Provided by Copper Dome Strategies, LLC
State economists met this week and increased the revenue estimate adding more funds to the state budget. Governor Henry McMaster signed a number of bills into law. The General Assembly will return next month to deal with unfinished business.
Governor Henry McMaster recently signed the following into law:
S. 125 Extends LIFE scholarships to education and accounting majors;
S. 557 Apprenticeship Income Tax Credit;
S. 858 Exempts Acute Hospital Care At Home from the requirements of Certificate of Need (CON) and ensures home health agencies will continue to require a CON;
S. 1021 Abandoned Building Tax Credit;
H. 3682 Care of animals after the owner’s arrest;
H. 4594 Tax Conformity;
H. 5236 Authorizes DHHS to procure Medicaid systems via NASPO cooperative purchasing agreements;
H. 3563 Tax exemptions for feminine hygiene products;
H. 3811 Increases industry partnership fund tax credit;
H. 3992 Delinquent unemployment compensation taxes;
H. 4349 Greenville Technical College Area Commission;
H. 4720 Continuing authority to pay expenses of state government without a general appropriations bills;
H.4624 Gender Reassignment Procedures;
H.4869 Department of Insurance Procedures;
H. 4617 Adds Xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance;
The following bills became law without the governor’s signature:
H. 4957 Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) in college athletics;
H. 5183 Expands tasks performed by Certified Medical Assistants (CMA).
To view all bills ratified and signed go here: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/rats2.php
Bills that have passed both chambers but have differing versions are assigned to a Conference Committee consisting of three members from each chamber to resolve the differences and adopt a Conference Report which then becomes the bill. Some of those bills include:
H. 5100 General Appropriations bill;
H. 5101 Capital Reserve Fund bill;
S. 1046 which reforms the Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC);
H. 5118 Ten-Year Energy Transformation Act;
S. 1017 Non-profit housing/annexation;
S. 314 regulatory relief for higher education capital improvement projects;
S. 577 updates a reference to the top marginal income tax rate;
S. 862 educational and pre-service training requirements for childcare workers.
The State Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) met on Monday and voted to increase the revenue forecast for the current fiscal year (FY24) and the next fiscal year (FY25). The revised budget estimate adds $143 million to the recurring base funding for FY25 and adds $466 million to the surplus for FY24. This brings the total surplus revenue to $1.3 billion.
Tax collections are currently running $645 million ahead of the estimate. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office Executive Director Frank Rainwater told the board that the state’s economy is still growing, and the anticipated slowdown has been less than expected. Witholdings have grown faster than expected due to strong wage and salary growth of approximately 8%. However, wage growth is expected to slow gradually as we move forward due to lingering inflation and the heightened risk of an economic slowdown in the second half of the calendar year.
The Conference Committee on the FY2024-25 General Appropriations bill H. 5100 and the Capital Reserve Fund bill H. 5101 will meet next Tuesday at 11: 00 am to organize and elect a Chairman and Co-Chairman. Following that meeting, as is customary, they will recede to the call of the Chair. The budget conferees are Senators Harvey Peeler, Nikki Setzler and Sean Bennett. House conferees are Representatives Bruce Bannister, Phillip Lowe and Leon Stavrinakis.
House and Senate leaders have informed their bodies that they are planning to return June 18-20 to adopt a Conference Report on the state budget. They would return again June 26-28 to address gubernatorial vetoes. The General Assembly has passed H. 4720, a resolution to provide continuing authority to pay expenses for state government in the event a budget Conference Report is not adopted by July 1 when the state fiscal year begins.
Primary elections for both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party will take place on Tuesday, June 11. For more information go here: https://scvotes.gov/
