to any resident at least 21 years old who can legally own a gun. A House panel voted unanimously to send the amended bill to the full Judiciary Committee. State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd said allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed guns could deter an attack and make people feel safer, and he has no problem with it. Other law enforcement officers say they're concerned about allowing people to carry concealed guns without training. The current permitting process requires eight hours of training. The main sponsor, Rep. Mike Pitts, said he understands the concerns, but the bill is about honoring residents' constitutional right to bear arms.

ANTI-UNION SC: Republican legislators want to exempt South Carolina businesses from a proposed federal rule that they notify workers of their rights to unionize. Dubbed the "employer free speech act," the bill is the latest show of lawmakers' disdain for unions in a state that markets itself as anti-union. A House panel sent the bill Wednesday to the full Judiciary Committee. Union opponents bristle at the proposal by the National Labor Relations Board after it gained its first Democratic majority in a decade through recess appointments by President Barack Obama. A public comment period ended Tuesday. The proposal would require that businesses post the 1935 federal law that guarantees employees' rights to unionize. No date has been set for a decision. The board says it knows of no other state fighting its proposal like South Carolina.

USC MEDICAL EXPANSION: Legislators want their own study of the University of South Carolina's plans to expand its medical school in Greenville. The House Ways and Means Committee voted Tuesday to create a study committee to assess the fiscal sustainability of the expansion. The committee must report to legislators by Sept. 1. Rep. Jim Merrill of Daniel Island said he's not comfortable relying on work by the Commission on Higher Education, calling it a college advocacy group. University President Harris Pastides has promised lawmakers the expanded medical school would not seek state money. Pastides said he has no problem with the study as long as it doesn't slow the process. He says it will affirm that the school's plans are sound and sustainable.

SNOW DAYS: South Carolina school districts won't have to make up five missed snow days this year. The House gave final approval to a bill allowing districts to waive up to five days from the state mandate that days missed because of bad weather must be made up. Schools across the state closed at least part of the week of Jan. 10-14 following a snow and ice storm. Legislators have introduced a host of local bills for schools they represent. The bill by Democratic Sen. Nikki Setzler of West Columbia covers all public schools and home schools. Local school boards would decide whether to go along.

CABINET: Gov. Nikki Haley's choice to lead South Carolina's parole and probation agency officially started her job. The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Kela Thomas of Columbia as director of the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services. The vote means all of Haley's Cabinet picks have been confirmed. Thomas has been an adviser to the agency's director since 1999. She was the second person nominated to lead the agency. Haley's first pick decided for personal reasons not to take the job.