Hundreds of state jobs on the line

COLUMBIA — Hundreds of South Carolina state jobs would be cut and some subsidized health care would be slashed under recommendations that state agencies sent Friday to Gov. Mark Sanford as lawmakers search for ways to trim spending.

The proposals were submitted because state revenues have been slumping along with the national economy, and the $7 billion spending plan approved by lawmakers is in danger of heading into the red. The cuts aren't set in stone, however. Sanford wanted agency chiefs to suggest how they would cut up to 10 percent of their budgets, more than the overall state budget needs to be cut.

Nevertheless, the proposals had state officials wringing their hands.

"Those services are incredibly important, but unfortunately those services are going to have to be reduced," said Lois Park Mole, spokeswoman for the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs.

Her agency listed $19 million in potential cuts, including reducing financial and caregiver assistance for families of people with mental and physical disabilities and cutting 19 people from the payroll.

State budget overseers had already cut 3 percent from agency budgets in August. The new cuts come after the state's economic advisers projected an additional $415 million shortfall in tax collections and other revenues this year.

South Carolina has 72 state agencies and employs more than 65,000 people. The agencies that met the governor's deadline Friday recommended cutting more than 900 jobs. Some of the larger ones — such as Education, Public Safety, the State Law Enforcement Division and Corrections — told the governor's office their reports were either in transit or still being worked on.

But officials with some of those departments expect cuts in services.

Advocates say high school sports are in danger along with conservation efforts, and the director of the State Law Enforcement Division has said some criminal investigations could be curtailed.

The Department of Health and Human Services, which administers the federal Medicaid and Medicare programs that provide health care for the poor and the elderly, proposed reducing payments for medical services, delaying planned increases in payments and eliminating some programs to find $95 million to cut from its nearly $1 billion budget.

Legislators have yet to set a date for when they'll return to Columbia to start cutting. They say it's likely to happen before the November election ends their terms.

If lawmakers can't agree on a revised spending plan, state law requires the Budget and Control Board to make across-the-board cuts for all agencies within three weeks of a revenue adjustment.

The Legislature could let the earlier 3 percent cut stand or undo it and find ways to save a total of 6 percent with targeted cuts, a move Sanford has urged.

Some agency officials who responded to the governor's request said their departments had no more room to cut.

"It's really a mixed bag," said Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer. "Some agencies were very thoughtful and very deliberate in putting together potential cuts."

Among other cuts:

--The state Natural Resources Department says a 10 percent budget cut would require it to eliminate half its monitoring stations that help evaluate the status of the state's water supply.

--The Technical College System itemized $22 million in cuts that included slashing more than 300 jobs.

--The Department of Health and Environmental Control said it could cut $14 million and 124 positions, with the majority of that coming from reductions in family health programs.

--The secretary of state's office, the Medical University of South Carolina and Coastal Carolina University said they could not make any more cuts in their budgets.