The State Budget is Three Times Bigger Than Most Think

At a time when families are watching how they spend every dollar, and many taxpayers are paying closer attention to how their tax dollars are spent, they’d have a hard time following the money in Columbia. A report released Tuesday by the South Carolina Policy Council highlights what a lot of South Carolinians don’t know: the state budget isn’t $6 billion or $7 billion dollars, which is the amount lawmakers debate and pass; it’s closer to $21 billion.

In addition to the $6-7 billion in the state budget, state agencies take in about $7 billion in fees and fines and another $7.1 billion in federal funds. But that other two-thirds of the budget, the part most people aren’t aware of, doesn’t get debated at the Statehouse and isn’t typically listed in the budget document.

SC Policy Council president Ashley Landess says, “If you really want a one-stop shop to get your hands on what triggers all of the funding and how are all of the dollars spent, there’s really not a place to get that.“

Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, worked with the Policy Council on the report. He’s Gov. Mark Sanford’s former legislative liaison and also served as his chief of staff. He says of the budget, “Let’s not look at a third of it. Let’s look holistically at the entire $21 billion. Let’s get the public involved. Let’s go ahead and have an assessment of how we raise money, and then let’s decide if that’s best for the people of South Carolina.“ 

He’d like to see lawmakers put a moratorium on state agencies raising any fees, fines or license increases until the agencies explain where the additional funds would go. He’s also calling for a 72-hour “cooling off period” for the budget between the time it goes to the Senate floor and senators start debating it. It would be published online, and the time would give lawmakers more time to study the budget and give taxpayers time to comment on it.

Gov. Mark Sanford says, “This idea of a 72-hour cooling off period, I think, would be incredibly important, ‘cause you talk to, in fairness House or Senate members, oftentimes what they’ll tell you is, ‘We weren’t on the Ways and Means Committee. We don’t even know what all’s in it.‘“

But Senate Finance Committee chairman Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, says there’s nothing sinister or sneaky about the fact that the one-third of the budget from the federal government isn’t debated or in the budget. “It’d be almost impossible to go through that in the budget process,“ he says. “We generally don’t appropriate the federal funds, things like match money for Medicaid over there. I mean, that’s set by federal statute or regulation. And many of the things that flow into the state are just like that.“ 

He says lawmakers do need to do a better job of accounting for the “other” third of the money from fees, licenses and fines. He has appointed a special subcommittee, headed by Greenville Sen. David Thomas, to look at that money and make recommendations.

Landess says the Policy Council will be looking at every agency over the next few months. “When you’re cutting teachers, furloughing law enforcement officers and there’s $7 billion in funds that appear to be not debated, I think we have some tough questions,“ she says.