SC lawmakers to face road, school, pension issues with only $440 million more to spend
S.C. lawmakers will have roughly $440 million in added money to spend next year — about a third of the added money they spent this year, the state’s chief economist projected Thursday.
That could throw a roadblock into efforts to repair South Carolina’s crumbling roads, fix its poor rural schools or shore up its underfunded pension system for public employees.
This fiscal year, which started July 1, lawmakers had $1.2 billion in new revenues to spend in the state’s $7.5 billion general fund budget, made up largely of S.C. income and sales taxes.
Even with that added $1.2 billion, the GOP-controlled Legislature did not spend as much on schools or local governments as state law says they should. In addition, lawmakers only approved a temporary fix — spending roughly $200 million a year — for road repairs.
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