SC House leader wants raises and bonuses, but not now

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) – The chairman of the House committee that writes South Carolina’s budget says he also wants a small raise for teachers and a $1,000 COVID-19 hazard pay bonus for lower paid state workers, but now isn’t the time to spend that money.

Instead, House Ways and Means Chairman Murrell Smith says he wants to wait until January and make sure COVID-19 hasn’t wrecked the economy even more than state economists have predicted.

The Senate on Tuesday approved the raises and the hazard pay, totaling about $70 million in the state’s roughly $9 billion budget. They then attacked House members a day later for not taking it up.