Higher Education Subcommittee adopts proviso packet and signals legislation to allow self-service lottery sales

The House Ways and Means Higher Education Subcommittee voted to adopt its base proviso packet and accepted a set of deletions requested by agencies and the University of South Carolina.

A motion to adopt the packet was made by Representative Gilda Cobb Hunter and seconded by Representative Bill Taylor. The chair called the roll; Terrica (staff) recorded "Aye" votes from Cobb Hunter, Ballantine and Taylor, and the packet moved forward for inclusion in the full committee process.

Deleted items read into the record included several provisos the university asked to remove (for example, redirections of funds in prior years) and a proviso (11.2) whose reporting requirement to the Commission on Higher Education had been satisfied. Staff explained a reassignment of the South Carolina Lottery Commission to the Higher Education Subcommittee and that the lottery proviso language would be included in the full Ways and Means committee's packet.

Lottery proposal: Chair Ballantine described a forthcoming legislative proposal, based on a presentation by the Lottery Commission, to allow convenience-store customers to purchase lottery tickets without needing to interact directly with a cashier (bringing South Carolina in line with other states). "It will generate additional revenue that'll go to the South Carolina lottery, and that will, of course, go back to our students," the chair said.

Ending: The subcommittee closed its last meeting of the budget cycle and indicated proviso language will be discussed further in full Ways and Means; committee staff will draft technical language as needed.