By Mike Fitts
mfitts@scbiznews.com
Published June 16, 2010

The S.C. House voted to sustain many of Gov. Mark Sanford’s budget vetoes this morning but backed away from supporting major cuts in the technical college system and S.C. ETV.

Sanford vetoed almost $4 million for the technical colleges’ board, saying that its economic development activities “fall outside the technical college system’s core mission.” Members including Rep. Anne Hutto, D-Charleston, argued that industries such as Boeing were counting on the technical college system’s ability to train the state’s work force.

The S.C. Chamber of Commerce had argued that the veto, if sustained, would interfere with critical economic development efforts such as ReadySC, which helps match workers with new jobs. Any consolidation of functions in the system should be done carefully and separately, the chamber said.

The House also voted not to support cuts of more than $5 million to ETV, despite the governor’s assertion that the educational TV system cannot be so high a priority with budgets so tight.

The House voted to override more than $4.6 million in cuts to aid to local libraries and about $1.2 million for the state Arts Commission.

The veto of more than $500,000 for the state’s Small Business Development Center, which is housed at the University of South Carolina, was also overturned. During debate, Rep. Dwight Loftis, R-Greenville, said in support of the funds, “We’re going to wind up poor, barefoot, broke and behind Mississippi.”

For the vetoes to be completely overridden, the Senate will also have to vote affirmatively. If either body votes to sustain a veto, that is enough for it to take effect.

Among the vetoes that were upheld:

• The House sustained the veto of more than $1.2 million in research funding, including money targeted for work on hydrogen fuel cells, nanotechnology and the working of the USC Columbia Technology Incubator.
• The House sustained the governor’s veto of about $1.4 million for the High Schools That Work and Making Middle Grades Work programs, despite arguments from supporters that the efforts were effective at guiding students toward careers and combating the state’s high dropout rate.
• The House also sustained a veto of about $1.2 million in funding for the Education and Economic Development Act, a program to smooth the transition between high school and college for students.

In his veto message, Sanford argued that worse budget times loom next year, including a deficit that his office projects will be $1 billion, and that making some hard cuts now will cushion that blow.

Two medical research programs at the Medical University of South Carolina were among the few veto targets that the House did not sustain. The two programs provided almost $800,000 for diabetes and hypertension research. Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, D-Charleston, argued that MUSC, as a smaller institution than Clemson or USC, could not simply make up these dollars with tuition money.