Thank you to our Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester County Senators (Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, Sen. Larry Grooms and Sen. Sean Bennett), on the Senate Finance committee, for all of their hard work getting a balanced budget to the Senate floor.

The budget deliberations began this week as the Senate took up their version of the FY24-25 budget. In a previous edition of The Advocates, I shared which Chamber priorities the House included in their version of the budget. The Senate included many of those same priorities:

• $99.8 million to fund the second phased-in reduction of the individual income tax rate from 6.4% to 6.3%.
• $100 million ($200 million*) to SCDOT to accelerate bridge infrastructure improvements throughout the state.
• $200 million ($230 million*) to raise teacher salaries and increase teacher starting pay.
• $95 million to fund the SC Workforce Industry Needs Scholarship Program (SCWINS). 
• $5 million to ReadySC for Economic Development Training.
• $55 million to SC Ports Authority for land acquisition adjacent to the North Charleston Terminal for future economic development efforts.
• $4 million ($30 million*) to the Office of Resilience for their Disaster Relief and Resilience Reserve Fund.
• $66.6 million ($57.5 million*) to freeze in-state tuition at public colleges and universities and relieve the tuition burden for SC students.
• $5 million ($10 million*) to the Economic Development Closing Fund.
• $10 million ($50 million*) to SC Nexus to continue developing, testing and deploying exportable energy technologies.
• $4 million ($10 million*) to the Military Enhancement Fund which provides grants to ensure the long-term success of military installations in SC.
• $1 million to Veterans Trust Fund which provides grants to organizations providing Veteran’s services in SC.
• $182,000 to Military Child Education Coalition. Out of 73 school districts in SC, only 11 have received the Purple Star designation. This funding will help increase the number of Purple Star Districts across the state.

* Indicates the amount the House funded the priority at.

We supported $20 million to the Charleston International Airport in the House budget to help finance ongoing capital improvements. The Senate funded the ask at $1, which typically means it is something they are willing to negotiate in conference committee.

The Senate included $9.5 million to Trident Technical College for maintenance, renovation and replacement. We supported Trident Tech’s ask for their Electric Vehicle Institute at $31.6 million. The House budget included $2.3 million.

The Senate also allocated $16 million to the statewide water and sewer grant program for communities to update their water and sewer systems and $2.5 million to the Department of Social Services for the Working Families Child Care Scholarships and Support.

Senators differed from the House when it came to dealing with the Homestead Exemption Fund (HEX). The fund has a $600 million surplus that the Governor called on the General Assembly to allocate to the state’s bridge program. The House budget utilizes the surplus for a one-time property tax reduction for homeowners. The Senate chose to allocate the $600 million to multiple priorities:

• $99.5 million to accelerate the individual income tax rate reduction from 6.3% to 6.2%.
• $200 million to County Transportation Committees (CTCs) to fund local transportation projects and improvements.
• $117.4 million to fund the Rural Road Safety Program.
• $100 million to SCDOT to accelerate bridge infrastructure improvements throughout the state.
• $30 million to the Rural Infrastructure Authority Local Grant/Loan Program.
• $53 million USC-Health Campus Bond Avoidance.

We anticipate the use of HEX funds to be a critical focus area as budget negotiations move forward between the House and Senate. The Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) could announce additional revenue available in May that may ease some pressure. Regardless, we are anticipating a conference committee in late May/early June.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions. Have a great weekend!