COLUMBIA — Pay raises for state employees and teachers, improvements to roads and bridges, and upgrades to prevent a future ballooning in South Carolina’s costs for federal grocery aid are part of a first draft of the next state budget approved Wednesday.
The spending package approved unanimously by the House budget-writing committee totals $15.4 billion, while taking into account cuts to income and property taxes legislators are considering. The full House will take up the package on the floor next month.
“We’ve been blessed the last several years, because South Carolina’s experiencing some extraordinary success,” said Ways and Means Chairman Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville. “Our population’s grown, our economy’s expanded, and opportunity is reaching communities across our state.”…