Senate finance plan raises teacher starting pay, commits state funds to neurological hospital and funds school resource officers

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Senate Finance Committee advanced a budget package Wednesday that would raise the state teacher starting salary to $48,500, commit $150 million in state funds toward a proposed University of South Carolina neurological hospital and rehabilitation center, and provide recurring funding to place school resource officers in every school.

The measure, filed as H4025, was presented to the full Senate as the finance committee's base for further amendments. Senator from Cherokee, the finance committee's chair, told colleagues the plan "shows special attention to our hardworking families in South Carolina," and outlined tax, education and public-safety provisions the committee prioritized.

Key provisions in the finance committee draft include raising starting teacher pay to $48,500 (a figure the committee said represents a roughly 38% increase from 2020), a $150 million state appropriation to the Department of Health and Human Services for construction of a neurological critical care and rehabilitation facility that the committee reported would rise to a projected $350 million when combined with other funding, $21,100,000 in recurring funds to place a school resource officer in every school, and $100 million for bridge repairs. The committee also flagged funding to keep state employee and retiree health insurance premiums from increasing in the coming year and set aside both recurring and nonrecurring dollars for school buses, instructional materials and a sesquicentennial / bicentennial commission.

Senators on multiple subcommittees reviewed the package on the floor. The education chair emphasized recurring funds for buses, instructional materials and a $50 million education scholarship trust allocation; the health and human services subcommittee report emphasized investments in behavioral health, bed capacity and the proposed neurological hospital; and the criminal-justice subcommittee outlined funding for cell-phone interdiction systems at some corrections facilities and pay/retention measures for the Highway Patrol.

Committee leaders said some items remain under negotiation and that H4025 will continue through the amendment process. The Senate agreed to carry the bill over for third reading, preserving points of order and allowing further amendments.

The finance committee adopted its report as the base for amendment on the Senate floor; the Senate carried the measure over for third reading so members can continue to offer amendments and vote at a later date.

Why it matters: The package combines tax cuts and significant new recurring expenditures for public safety and education, while committing a major state investment to a specialty hospital. If adopted, the teacher-pay increase and the school resource officer funding would be immediate changes affecting classrooms and school budgets statewide; the hospital appropriation would start a multiyear capital effort.