Lillian Koller's nomination was approved Wednesday and now moves to the Senate floor.
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COLUMBIA (WACH, AP) -- A South Carolina Senate panel has confirmed a new director for the state's cash-strapped welfare agency.
Lillian Koller's nomination was approved Wednesday and now moves to the Senate floor.
Koller is Gov. Nikki Haley's nominee to run the Department of Social Services. The agency in December said it had a deficit of more than $28 million. The state's financial oversight board may decide next week whether to bail out the welfare agency.
DSS began reducing payments to welfare-to-work recipients this week to curb the deficit. The average monthly check for a parent with two children has been cut from $270 to $216.
Koller, Hawaii's former Department of Human Services Director, says her first order of business will be addressing DSS finances, but offered no details on trimming the agency's deficit, saying it's a work in progress.
"There are opportunities that are being overlooked I am confident of that," Koller said at her nomination announcement by Nikki Haley in January, "and we will succeed in balancing the budget."
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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