| State budget runs into snag COLUMBIA - Plans to get the state's $5.5 billion budget to Gov. Mark Sanford's desk hit a snag Tuesday when Sen. Greg Ryberg balked at the idea of adopting the massive spending plan without reading it. It was a one-day delay legislators didn't expect as they raced to complete their budget work to force Mr. Sanford to act on the bill by next week. That would give them plenty of time to override expected vetoes before adjourning June 3. "I think we ought to have a little bit of time to look at all 514 pages," said Mr. Ryberg, R-Aiken. The Senate delayed action on the budget until today. The House approved the compromise with a 96-18 vote. Mr. Ryberg's move sank an otherwise buoyant mood that had surrounded a spending plan that gives taxpayers a $40 million break on the marriage penalty, which works out to about $108 less in state taxes. The budget also hands state workers a 3 percent raise - their first pay increase in two years - and puts more money into public schools and Medicaid programs. The measure also pays off a burdensome $155 million deficit left from the 2002 fiscal year that Mr. Sanford had asked lawmakers to fix. With an unexpected surplus and a revised revenue forecast, the budget spares state agencies from cuts expected last fall. Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, questioned a $13 million cut in estate taxes included in the bill. "You understand that gives 300 people in this state a $43,000 tax break," Mr. Leventis said. House Minority Leader James Smith, D-Columbia, liked parts of the budget compromise but said it did not do enough to support public education and health care and ignored chances to cover those obligations by raising taxes. "I cannot support this budget because it does not articulate what I believe is the correct vision for South Carolina and what I believe the people of this state expect," Mr. Smith said. House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said representatives wanted more in the budget than they got.
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