South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said he would cancel 21 items in the state’s fiscal 2024-25 budget, which would take away nearly $2.3 million.
At a news conference on Wednesday, the Republican governor said he was vetoing several bills. He also asked state lawmakers to get rid of earmarks and replace them with competitive grants based on ability. There are more than 500 earmarks in the budget, worth a total of $424.7 million.
The state of South Carolina plans to spend $40.20 billion, with $12.4 billion coming from general funds, $13.6 billion from government funds, and $14.1 billion coming from other funds.
“After decades of overriding the gubernatorial vetoes of innocuous-sounding appropriation titles inside of which the earmarks were hidden, the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives now disclose the sponsors and recipients of earmarked appropriations, as well as the activity, function, or project for which each earmark is intended,” McMaster said in his veto message.
“Many of these earmarks are investments in local governments for the purchase of new patrol cars, body armor, firetrucks, upgraded weaponry, and even K9 officers,” he said. “There are earmarks for infrastructure, buildings, roads, bridges, wastewater and sewer projects, recreational parks, walking trails, and traffic improvements.”
The state’s budget adds $4,500 to teacher pay, which brings the new minimum starting salary to $47,000. The goal set by McMaster is to raise the minimum starting pay to $50,000 by 2026.
It also freezes college costs for five years in a row for students who live in the same state. Lawmakers also set aside $2 million to hire school security officers for the 175 schools that don’t already have one.
The personal income tax rate is also going down. It will now be 6.2%, and the governor said he plans to keep dropping the state’s tax rate.
For the next few years, the governor told lawmakers, “If future revenues allow, we should keep cutting the personal income tax rate each year until we are well below the 6% rate.”
Lawmakers also included $200 million for emergency repairs and replacements of bridges. This is less than the $500 million that McMaster’s executive budget called for.
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