By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | The state’s general fund revenues declined $400.1 million for April compared with the same time frame in 2019, according to a Friday state revenue presentation.
But it’s possible that money will be made up as taxes are filed later, state Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Executive Director Frank Rainwater told the Board of Economic Advisers Friday morning.
In the teleconference call, the board only saw a slight downward revision to the 2020-2021 revenue forecast that will guide lawmakers’ budget writing. Last month, the board lowered revenue estimates by $643.5 million. Now, an additional $58.3 million is expected to be lost from corporate income tax and corporate license tax, leaving lawmakers with about $9.5 billion to spend in 2020-2021 — and possibly only $60 million in surplus funds from the 2019-2020 fiscal year.
Since March, lawmakers and economists have faced the reality that the state’s consecutive years of record surpluses have ended, and that the House-approved budget that included millions for teacher pay raises no longer would reflect future revenues, which were projected in February to be $10.25 billion. The 2019-2020 fiscal year was originally projected to see a $567 million surplus.
The next meeting of the BEA is slated for June 11 to give an economic and revenue update.
Here’s the General Assembly’s schedule for next week, as of May 8:
- The COVID-19 Small Business Regulatory Relief Committee will convene 2 p.m. May 11 via Zoom. See the agenda here.
- The House will meet at noon May 12. Here is the House’s calendar.
- The Senate will meet at 2 p.m. May 12. Here is the Senate’s calendar.
In other news:
State employee association seeks hazard pay for essential staff. The association representing state employees this week asked Gov. Henry McMaster and the General Assembly to consider hazard pay for essential public employees. S.C. State Employees Association Executive Director Carlton Washington said in a May 6 letter that some staff have been infected by the coronavirus and all front line employees “deserve” financial compensation, in addition to free testing, personal protection equipment and gratitude. He said he wanted members of the legislature to include hazard pay in the legislative discussions May 12 to May 15 for “all employees who are required to work and interact with the public in some fashion.”
Housing during pandemic to be discussed May 14. The S.C. Appleseed Legal Justice Center will discuss how federal CARES Act funding can be used to address housing issues during the pandemic and other updates to coronavirus relief 2 p.m. May 14 online. Register for the forum here.
State Supreme Court says no bias proved in ethics judgment. Special prosecutor David Pascoe sought to overturn a plea deal by former state lawmaker Richard Quinn in a seven-year ethics investigation, claiming bias from a judge. But the state Supreme Court said this week the guilty plea remained in place. Read more.
88 lawmakers sign on to stop abortion-provider Medicaid funding. Eighty-eight Republican state lawmakers signed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court this week asking it to allow Gov. Henry McMaster to withhold Medicaid reimbursements to abortion-providers for non-abortion services. Read more.
‘Voices of Resilience’ in print. Statehouse Report’s April 24 story on looking to those hardest hit by the pandemic and its economic fallout for how to rebuild has been republished in the Charleston City Paper as its May 6 cover story. Click here to see the story adapted to print.
Heard about the ‘murder hornets’? Why you shouldn’t worry. A pandemic, huge job losses, and now, there’s hornets out to murder people. Except, that last part is an exaggeration. (And can a hornet actually murder a person? Last time we checked, murder requires a specific legal definition that does not apply to insects.) Read here why we shouldn’t be worrying too much about the Asian giant hornet grabbing headlines.
Call made to decriminalize marijuana. This week’s editorial in the Charleston City Paper talks about why South Carolina shouldn’t give up on decriminalizing marijuana. Read it here.
What to watch nationally:
Food stamp battle brewing. With an unprecedented rise in food insecurity around the country, access to federal food aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has continued to be a partisan battle. Read more.
Trump eyes dismantling the Affordable Care Act. President Trump pledged on Wednesday to “terminate” the Affordable Care Act which could dramatically impact the health insurance of millions of Americans. Read more.
- Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!