SC House OKs 2% pay hike for state employees, spends nearly $400 million on roads
The S.C. House approved a 2 percent pay hike for state employees Tuesday while considering the state’s $7.5 billion general fund budget.
They also planned to spend nearly $400 million for road repairs in the spending plan that takes affect July 1. House members continued working through the budget late Tuesday.
The House approved paying for state employees’ increased health-care costs. However, employees would have to pay a .5 percent increase for retirement contributions.
“State employees deserve better from us,” said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, who has advocated for higher pay for state employees.
Cobb-Hunter tried unsuccessfully for even more of a pay hike for state employees. The full S.C. House also approved “step” — or experience — increases for teachers and also raising their salaries by 2 percent.
Meanwhile, House members planned to spend nearly $400 million for road repairs. However, how much would be sent to counties and how much would go to the S.C. Transportation Department was not clear late Tuesday.
In addition to new money for roads, the House approved spending $49 million to pay for flood repairs that the state’s roads agency made during the historic October storm, pushing the total money to the Transportation Department and counties to $415 million.
S.C. roads chief Christy Hall had urged House members to send money to the Transportation Department, instead of counties to pay for repairs on major non-interstate S.C. roads.
“(O)ur analysis of statewide road conditions indicates that the primary system is in a state of crisis,” Hall wrote to House members who are considering Tuesday the state’s roughly $7.5 billion general fund budget.
About 80 percent of the major non-interstate pavement is in disrepair, Hall said, adding those roads carry nearly half of S.C. traffic.
South Carolina’s major non-interstate roads are on a 24-year paving cycle instead of the industry standard of 10 years, Hall said.
Once those pavements erode into poor condition, they typically require complete reconstruction at a higher cost, Hall said.
Cassie Cope: 803-771-8657, @cassielcope
S.C. House budget
The S.C. House was considering the roughly $7.5 billion state general fund budget Tuesday. They approved:
▪ More than $350 million in added money for S.C. schools, including $217.6 million to increase the per-pupil money that schools get to $2,350 and $19.2 million for bus driver salaries
▪ $212.5 million for the local government fund — the same amount sent to counties and cities last year. The gap between what the state should send to counties for performing state-mandated functions is about $100 million.
▪ $129 million more to Health and Human Services Department to offset recurring expenses that come up every year that the agency has been paying for with savings
▪ $60 million for the state and local government’s portion of flood-recovery costs, money that will match federal money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
▪ $49 million to the Transportation Department for repairs made during the flooding
▪ $40 million for beach renourishment along the state’s coast
▪ $40 million for grants to S.C. farmers whose crops were washed away during the flooding
▪ $17 million more for Department of Commerce’s deal-closing fund, used to entice companies to locate in S.C.
▪ $5 million more for repairs to National Guard armories
▪ $661,500 for added dam-safety staff at the Department of Health and Environmental Control
This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 10:12 PM with the headline "SC House OKs 2% pay hike for state employees, spends nearly $400 million on roads."