COLUMBIA, S.C. - Changes in the way the state pays for K-12 education dominated the first day of debate on the state's $5.3 billion budget on Tuesday.
Democrats gathered bipartisan support to successfully scuttle an amendment that would have cut funding to the early childhood education program First Steps, but could not get enough votes to restore funding for a reading program.
Both were initiatives that former Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges, who lost his re-election bid to Gov. Mark Sanford, helped set in motion.
Democrats, led by House Minority Leader James Smith, put up most of the 180 amendments to the spending plan, which House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bobby Harrell said was a way to stymie the bill.
The slow pace had threatened to keep the legislators in town for the weekend, but House members were able to clear through the logjam by late Tuesday and kept the spending plan mostly intact, said Harrell, R-Charleston.
"It's pretty obvious that the Democrats have decided that they're going to put up a lot of amendments where the focus is dragging the budget on," said Harrell, who expected to wrap up debate by Thursday night.
Democrats repeatedly questioned why money from the state lottery is used to cover basic education programs.
The lottery law says games can supplement education spending but not replace it, said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg.
"We are doing exactly what we told the public we would not do," she said.
Harrell said the law sets a minimum amount the state should spend. State spending hasn't fallen below that level and the General Assembly is free to use lottery money for greater education funding, he said.
"It's a good idea that somebody slows it down," said Rep. Joe Neal, D-Hopkins. "The questions need to be asked" on a variety of issues, including moving money around from different sources to cover school spending.
Rep. Mike Pitts, R-Laurens, said the $17.4 million earmarked for First Steps would be better used on buses. But his amendment had little support and failed.
Smith said that doing away with the $1.3 million reading program "is the wrong direction for South Carolina."
Harrell said school districts would get the money through another source and would be able to pay for reading programs if they choose to do that.
Rep. John Scott, D-Columbia, said Democrats may not have enough votes in the House, but they needed a "really good debate" to draw attention to their concerns before the budget heads to the Senate.
"The Democrats in the next chamber and the Republicans in the next chamber are going to look at the issues," Scott said.
But Democrats "either miss the point or don't care that education is getting more money while everybody else is being cut," Harrell said.
Those moves "equate to funny money" and merit a closer look, Neal said.
Democrats also tried to pass several amendments that would take away $700,000 some Republican leaders want to spend on drawing a college football bowl game to Charleston and spend it on other items, like restoring some money for the John de la Howe School for troubled children. Those proposals failed.
Harrell did agree to give $320,000 of the money used to get the Palmetto Bowl for a nursing program at Midlands Technical College.
Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, filed an amendment he said will send a message to South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal.
House members approved Merrill's proposal to cut $30,000 from Toal's budget after she hired a lobbyist group to influence legislators.
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State budget bill: http://www.scstatehouse.net/
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