South Carolina House advances $1,500 monthly pay boost provision

South Carolina House lawmakers returned to the state budget this afternoon and advanced a temporary provision that would raise in-district pay from $1,000 to $2,500 a month. If that language stays in the budget, the increase would add $18,000 a year to lawmakers’ in-district expense money.

House Budget Provision

The proposal sits inside the House version of the budget and is temporary, according to the legislative language described by lawmakers. House members receive a salary, in-district expense money for work back home, and travel reimbursement to and from Columbia, and the budget change would alter one part of that package.

The Senate included similar language in its own budget version. That leaves both chambers with parallel pay language in play as the legislative session winds down.

Separate Pay Legislation

House lawmakers are expected to take up separate legislation tomorrow that would raise lawmakers’ base salary and in-district expenses. The Senate has already passed that measure, giving it a separate path from the budget provision now moving through the House.

Lawmakers have said they have not seen a raise in years, and they have argued that more money could help incentivize others to run. Those points have been part of the push to move the pay language before the end of the session.

Session Wrap-Up

Lawmakers are expected to wrap up the session next Thursday. That puts the budget provision and the separate pay bill on a short timeline, with the House still needing to act on both before the session ends.

The clearest immediate step is tomorrow’s House debate on the separate legislation, while the budget language already advanced keeps the $1,000-to-$2,500 monthly change alive inside the spending plan.