SC Legislature Passes Budget That Uses Stimulus Money

Columbia, SC—The South Carolina Senate voted 32-14 Wednesday afternoon to pass a state budget that includes $350 million in federal stimulus money. It also requires Gov. Mark Sanford to request the money within five days of the budget becoming law, either by his signature or lawmakers overriding his vetoes.

“This budget, I think, keeps teachers in the classrooms, keeps guards in the prisons and keeps troopers on the highway, and that was the three main things we tried to accomplish in this budget,“ said Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, Senate Majority Leader.

Of the $350 million in stimulus money, $185.9 million would go to K-12 education. Another $100 million would go to higher education. The state Department of Corrections would get $22 million and the Department of Public Safety would get $50 million.

Gov. Mark Sanford has been fighting against spending all of the stimulus money, saying doing so sets the state up for bigger problems in two years when the money is gone. He hasn’t said what he’ll do with the budget, but said vetoing the entire thing is a possibility.

Sen. Peeler thinks there are enough votes in the House and Senate to override any vetoes.

Kindergarten teacher Sally Dunbar is glad to hear lawmakers plan to spend the stimulus money to try to protect as many teachers’ jobs as possible. “I’m a teacher. My two daughters are teachers. One has been working for several years and one just graduated in December and she’s been hoping to find a job and the job market is slim to none,“ she says.

But the stimulus money won’t protect every teacher’s job. The state Department of Education estimates that 1,500 teachers would likely be laid off if the state does not receive the $350 million in stimulus money. But even with that money, it estimates 1,000 teachers will lose their jobs.

“It’s not as good as we’d like, but it’s not as bad as we first feared,“ Sen. Peeler says.