State agencies request less, but needs still outweigh available budget dollars
COLUMBIA — Roads may be the most visible problem in South Carolina, but state agencies are ready for their annual battle over budget dollars as lawmakers determine where limited new money goes next year.
House lawmakers will begin the budget-writing process once they return to the Statehouse in January. Though economists forecast lawmakers will have an additional $446 million to spend over fiscal 2016, the money doesn't come close to addressing the $1.9 billion in needs that state agencies have identified.
Higher education institutions make up $1.1 billion of the requests, or 72 percent, which many lawmakers view more as "wants" than "needs."
Lawmakers have said much of the additional $446 million will cover obligations already on the books, such as state employee health insurance increases. Some $64 million will be needed to cover Hurricane Matthew damage. That leaves agencies pitted against each other, as well as a Legislature that still has to face closing the state's mammoth pension fund gap.
Read more: http://www.postandcourier.com/politics/state-agencies-request-less-but-needs-still-outweigh-available-budget/article_bab98dd4-bcb1-11e6-88ae-d3222c01a374.html