SC Conference Committee Advances State Spending Plan

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The SC House and Senate budget conferees returned to the State House last week to finalize the state’s spending plan for FY2025-26. Prior to their return, the state’s Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) issued a revised revenue forecast for FY2025 and FY2026, giving budget writers an additional $1 billion in revenue to appropriate. Due to stronger-than-expected corporate and individual income tax collections and sales tax collections, one-time nonrecurring revenue increased by $669 million and recurring revenue increased by $377 million.

After two days of deliberations and working through the differences in each body’s spending plan, the conferees advanced a final $14.7 billion spending plan (H.4025) that includes notable items like:

  • $290 million for additional individual income tax relief, reducing the top rate to 6%.
  • $200 million to the Department of Transportation (SCDOT) for bridge infrastructure projects across the state.
  • $130 million to increase the manufacturing property tax exemption cap enacted in the Comprehensive Tax Cut Act of 2022 to hold the effective manufacturing property tax rate at 6% and ensure small to mid-size manufacturers do not experience a property tax.
  • $112 million to raise teacher salaries and increase starting teacher pay from $47,000 to $48,500.
  • $91 million for technical college scholarships for critical needs jobs through the SC Workforce Industry Needs Scholarship Program (SCWINS).
  • $81 million to the Department of Commerce for industrial site readiness.
  • $15 million for rural water and sewer infrastructure projects.
  • $15 million to the Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) for the Find Your Future portal.
  • $840,000 to the Department of Environmental Services (DES) for energy infrastructure permitting and a proviso requiring decisions on DES permit applications within 90 days.

Both the SC House and Senate will return Wednesday to vote on the conference committee’s version of the FY2025-26 budget.