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| Budget wins, cuts less with tax crackdown |
| By Jim Davenport |
| Published: 04/17/2009 |
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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- South Carolina budget writers decided Thursday to crack down on tax scofflaws as they found ways to patch together a $5.7 billion budget that reduced drastic cuts, but still left agencies wondering how they'll provide services such as protecting children from abuse. A day after telling agencies they'd stand to lose 27 percent of their budgets because the spending plan was $202 million short, the Senate Finance Committee agreed to generate $48 million from putting more money into tax collection enforcement and by tapping money from a several health care-related agencies. That left a $97 million gap - along with relief and worries. In the span of few hours, Department of Social Services Director Kathleen Hayes had seen her agency's share of budget cuts fall from $30 million to $15 million - with job losses that were once 1,995 falling to about 1,000. "I still don't know how I'm going to handle those," Hayes said. The reductions would cut a quarter of her staff. While the reductions are less, she says the agency had recently told legislators it couldn't handle a $8 million cut without jeopardizing programs and risking federal penalties. Since so many on her staff are paid with a mix of state and federal funds, she says reducing payroll would mean firing two or three people to free up what would amount to a single state-funded job. Along the way, that job loss will threaten complying with federal standards on handling food stamps, welfare-to-work and child support enforcement. "This is really like the day after Katrina," Hayes said. "I'm concerned whether or not we understand that the safety net we've placed out there is going to be out there with these cuts." Agencies warned they simply couldn't function properly if they lost that much state funding. State Department of Public Safety Director Mark Keel said the Highway Patrol's ranks of 870 could shrink to 584. "If we were cut to that level, about all our troopers would be doing is going from accident to accident on accident calls," Keel said. State Law Enforcement Division Chief Reggie Lloyd said he'd have to drop 120 agents with cuts that sharply reduce everything from crime lab work to arson investigations. The budget moves would trim the losses to 47, the agency said. The cuts would have been smaller altogether, but the Senate Finance Committee was trying to make sure the state could draw $350 million in federal stimulus cash into the spending plan. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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