House Ways and Means committee adopts final budget spreadsheets, sends appropriation bills to the House

The House Ways and Means Committee on [date not specified] adopted final subcommittee spending spreadsheets and approved the combined appropriation and capital reserve bills after a series of voice votes and roll calls.

Chairman Bannister, who opened the meeting, framed the exercise as stewardship of taxpayer dollars. “We have a deal with them. We have a contract,” Chairman Bannister said, adding the committee sought “fiscal responsibility, meaningful tax cuts and smart investments.”

The committee approved reports and spreadsheets from public education, higher education, health care, economic development, criminal justice, transportation and regulatory, constitutional, and statewide subcommittees. Representative Whitmire summarized the public education package, saying the K-12 subcommittee focused on “teachers, children and ensuring their safety.” The subcommittee allocated $112 million to state aid for classrooms to provide a $1,500 salary increase and set a new starting teacher salary at $48,500, the subcommittee reported. The public education plan also includes $20 million for school facility safety upgrades and $35 million for bus purchase and lease to maintain a 15-year vehicle rotation.

Representative Ballantyne described higher education funding choices that prioritize tuition mitigation and capital needs while funding roughly 35% of capital requests and about $60 million in targeted institution allocations. He said lottery revenues were down from the prior year but that priority programs — including Life, Hope and Palmetto Fellows and need-based grants — were funded.

Representative Murphy described a restructuring of state employee pay bands and a two-pronged approach to raises: employees below new band minimums would be moved up to the minimum while employees above the minimum would receive a 2% raise, whichever is greater. Murphy said the pay-band changes cost about $66 million. On health insurance, Murphy said the committee allocated $89 million toward the state health plan but that a $34 million gap remains; that gap translates to a $36.80 monthly increase for employees.

Representative Ballantyne also explained a change to tuition mitigation proviso language intended to limit tuition or mandatory fee increases for in‑state continuing undergraduates; institutions may still set tuition for incoming students. “If you’re in school right now… it will be X amount until you receive your undergraduate degree,” Ballantyne said in describing the change.

The budget includes targeted economic and infrastructure investments: $80 million for industrial site readiness, $15 million annually to the Locate SC fund, $20 million for the Rural Infrastructure Authority for water and sewer grants, and approximately $80 million for airport enhancements. Transportation funding includes a second round of $200 million in nonrecurring bridge maintenance toward a five‑year $1 billion goal and $50 million in nonrecurring funds for damages from Hurricane Helene not covered by FEMA.

Health-care funding described by Representative Hewitt maintains Medicaid service and reimbursement levels, targets expansion of behavioral health provider rates, supports graduate medical education and cancer-institute advancement, and funds IT upgrades that draw federal matching dollars. Murphy moved and the committee adopted a proviso asking MUSC to assess the need for a long-term residential rehabilitation treatment center and report by Sept. 30.

The committee adopted a set of funding provisos (D1–D14) covering pay-band implementation, lottery funds, nonrecurring items, tuition mitigation, a MUSC study, loan forgiveness for South Carolina State University, primary care safety-net funding, and other technical and programmatic fixes. The panel approved the combined final spreadsheet by roll call, 24-0. The committee then gave a favorable report to the annual general appropriations bill (H.4025) and the capital reserve fund bill (H.4026) by committee vote of 24-0.

Votes at a glance - Adoption of subcommittee spreadsheets (voice votes): Public education (approved), Higher education (approved), Lottery (approved), Health care (approved), Economic development (approved), Criminal justice (approved), Transportation and regulatory (approved), Constitutional (approved), Statewide (approved). - Combined final Ways and Means spreadsheet: roll call 24-0, approved. - Provisos D1–D14: adopted (voice votes and roll calls where noted). - House Bill H.4025 (annual general appropriations): committee favorable report, roll call 24-0. - House Bill H.4026 (capital reserve fund): committee favorable report, roll call 24-0.

What the committee did not decide today No final floor passage of the bills occurred in committee; the committee forwarded the appropriation and capital reserve bills with a favorable committee report. Several proposals and policy changes mentioned during debate — including additional refundable earned income tax credit design and retiree cost-of-living adjustments — were discussed but not adopted as standalone changes in committee today. Representative Gilda Cobb Hunter noted a standalone bill to make 25% of the state earned income tax credit refundable and “put that on the table” for further consideration.

The committee adjourned after thanking staff and agency partners for assistance during the process.

Ending note: The Ways and Means Committee advanced the fiscal-year spending plan to the next stage with unanimous committee support; the bills and provisos adopted here will move through the House process for further consideration and any amendments there.