LAST WEEK IN SOUTH CAROLINA
S.314 (Higher Education Permanent Improvement Projects) remains on the Senate calendar for second reading.
S.173, which clarifies language regarding the procedures for promulgating regulations related to Clemson’s plant regulatory services, was sent to the House and referred to the House Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee.
The State Budget Process
The House Ways and Means Committee completed its work on the state budget on Thursday, February 23, 2023.
Below is a summary of the items impacting Clemson University:
Clemson E&G
– $13,033,600 in recurring funding for tuition mitigation
– $20 million in nonrecurring funding for maintenance, renovation and replacement
– Not less than $1M in nonrecurring for Rural Health Programming by proviso in the Department of Health and Human Services budget
Clemson PSA
– $2.3 million in recurring funding for Employee Retention and Recruitment
– $1 million in nonrecurring funding for Statewide Program Support
– $954,000 in nonrecurring funding for Problematic Wildlife
– $3 million in nonrecurring funding for the Poultry Science Research Facility
– $2.1 million in nonrecurring funding for Critical PSA Infrastructure and Dam Improvements
The Committee included several items from the Executive Budget of impact to the University:
– $4.1 million in recurring lottery dollars for students with intellectual disabilities attending college transition programs
– $10 million in recurring lottery dollars for the continuation of the initiative to address the shortage of instructors in nursing schools
– $201 million in recurring lottery dollars for LIFE scholarships, $67 million lottery dollars for Palmetto Fellows Scholarships, and $12.5 million lottery dollars for HOPE scholarships
– $51 million in recurring lottery dollars for tuition assistance at 2-year institutions (CHE and South Carolina Technical College System)
– $2 million in nonrecurring funding for a new Alzheimer’s disease research project partnership with Greenwood Genetic Center to be named in honor of Governor Carroll Campbell Jr.
– $10 million in nonrecurring funding for an Alzheimer’s disease research collaborative between Clemson, MUSC and the University of South Carolina
$2500 increase for state employees earning $83,000 and under and a 3% increase for state employees earning over $83,000. Funds for doing so is a combination of funding from the state and the University. As such, higher education institutions are allowed flexibility to award the pay increase without uniformity, based upon merit/performance and within each institution’s financial capacity to do so.
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 partially by the university.
The budget now goes to the House of Representatives, which is scheduled to debate the bill the week of March 13th.
From a state budgeting standpoint, Clemson is considered two separate state agencies: a research university that receives an educational and general (E&G) state appropriation for teaching and student support, and a land-grant Public Service and Agriculture (PSA) division that receives a state appropriation to support agriculture, forestry and natural resource Extension, research and regulatory programs.
The university also has auxiliary operations, such as athletics, student housing and dining services, which receive no state funding and must generate all of their own revenue.
Detailed information on Clemson’s state legislative and budget priorities for FY 2023-24 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.
NEWS AND FYI
Please follow CU at the Capitol on Twitter. Current news coverage of interest may be found here.