COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The leaders of South Carolina's Republican-controlled Legislature say they will not use an additional $913 million in revenue to boost agencies' budgets back to pre-recession levels.
House Ways and Means Chairman Brian White, (R)-Anderson, said of the surplus, "It's going to a double edge sword. We're not going to put people back to work until we get people back."
Legislators told reporters Thursday that agencies also should not expect to add back employees after years of cuts. However, both House Speaker Bobby Harrell and Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell agree current state employees are due a raise.
House Minority Leader Harry Ott, (D-Calhoun), said, " It's a big priority because we've been asking employees to do more work because we've limited them."
State employees have not received a pay increase in three years and, in many agencies, they've been forced to take unpaid leave, which reduced their paycheck.
The state's budget office expects legislators to have several hundred million dollars of additional revenue to allocate in 2012-13, even after some key funding issues are covered.
Each 1 percent raise for state workers would cost $14 million.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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