THIS WEEK IN SOUTH CAROLINA
The second session of the 125th General Assembly convened on Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
This is the second year of a two-year session which means those bills introduced in 2023 retain their places on the calendar and in committee and are carried over to this year. Each legislative session is held from the second Tuesday in January until the second Thursday in May.
The House pre-filed legislation on November 16 and December 14, 2023.
The Senate pre-filed legislation on November 30, 2023.
On Tuesday, Senator Nikki Setzler (D-Richland) announced that he would not seek re-election to the Senate after this legislative session. Senator Setzler has represented the citizens of SC Senate District 26 since 1977 making him the longest serving member of the South Carolina Senate. Senator Setzler is the 2017 recipient of the Clemson University Board of Visitors Legislative Leadership Award.
On Thursday, Clemson University President Jim Clements and Provost Bob Jones joined South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, South Carolina Senate President Thomas Alexander ’78, House Speaker Murrell Smith and USC President Michael Amiridis to commemorate the signing of a Statewide Transfer Agreement.
The partnership between the South Carolina Technical College System (SCTCS) and Clemson and the University of South Carolina, Columbia, is a collaborative effort to streamline the transfer experience for the benefit of student success by strengthening the seamless transfer of credits from technical colleges to public research universities within the state.
THE STATE BUDGET
Executive Budget
Governor Henry McMaster released his Executive Budget proposal for 2024-25 on Friday, January 5, 2024. Below are items in the Governor’s budget as they relate to Clemson University and higher education:
Clemson E&G and Clemson PSA:
– Allocates $49.8 million in recurring funds for tuition mitigation at SC’s public colleges and universities if each institution agrees to no in-state tuition or mandatory fee increase for the 2024-25 academic year
– Clemson E&G: $7,769,553 in recurring funding; the funds are based on a 4.5% Higher Education Price Index and allocated based on the number of in-state students at each public institution
– The FY 2024-25 Executive Budget makes a significant investment in capital projects and deferred maintenance at our public colleges and universities, including:
– $70 million in nonrecurring funds for the College of Veterinary Medicine
For Higher Education:
– $210.3 million for LIFE scholarships, $63.3 million for Palmetto Fellows Scholarships, and $12.1 million for HOPE scholarships;
– $95 million in lottery dollars for workforce scholarships and grants at the South Carolina Technical College System;
– $80 million in lottery dollars for need-based grants to provide tuition assistance for every eligible student;
– $51.1 million in lottery dollars for tuition assistance at 2-year institutions (CHE and South Carolina Technical College System);
– $10 million in lottery dollars for the continuation of the Nursing Initiative;
– $6.2 million in lottery dollars for the National Guard Tuition Repayment Program;
– $3.5 million in lottery dollars for the College Transitions Programs (ClemsonLIFE), which provide scholarships for South Carolina residents with intellectual disabilities to complete a postsecondary education program, which includes academic coursework and career exploration, thereby preparing them for independent living and employment
– $20 million in non-recurring funds to continue funding for the Battelle Alliance, a collaborative nuclear science research partnership between the University of South Carolina, Clemson University, South Carolina State University, and the Savannah River National Laboratory.
The Executive Budget recommends adding a proviso and funding for a systemic study of public higher education in South Carolina.
The State Budget Process
The House Ways and Means Committee (where the appropriations bill originates) began agency budget subcommittee hearings last week and will continue this process through January.
President Jim Clements, along with Tony Wagner (Executive Vice President for Finance and Operations) will give Clemson’s Education and General (E&G) budget presentation to the Ways and Means Higher Education Subcommittee on Wednesday, January 17.
Clemson PSA’s budget hearing is also scheduled for Wednesday, January 17 before the Economic Development and Natural Resources Subcommittee. President Clements, along with Dr. Greg Yarrow (Interim Dean, College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences) will be presenting before the Subcommittee.
House Ways and Means Subcommittees that will hear Clemson’s budget requests
Higher Education Subcommittee:
Chairman Nathan Ballentine (R-Lexington)
Representative Gilda Cobb-Hunter (D-Orangeburg)
Representative Bill Taylor (R-Aiken)
Economic Development and Natural Resources Subcommittee:
Chairman Leon Stavrinakis (D-Charleston)
Representative David Weeks (D-Sumter)
Representative Max Hyde (R-Spartanburg)
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.
Clemson’s state legislative and budget priorities for FY 2024-25:
Education & General – Recurring
– In-State Tuition Mitigation – $21,000,000
– Student Experiential Learning – $4,500,000
– Center for Human Genetics – $4,000,000
Education & General – Nonrecurring
– College of Veterinary Medicine – $175,000,000
– E&G Planned Maintenance and Renewal Projects – $29,000,000
– NextGen Computing Complex – $25,000,000
– Student Health Facility – $23,000,000
Public Service Activities – Recurring
– Poultry Science Research Facility Support – $525,000
– PSA Statewide Operational and Programmatic Support – $3,600,000
– Problematic Wildlife Management — $1,725,000
– Small Fruit Research and Extension – $525,000
Public Service Activities – Nonrecurring
– PSA Planned Maintenance – $12,170,000
– Baruch Institute Research Support Building – $9,000,000
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.