$7B state spending plan on way to Sanford

COLUMBIA — The South Carolina Legislature has sent the governor a $7 billion state budget that would give state employees a 1 percent pay raise.

Legislators who adopted the compromise spending plan Thursday acknowledged the budget likely satisfies no one, but said it's the best they could do during an economic slowdown without raising taxes.

"It's not a mean budget but a lean budget," said Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney.

The plan covers rising medical costs for state employees, so they don't lose benefits or see premium increases. And it continues to send money collected through fees on property sales to the South Carolina Conservation Bank to preserve open space statewide — a major sticking point between House and Senate members hashing out differences in their plans.

Most agencies were cut between 2.5 percent and 5 percent. Senate Minority Leader John Land was glad the Education Department got more money. Legislators noted it was the only agency to get more.

The compromise approved by the House and Senate adds $95 million for K-12 education, as called for in a state formula adjusted yearly that sets minimum per-student spending. That so-called "base student cost" largely pays for teacher salaries.

The agency got another $50 million from other funding sources, including the lottery. But it expects a $30 million shortfall in programs paid for through a penny in the state sales tax.

Last week, the board delayed action on letting the state Corrections Department run a $4.3 million deficit for the current fiscal year — a shortfall brought on by rising food, fuel and medical costs.

Prisons Director Jon Ozmint has said he's also expecting a shortfall next year and will need to close prisons and lay off guards if the agency can't run in the red, a move that would further overcrowd prisons and hamper officers' safety.

Gov. Mark Sanford has criticized deficit spending. His spokesman, Joel Sawyer, said the Republican governor soon will begin poring over the budget to veto items he doesn't like. He has until midnight Wednesday.

"Next year, let's hope the economy will improve," Leatherman, R-Florence, told senators before they voted on the compromise. His Finance Committee cut $180 million from the budget last month after the state's economic forecasters predicted the state would collect less taxes than initially thought.

Budget highlights

--1 percent pay raise for state employees

--No cut in employees' benefits or rise in health insurance premiums

--$306 million to fully fund LIFE, HOPE and Palmetto Fellows scholarships

--$95 million to fully fund the K-12 base student cost

--$20.8 for school bus fuel and maintenance

--$12 million for summer schools

--$10.6 million for new school buses

--$10 million for tourism grants

--$4.5 million for "light rail," giving research universities access to a national fiber-optic grid that can carry high volumes of data at high speed

--$4 million for medical training to address shortage in nursing and other fields

--$3.9 million for public defenders

--$2.9 million to continue home-delivered meals program for seniors

--$2.5 million for three hydrogen fueling stations

--$2.4 million for prescription assistance for HIV/AIDS patients

--$2 million for breast and cervical cancer screening