COLUMBIA, S.C. – Governor Nikki Haley, surrounded by members of the Cabinet, unveiled her FY 2012-2013 Executive Budget during a Statehouse press conference.
Gov. Haley said, “To control spending, our state government can and must function within a spending cap. Any General Fund dollars above and beyond the cap should go towards tax relief, debt relief, or reserve funds. We made tough decision just as we do in our homes and businesses every day. Government is not exempt from that process.”
The governor crafted the budget, which falls under a spending cap, with the following priorities in mind: transparency and truth-in-budgeting, living within our means, using recurring dollars for recurring needs, strengthening the state’s reserves and delivering meaningful tax relief to South Carolinians.
The executive budget also includes an accountability based funding formula for higher education, an accelerated highway turn back initiative, a ports infrastructure initiative, local choice for student transportation and increased support for law enforcement, charter schools and mental health services.
Gov. Haley said, “This year’s executive budget was a Team Haley effort. This was everybody coming together and saying we’re going to do this – and there’s going to be truth in budgeting. This executive budget is a working document. This is the document we want the General Assembly to work off of. And you will see that the top priorities for this administration will continue to be how can we help existing businesses that are already there, and how we can attract new businesses? But what we know is that none of that matters if we don’t keep our fiscal house in order. How we spend and what we spend matters.”
Here is a video of the press conference:
Here is a copy of the proposed budget: