THIS WEEK IN SOUTH CAROLINA
The South Carolina House of Representatives was on furlough last week. The Senate is on furlough this week.
Next week marks the General Assembly’s crossover deadline for legislation to be sent to the opposite chamber from which it was introduced.
H.4182 (Higher Education Efficiency Act) is on the House calendar for second reading and is expected to come up for debate this week. Please keep an eye out for important calls to action on this bill shortly.
The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) will host the next in a series of town hall meetings on “College Access and Affordability in South Carolina” in Spartanburg this Thursday, April 5, 2018. The meeting will begin at 5:30 pm and will be held at the Spartanburg Marriott located at 299 North Church Street.
Spartanburg area Advocates, we would like for as many of you to attend as possible. Please respond via return email (bmcinni@clemson.edu) if you plan to attend or if you have questions. We will send a detailed email later this week.
CHE’s monthly newsletter, which contains a listing of upcoming town hall meetings, may be found here.
BUDGET
The 2018-19 State Budget Process
The Senate Finance Committee completed their work on the state budget on Wednesday, March 28, 2018.
Below is a summary of the items impacting Clemson University:
Clemson E&G
– $2,868,740 in recurring funding for Access and Affordability for Instate Students – Tuition Mitigation Funding (No recurring funding in the House)
– $5 million in nonrecurring funding for SC’s Advanced Materials Industrial Competitiveness (Instruments) (House funded $5 million)
– $2.4 million in nonrecurring funding for deferred maintenance (not funded by the House)
– $300,000 in nonrecurring funding for STEM equipment (not funded by the House)
Clemson PSA
– $1.5 million in recurring funding for Water Resource Research, Management and Technology (House funded $2 million)
– $500,000 in recurring funding for the Pinckney 4-H Scholars program (not funded by the House)
– $3 million in nonrecurring funding for Statewide Research and Education Facility Upgrades (same as the House)
– $3 million in nonrecurring funding for Facility Renovation for Water Research(same as the House)
The Committee’s version of the budget includes an increase in the cost of health insurance and an increase in retirement contributions for state employees and employers. The employee portion of both will be paid by the state. The employer portion of both will have to be covered by the university.
The budget now goes to the full Senate.
Detailed information on Clemson’s 2018 state legislative and budget priorities for FY 2018-19 may be found at these links:
Clemson Education and General (E&G) Priorities
Clemson Public Service and Agriculture (PSA) Priorities
BILLS OF INTEREST
The Clemson University Governmental Affairs office is monitoring several bills that have potential impact on Clemson. A complete listing of these bills may be found here. Click on the bill number for a description of the legislation, along with the bill’s current status.
NEWS AND FYI
Please follow CU at the Capitol on Twitter. Current news coverage of interest may be found here.