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The Conference Committee on the state budget met and organized this week. The General Assembly will return beginning next week to deal with unfinished business. Primary elections will be held on Tuesday, June 11.
To view all bills ratified and signed click here.
The Conference Committee on the FY2024-25 General Appropriations bill H. 5100 and the Capital Reserve Fund bill H. 5101 met on Tuesday for an organizational session. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Harvey Peeler (R-Gaffney) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bruce Bannister (R-Greenville) were elected Co-Chairmen. The recently 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. The total General Fund budget is $15.4 billion.
Sen. Peeler told those in attendance that the committee will meet again at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, June 5, following the Joint Session of the General Assembly. They expect to take the “first run” on adopting provisos to the budget. They plan to meet again on Wednesday, June 12, at 10:00 am, the day after the Primary Elections, and again on June 13 if necessary.
The General Assembly will then 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.
The budget conferees are Senators Harvey Peeler, Nikki Setzler and Sean Bennett. House conferees are Representatives Bruce Bannister, Phillip Lowe and Leon Stavrinakis.
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.
Conference Committees can meet at any time between now and the General Assembly’s return on June 18-20 to adopt Conference Reports.
The General Assembly will meet in Joint Session next Wednesday at noon to elect a new Supreme Court Justice. The vacancy was created when Justice John. W. Kittredge was elected to become Chief Justice following the retirement of Chief Justice Donald W. Beatty. There were three candidates forwarded to the General Assembly by the Judicial Merit Selection Commission (JMSC) for consideration. However, two of those candidates, Judge Jocelyn Newman from Columbia and Judge Blake A. Hewitt from Conway withdrew from consideration this week. That leaves Judge Letitia Verdin from Greenville as the only candidate remaining for the seat. It is expected her nomination will be approved by the General Assembly.
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/
The General Assembly will meet in Joint Session next Wednesday at noon.
