South Carolina Legislative Update

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Members of the House of Representatives returned to Columbia last week for a quick day of session, while House and Senate conferees met to work on conference reports on items like the FY2023-24 budget. Notable actions taken this week included:

  • FY2023-24 Budget (H.4300) – On Thursday, a conference committee comprised of three House members and three Senators adopted and approved a compromise version of the state’s $13.8 billion FY2023-24 budget. The agreement comes on the heels of weeks-long negotiations between House and Senate budget writers. SC Chamber priority items included in the compromise version of the budget include:
    • $151.4 million to increase starting teacher pay by $2,500 to $42,500, and additional funds for certain teacher salary increases.
    • $96.2 million to fund the first phased-in reduction of the individual income tax rate from 6.5% to 6.4%.
    • $93.7 million in technical college scholarships for critical-needs jobs through the SC Workforce Industry Needs Scholarship Program (SCWINS).
    • $500,000 in recurring operational funds for the Be Pro Be Proud program.

Both the House and Senate must now take up and pass the amended version of the budget before it can be sent to Governor Henry McMaster’s desk for his signature or for any line-item vetoes.