Last month, S.C. Governor, Henry McMaster vetoed $20.5M in funding for new South Carolina school buses, saying that lottery surplus should be used for it’s intended purpose: College scholarships.
But, Upstate legislators are discussing their support in overriding the veto so the lottery surplus funds can be used to purchase new school buses.
In Greenville County alone:
Buses broke down more than 3,500 times (during the 2016 – 2017 school year).
Approximately 35% of the regular buses in Greenville County are 15 years old or older, and 93% of spare buses are at least 15 years old.
60 of the regular route buses are 1995 models, which have experienced an increased occurrence of fires.
Where do we stand now?
Since McMaster didn’t veto all of the bus money, the education agency still plans to lease about 120 buses (which should be delivered this fall).
It is unlikely that state representatives will meet for a special session in 2017 due to the lack of other budget vetoes up for consideration and the cost to taxpayers for all representatives to travel to Columbia.
This would be the first time in 14 years that a special session has not been called for an override such as this.
Legislators will likely meet on the topic at the next regularly scheduled session in January, 2018.
