Capitol Report
By Rep. Robert Q. Williams
House District 62
The House of Representatives amended, approved and sent the Senate H.4000, the General Appropriation Bill, and H.4001, the joint resolution making appropriations from the Capital Reserve Fund, which together comprise the fiscal 2019-2020 state budget.
The $29.95 billion total budget includes $497 million in recurring state general fund revenue estimated for fiscal year 2019-2020, $159 million in nonrecurring surplus funds estimated for fiscal year 2018-2019, $177 million in the fiscal year 2017-2018 Contingency Reserve Fund, and $152 million in Capital Reserve Funds.
The budget provides for $96 million in nonrecurring funds to be returned to the state’s taxpayers as rebates. The Rebate Fund includes the $61 million in taxes collected on the winning Mega Millions lottery ticket sold in South Carolina last year. The total allows for a $50 one-time rebate for each South Carolina income-tax payer.
Also, $614 million in recurring funds is transferred into the Tax Relief Trust Fund that provides for the residential property tax caps. And $41.4 million in recurring funds is used to provide a 2 percent state employee pay increase. Employees of institutions of higher education and technical colleges that earn a base salary of at least $100,000 are not eligible to receive the increase in compensation.
Also, $49.7 million in recurring funds is included to cover the increased costs of operating the state’s health and dental insurance plans so that employees will have no additional monthly premium costs.
A total of $32 million from the General Fund and $4 million in Education Improvement Act funds is devoted to the 1 percent increase in the employer contribution rates for the South Carolina Retirement System and the Police Officers Retirement System that is in keeping with the schedule for addressing the unfunded liability facing the state’s pensions established in Act 13 of 2017.
And $2.8 billion in recurring funds is utilized to set State Aid to Classrooms at $3,846 per pupil. Several funding lines are consolidated to form State Aid to Classrooms as a replacement for the Base Student Cost.
Also, $159 million in recurring funds is devoted to raising the minimum teacher salary from $32,000 to $35,000 and providing across-the-board teacher pay increases of at least 4 percent. To further recruitment and retention efforts, those who have been teaching for no more than four years are to receive raises ranging from 6 percent to 10 percent. The budget’s teacher pay increase, the largest since 1984, places South Carolina above the Southeastern average teacher salary of $52,830.
Provisions are made for a Rural Teacher Recruitment pilot program at the University of South Carolina’s College of Education for the development of innovative and cost-effective teacher recruitment strategies, customized training for new teachers, and dedicated, ongoing mentoring support.
A Rural School District and Economic Development Closing Fund is established within the Department of Commerce to facilitate economic development and infrastructure improvements for projects that create a minimum of 50 jobs located within the 28 school districts with the lowest Index of Taxpaying Ability (ITA) in South Carolina.
Also, $10 million in Education Improvement Act funds is allocated for school resource officers. School districts with the lowest taxpaying ability are to receive priority consideration in the distribution of these funds. The budget also includes provisions that waive South Carolina Police Officers Retirement System earnings limitations for retirees who return to work as school resource officers.
From the funds appropriated to the Department of Education to fulfill black history instruction requirements, the instruction in grades 3 through 12 must include a cultural sensitivity component educating students about how they should interact with and be respectful of the beliefs and practices of people of a different race or creed.
Full funding is provided for the LIFE, HOPE and Palmetto Fellows higher education scholarship programs through Education Lottery funds.
The budget includes a higher education tuition mitigation initiative in which a total of $44 million in additional recurring funds is distributed among the state’s institutions of higher learning. In order to retain these appropriations, the institutions must comply with provisions for freezing in-state tuition and mandatory fees during the 2019-2020 academic year.
The bulk of the Capital Reserve Fund is devoted to capital needs at the state’s colleges and universities, with a total of $100 million in these nonrecurring funds allocated among the institutions for repairs, renovations, and maintenance of various facilities.
The University of South Carolina is directed to use a portion of the funds appropriated to or authorized for the university to recruit undergraduate African-American students, to recruit African-American students at the Medical School, and to recruit African-American students at the School of Law.
The Commission on Higher Education is afforded $20 million in lottery funds for need-based grants, $10 million in lottery funds for tuition grants, $2.6 million in lottery funds for National Guard Tuition Repayment, and $6 million in in unclaimed prize money for the Higher Education Excellence Enhancement Program.
Also, $8 million in lottery funds is dedicated to technology for the state’s four-year and two-year colleges and universities and technical colleges.
The Board of Technical and Comprehensive Education is afforded $17 million in lottery funds and $11 million in in unclaimed prize money for S.C. Workforce Industry Needs scholarships that help provide full tuition at technical colleges for SC WINS recipients seeking degrees in industry sectors with critical workforce needs.
Also, $5.5 million is appropriated to DHHS for the Children’s Health Insurance Program to allow more children to be eligible for CHIP coverage. The new eligibility limits place South Carolina at the Southeastern average for this program that serves children whose parents’ income is too high to qualify for Medicaid, but low enough to make private health insurance largely unaffordable.
A family planning funds provision is included in furtherance of statutory provisions that have been enacted to prohibit state funds, directly or indirectly, from being utilized by Planned Parenthood for abortions, abortion services or procedures, or administrative functions related to abortions.
Having prevented Planned Parenthood from performing abortions with state funds, once the federal injunction is lifted, the Department of Health and Human Services may not direct any federal funds to Planned Parenthood.
An otherwise qualified organization may not be disqualified from receipt of these funds because of its affiliation with an organization that provides abortion services, provided that the affiliated organization that provides abortion services is independent of the qualified organization. An independent affiliate that provides abortion services must be separately incorporated from any organization that receives these funds.
An organization that provides abortion services in compliance with the budget provision addressing the performance of medically necessary services under the Medicaid program is excepted from this restriction on state family planning funds and may receive state family planning funds.
The Department of Health and Environmental Control receives $1 million in recurring funds for its prescription drug monitoring program that is used by physicians and pharmacists to track the prescription and use of opioids.
DHEC is also afforded $500,000 in recurring funds for communicable disease abatement, $202,000 in recurring funds for mosquito borne disease abatement, $250.000 in recurring funds for the orphan petroleum spills and releases contingency fund, $2 million in recurring funds for ocean outfalls, and $2 million in nonrecurring funds for Murrell’s Inlet channel clearing.