South Carolina Senate Republican Caucus

Gov. Mark Sanford has until Thursday to decide whether to veto any of the $488 million in budget cuts the Legislature sent him Friday.

The cuts in the state’s $7 billion budget carve deeply into health care and college spending, with health-related programs giving up $160 million and universities and technical colleges losing $123 million. State sales tax collections have fallen short of expectations and legislators returned to Columbia on Monday to put spending back in line.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell and Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell sent the bill Friday to the Republican governor, who already has misgivings about parts of the plans the Republican-dominated Legislature approved. Read the rest of this entry »

$2 million slashed from agency that monitors habitual criminals free on probation, parole

South Carolina is gambling with the public’s safety by cutting $2 million from the agency that monitors thousands of habitual criminals free on probation and parole, top law enforcement officials warned Thursday.

Just last month, legislative leaders talked of boosting money for the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, saying the agency is seriously understaffed and needs more resources to effectively perform its mission. But that was before the current economic crisis sent South Carolina’s budget into a tailspin.

Now the struggling agency is facing a deep cut that will leave less money to keep tabs on criminals in the community, monitor sex offenders and perform other duties. The agency has an annual budget of about $50 million and oversees some 48,000 criminals across the state. Read the rest of this entry »

Almost $500 million of spending cuts are on the desk of the South Carolina governor. Lawmakers say it’s a necessary evil but, it’s an evil parents with special needs kids do not want to see.

Margie Williamson waited three and a half years for her son Wesley, who has autism, to speak his first word. Now he’s in a normal first grade classroom.

“He still has a long way to go,” Margie said.

That progress could be stalled for her and other parents. Read the rest of this entry »

Everyone seems to have an opinion on state’s money woes, and what can be done to resolve them

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell talks about approving the state budget bill to meet deadlines Thursday as the Senate worked to pass budget cuts of $488 million.

As lawmakers found themselves in the position of cutting services for autistic children, draining funds for land conservation and eliminating an advocacy program for disabled residents, they started asking the half-a-billion-dollar question:

What’s happening to the state’s money?

The latest revenue collections forced the Legislature this week to cut $488 million from the budget after a session in which they approved a sales tax holiday for guns and an income tax break worth about $66 a year for the average worker. Read the rest of this entry »

Columbia, SC – Today, the South Carolina Senate passed a $488 million budget reduction plan. The plan, which calls for a seven percent reduction in the state budget, is an aggressive move that lawmakers hope will prevent further reductions in the current budget year.

³We were able to make the targeted reductions necessary without raising taxes,² says Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman (R-Florence). ³These reductions are painful no doubt, but the Senate took a positive step today toward living within our means and as we move forward we will need to reduce spending to reflect the realities of our current economic times.² Read the rest of this entry »

Reduction plan sent to Sanford

The Senate on Thursday gave key approval to nearly $500 million in budget cuts, after swatting down proposals to shorten next year’s legislative session, raise the cigarette tax or use one agency’s surplus to pay for shortfalls in children’s programs.

Gov. Mark Sanford criticized some parts of the budget-cutting plan and attacked what he called “misinformation” used on the Senate floor during the debate about an agency’s surplus.

“While we’re pleased that the Senate stuck with the overall approach we called for in making targeted cuts, we’re disappointed that they didn’t take this opportunity to address some real flaws in this spending plan,” Sanford said in a statement. Read the rest of this entry »

Says USC should use money on classes

While other lawmakers worked to cut $500 million from the state budget, Sen. Chip Campsen was worried about folks at USC palling around with terrorists.

Campsen on Thursday called for the University of South Carolina to give back the money it paid to ’60s-era radical Bill Ayers for speaking engagements he has made on the Columbia campus over the years. Campsen suggested the money be used to teach more classes on the Constitution.

The Isle of Palms Republican offered the proposal as a budget amendment during Thursday’s debate before withdrawing it. Read the rest of this entry »

A 1960s radical’s speaking visits to the University of South Carolina became a part of the Senate’s debate Thursday on almost $500 million in budget cuts after a senator said he wanted to transfer the money USC spent to classroom instruction on the Constitution.

Sen. Chip Campsen, a Charleston Republican, said he was upset the university had spent any money to bring William “Bill” Ayers, an Illinois college professor of education, to USC given his 1960s and 1970s participation with a group labeled by the FBI as a domestic terrorism organization and his more recent praise of Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chavez.

Campsen proposed an amendment, later withdrawn, to transfer $6,846 from USC — the amount spent on Ayers’ visits — to a program to instruct students on the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers. Read the rest of this entry »

Lawmakers decide not to change House bill; Sanford indicates he might veto some items

The South Carolina Senate approved $488 million in spending cuts Thursday, refusing to change a bill the House approved earlier this week.

Slashing state support for higher education, state agencies and conservation while limiting the reduction to K-12 education, lawmakers tried to spend money where it was needed most. The cuts were required after state economists lowered revenue projections earlier this month. Read the rest of this entry »

Sanford threatens veto to make corrections

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell talks about approving the state budget bill to meet deadlines Thursday as the Senate worked to pass budget cuts of $488 million.
Gov. Mark Sanford

Read the bill outlining proposed state budget cuts

State agencies began scrambling Thursday to figure how they will maintain public services in the face of the Legislature slashing a half billion dollars from the state budget. Read the rest of this entry »

The University of South Carolina’s link to a former 1960s radical is drawing criticism.

On Thursday, state Sen. Chip Campsen said he wanted the school to use the nearly $7,000 used to bring William Ayers to Columbia to pay for instruction on the U.S. Constitution.

Ayers founded the Weather Underground. Now a professor, he has spoken six times at USC and sometimes received reimbursements or a stipend. Read the rest of this entry »

A campaign ad from S.C. Sen. Shane Massey’s opponent suggesting that he’s against the Lord’s Prayer is ridiculous, Massey said at a press conference Wednesday.

Massey, R-Edgefield, elected in 2007 in a special contest to replace former incumbent Tommy Moore, is seeking a full term in District 25 in a hard-fought campaign against Democrat Greg Anderson.

The latest verbal battle involves legislation that eventually was approved, allowing the option of posting the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer and other historical documents in public areas and buildings. Read the rest of this entry »