THIS WEEK IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Floor debate continued on H.3579 (Infrastructure Funding) with Senator Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) continuing his filibuster through Wednesday evening. Senator Lee Bright (R-Spartanburg) began a filibuster on Thursday. Senate floor debate on the roads bill will continue this week.
The House Higher Education Subcommittee met on Wednesday to consider H.4833 (Higher Education Governance Act) and adjourned debate on the bill. The bill is scheduled to be considered by the Subcommittee again on March 1. The Subcommittee also met on Thursday to consider H.4521 (Tucker Hipps Transparency Act). The bill was carried over and is expected to be taken up again in Subcommittee on Thursday, March 3.
The Committee confirmed the appointment of Tim Hofferth as At-Large Chair of the Commission on Higher Education. Devron Edwards was confirmed by the Committee for the At-Large seat vacated by Tim Hofferth's appointment as Chair of the Commission.
BUDGET The South Carolina House Ways and Means Committee completed their work on the state budget on Thursday, February 25.
The Ways and Means version of the budget contains the following specifically for Clemson University and Clemson PSA:
Clemson Education and General (E&G) - $5 million in recurring funding for E&G General Operating funds - $2 million in nonrecurring funding for Outdoor Laboratory Facilities Maintenance
Clemson Public Service & Agriculture (PSA) - $1 million in recurring funding for Agriculture and Natural Resources Programming - $750,000 in recurring funding for Animal Industry Infectious Disease Prevention - $1 million in nonrecurring funding for Agriculture and Natural Resources Field Facilities - $1 million in nonrecurring funding for the T. Ed Garrison Arena Education/Conference Center
The Committee included a 1% cost of living pay increase for state employees in their version of the budget.
The Committee's version of the budget also funds the increase in the cost of health insurance and retirement contributions for state employees.
The budget now goes to the full South Carolina House of Representatives for consideration which is scheduled for the week of March 21st.
Detailed information on Clemson's 2016 state legislative and budget priorities for FY 2016-17 may be found at these links:
BILLS OF INTEREST The Clemson University Governmental Affairs office is monitoring several bills that have potential impact on Clemson. A complete listing of these bills may be found here. Click on the bill number for a description of the legislation, along with the bill's current status.
CLEMSON ON CAPITOL HILL Secretary of Education Nomination Last Thursday (2.25), the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a nomination hearing for Acting Secretary of Education John King and discussed a broad range of higher education policy issues. During his testimony, Acting Secretary King stated that he would like to see improvements to reduce student loan debt and reforms to the Perkins Loan Program.
Upcoming Hearings March 2 - House Ways and Means Committee will hold a hearing on "Protecting the Free Exchange of Ideas of College Campuses". March 9 - Senate HELP Committee will vote on Acting Secretary King's nomination to become Secretary of Education.
2016 ACC Student Advocacy DC Trip On March 13-15, several ACC schools will each send student leaders to Washington, D.C. for its annual Student Advocacy conference. While on Capitol Hill, the students will network and discuss issues with their ACC counterparts. They will also visit their respective Congressional delegation offices to advocate on behalf of their universities. Clemson will have six student leaders representing the University at the conference.
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