Haley: Spend extra $400 million on tax cut, debt or roads

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Gov. Nikki Haley says lawmakers better use $400 million likely to be added to the budget this week to give tax breaks, pay down the state’s debt or fix South Carolina’s roads and bridges.

Surrounded by 25 Republican House and Senate members, Haley said Tuesday she’s not going to specify what she wants, as long as the money goes toward those three things instead of toward legislators’ pet projects.

The extra money is coming through economic growth and additional tax revenue. The Board of Economic Advisers is meeting Friday to confirm how much money will be added to the budget. Haley says the state is past the Great Recession and can expect this kind of growth regularly.

The additional revenue could doom proposals this year to raise the gas tax.