Senate rejects taking away review of college building plans

ABC Columbia/File

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – The Senate has rejected plans to strip South Carolina’s higher education agency of its ability to review the bulk of public colleges’ building plans.

The 19-23 vote Tuesday means the chamber disagrees with a budget clause suspending the agency’s authority to say yes or no to public colleges’ plans for athletic facilities and other construction projects not directly tied to academics.

The Senate is expected later Tuesday to otherwise approve the roughly $8 billion spending compromise worked out last week by a six-member panel. The House approved it 100-9.

University of South Carolina President Harris Pastides argues removing the oversight agency from the multi-step review provides relief from “overly burdensome bureaucracy.”

Last year, the Legislature overruled the agency to allow Coastal Carolina University to build a new, larger football stadium.