Earlier this week, the House sustained 51 of the Governor’s 107 budget vetoes worth approximately $300 million. The Senate concurred with 29 of the 56 House overrides before adjourning on Thursday evening.
None of the vetoes affected student financial aid, but several did have an impact on selected higher education programs. The House sustained the Governor’s $187, 410 veto of SCAMP, a program designed to increase the number of African American undergraduate students who pursue Ph.D. opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math. All seven historically black colleges and universities and five non-minority institutions participate in this program.
Governor Sanford vetoed, and the House sustained, $416,336 needed to fund the Commission on Higher Education’s Access and Equity program. This program supports efforts to recruit and retain minority students.
The Governor’s vetoes of a number of other programs at our state’s public colleges and universities were sustained by the House.
The House did override the Governor’s veto of $413,929 for dues to the Southern Regional Education Board. CHE maintains a contract through SREB to enable South Carolina resident students to pay in-state rates and enroll in professional programs not available in South Carolina. The state pays schools to maintain spots in veterinary medicine at the University of Georgia, Tuskegee University and Mississippi State University and in optometry at Southern College in Tennessee and University of Alabama. The loss of funding would result in eliminating proportionately across the programs spots reserved for 15 incoming students, a loss of 11 spots in veterinary medicine and 4 in optometry. The Senate must override the veto if the funds are to stay in the budget.
The budgets of several state agencies and other programs were significantly altered by budget vetoes. The Budget and Control Board, the state’s administrative agency, lost more than $25 million in state revenue. Both the Human Affairs Commission and the Consumer Affairs Commission lost a majority of the funding necessary to operate their programs. It is unclear how these agencies will carry out their legally mandated duties.
The House and the Senate will return to Columbia on June 29 for the second time since sine die adjournment to deal with the remaining vetoes. A second extra week is highly unusual but speaks to the contentiousness of this year’s legislative session.
