SC governor faces budget veto deadline

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley faces a deadline for striking items from the Legislature’s $6.7 billion budget plan.

Any vetoes must come before midnight Thursday, but the governor is not publicly discussing what she vetoed until Friday afternoon.

State law gives Haley five days, excluding Sunday, to issue vetoes. Otherwise, bills become law without her signature.

The Legislature approved a budget compromise last Thursday that did not reach Haley’s desk until Friday. The spending plan will take effect with Haley’s decisions, five days after the fiscal year started.

A stalemate over small business tax cuts blocked a compromise for weeks as a government shutdown loomed. A continuing resolution kept government running at current levels while she considered her vetoes.

Legislators will return to Columbia later to consider overriding her vetoes.