by Ben Szobody

Gov. Nikki Haley’s vetoes Tuesday on spending $213 million calls into question the future rate of local school taxes, Clemson University research and University Center funding, among other items.

Haley vetoed funding for the state’s first-in-the-South Republican presidential primary, the Arts Commission budget and the use of $108 million in state capital reserve funds for closing economic development deals, deferred maintenance on college campuses and other items.

In a letter to House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Haley said she wants to see any increase in state spending capped at inflation plus population growth, while the Legislature’s $5.8 billion budget runs over by $75.6 million. Haley vetoed 35 line items and provisos, or $105.7 million from the budget.

She also said the reserve funds should be set aside given recent budget crises, though she didn’t question the merit of projects the money would have supported.

Haley also vetoed $12.4 million for new school buses, saying the state should work toward privatizing the bus system, and $4.8 million for teacher training provided via ETV, which she said should be privately funded.

And she scratched $1.4 million for High Schools That Work, a program designed to improve the transition from high school to college, saying it is duplicative, and $169,487 for a program for improving SAT scores that she called one of several “unnecessary government programs.”

Elsewhere in the budget, Haley struck $1.7 million for Greenville’s University Center, saying it’s among the facilities that duplicate existing programs students can access at main college campuses and online.

Haley also vetoed funding for the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Certificate of Need program. The CON program is designed to prevent unnecessary duplication of high-ticket items, such as multimillion dollar imaging systems, at health-care facilities by reviewing whether they are needed.