Blatant Reality

South Carolina’s General Assembly is having an emergency session to dea with the budget shortfall. The cuts have been proposed in House Bill 5300 and as of right now, there are 11 amendments that have been proposed. These amendments will be debated today which means that it could be a long.
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On an interesting note, 7 of those amendments have been proposed by James Smith.
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UPDATE
Amendment #4 proposes that Suth Carolina only spend based on the previous year’s collection. The House voted 59-49 to table the amendment to later debate.
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UPDATE 2
Amendment #8 proposes that South Carolina affix a stamp to cigarettes that help to track the collections of cigarette taxes (doesn’t raise the tax). The House voted 68-39 to table the amendment.
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UPDATE 3
Amendment #9 proposes the identical cigarette tax increase that was passed by the House and Senate but vetoed by the Gov. Sanford this past spring. This tax increase will supposedly cover roughly 1/3 of the budget shortfall. Voice vote tabled the amendment.
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UPDATE 4
Amendment #10 proposes that if state agencies have to lay off employees, the state has to re-employ these members if the economy rebounds. Amendment was tabled because there is a law like this already on the books.
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UPDATE 5
Amendment #11 proposes that the nonprofit Protection and Advocacy for the Handicapped, which got a 100% funding cut, get roughly a 14% cut instead which leaves roughly $249,000 for funding. The House voted 66-50 to table the amendment.
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UPDATE 6
Amendment #13 proposes that the cuts for the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities be lowered to 3.6% since these schools receive no local funding. House voted to table the amendment 80-31.
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UPDATE 7
Amendment #17 proposes to transfer $1,000,000 to the Department of Health and Environmental Control for HIV Prevention from the Department of Health and Human Services. Voice vote tabled the amendment.
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UPDATE 8
I’m heading to class for a bit but I should be back up there a little later to give more coverage.
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UPDATE 9
Well it seems that the House passed the Budget Cut Bill overwhelmingly with only one amendment addressing some number errors.