Staff Report
Published July 18, 2012

The South Carolina House of Representatives made short work of many of Gov. Nikki Haley’s 81 vetoes on Tuesday, voting overwhelmingly to override several of her most controversial strikes from the state budget.

Previous coverage Haley vetoes 81 items in S.C. budget

The House voted 110-5 to restore the funding of the South Carolina Arts Commission. The funds for the Sea Grant Consortium, which facilitates grants for research at South Carolina universities, were restored on a 102-10 vote. And $10 million in Education Improvement Act funds were restored to help local school districts pay for teacher pay raises.

House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham, R-Lexington, urged House members to also override Haley’s veto of $1.2 million to complete the expansion of the student body at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics in Hartsville from 120 to 300. Bingham explained that the funds comprised the final year of a three-year phase-in of the expansion.

“There’s no better bang for the bucks than that school in Hartsville,” Bingham said.

The House voted 109-3 to override Haley’s veto and award the money to the Governor’s School.

Haley also vetoed the funding for staff at the Department of Health and Environmental Control to administer the certificate of need program for the state’s hospitals. House leaders explained that state law still requires hospitals to obtain the certificates of need before making major expenditures on new equipment and facilities. Without the staff to administer the program, no hospital could be awarded the necessary certificate of need in the coming year. The House voted 106-6 to override Haley’s veto on the measure.

While support was strong in the House to restore many of Haley’s strikes from the budget, those House-approved overrides must still receive a two-thirds vote in the Senate to become law.

The Senate is expected to take up the House-approved overrides today.