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S.C. Gov Would Cut School Money, Add to Medicaid

Columbia, S.C.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford unveiled a $5.8 billion budget proposal Friday that would put money back into some subsidized health care programs that have seen severe cuts but also cut millions from education spending, furlough state workers for two days and require that retirees pay higher health insurance premiums.

The spending proposal for the next budget comes as $1 billion in cuts this fiscal year strip government aid for programs such as hospice care and meal delivery, and carve deeply into public schools and colleges. Slumping tax collections have shrunken South Carolina's state budget to $6.1 billion from more than $7 billion approved last year.

Sanford's budget recommendations to fellow Republicans, with whom he frequently disagrees, come days before legislators formally return to Columbia to continue working on their own spending plans for the fiscal...