THIS WEEK IN SOUTH CAROLINA Including today, there are now 3 legislative days left in the session. By law, the General Assembly must adjourn sine die no later than 5 o'clock on Thursday, June 2. S.1336 (The Sine Die Resolution) was adopted in the Senate and sent to the House. This resolution would enable the General Assembly to return after sine die adjournment on June 2 to work on the state budget, conference committee reports, and other items agreed on by both bodies. The dates for the General Assembly's return are June 15-22.
Since this is the second year of a two year session, bills that did not pass this session will not be carried over to the 2017 legislative session.
Primaries are set for June 14 and the General Election is November 1. The entire South Carolina General Assembly is up for re-election this year.
S.1177 (Licensure of Architects) was passed by the House and enrolled for ratification. Once ratified, the bill will be sent to the Governor for her consideration.
S.1258 (Transportation Infrastructure) was passed by the House and returned to the Senate to concur or non-concur in the House amendments. If the Senate votes to non-concur, the bill will go to a conference committee to negotiate the differences in the two versions.
The State Budget Process The South Carolina Senate and House of Representatives reached a compromise on the budget on Saturday, May 28. The Budget Conference Report has been adopted by Senate and is expected to be adopted by the House today so that it can be ratified.
Once ratified, the budget will go to Governor Haley who will have five days (excluding Sunday) to issue vetoes. For appropriations bills, the Governor has line-item veto power.
The General Assembly will take up any gubernatorial vetoes when they return to Columbia June 15-22.
Specifically, the budget includes the following for Clemson and Clemson PSA:
Clemson E&G - $5 million in recurring funding for E&G General Operating funds - $2.4 million in nonrecurring funding for Outdoor Laboratory Facilities Maintenance
Clemson PSA - $1.2 million in recurring funding and $500,000 in nonrecurring funding for Agriculture and Natural Resources Programming - $750,000 in recurring funding for Animal Industry Infectious Disease Prevention - $1.7 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 budget includes a 3.25% cost of living pay increase for state employees. The budget also includes an increase in the cost of health insurance for state employees which will be paid by the state. A 0.5% increase in state employees' retirement contributions, which will not be paid by the state, is also included.
Detailed information on Clemson's 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.
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