Senate Approves $5 Billion Spending Plan Thursday May 22, 2003 5:43am How would you rate the Bush Administration on Homeland Security/Anti-Terror efforts?  Excellent  Good  Fair  Poor  Awful disclaimer  |  results  |  more polls ___  ABC News 4 Interact  ___    • Signup for eNews Alerts    • ABC News 4 Pulse Poll    • Whats Your Opinion?    • Printable Version    • E-Mail This Story ___  Related Stories  ___ Pace Quickens on Senate's Budget Debate Budget Woes Lead to Pay Cuts for Inmates Senate Gives Budget Critical Second Reading Columbia (AP) -  The Senate approved the state's five billion dollar state budget Wednesday.  Senators approved the budget on third reading on a 27-to-14 vote before adjourning.  The vote doesn't end the Senate's budget debate.  Senators are planning to take up a bill that could increase the state's cigarette tax by 53 cents to 60 cents a pack, increase traffic ticket fees and raise the state's sales tax.  The Senate also left the door open to adding that money back into the budget.  The budget now goes to Senate and House negotiators, who will work out differences in the two versions of the budget.  The spending plan doesn't please Senate Democratic leadership because they say it doesn't adequately fund education or health care.  Senate Minority Leader John Land ( bio ), of Manning, says he's never seen the Senate unwilling to step up to the plate and pay for critical state programs. » Find More Articles Related To This One » Search The Internet For More On This Topic Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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