Senate Approves $15B Budget With Panic‑Alarm Mandate and Data‑Center Limits

The South Carolina Senate passed a $15 billion general fund budget by a 42‑2 vote, adding provisions for panic‑alarm buttons in schools and new limits on data‑center tax incentives. The plan also earmarks up to $2 million for a Robert Smalls statue on the Statehouse grounds.

On Friday, April 24, the Senate finished Week 15 of the legislative session with three weeks and nine days left before the May 14 sine die deadline. Lawmakers debated the budget for a full week before the vote. The House has not yet adopted a sine die resolution, so the chamber may reconvene after the deadline to finish budget work, conference committees, and possible gubernatorial vetoes.

- The budget totals $15 billion and was approved 42‑2, with Sens. Lee Bright and Tom Fernandez dissenting. - Finance Committee Chairman Harvey Peeler said the measure lets taxpayers keep more of their money while funding core state functions. - The package includes one‑year provisos that require panic‑alarm buttons in public schools and impose new reporting requirements on data‑center operators seeking state tax breaks. - Lawmakers allocated between $1 million and $2 million for the Robert Smalls monument, a bipartisan effort to place the first standalone statue of an African American on the Statehouse grounds. - Other spending items mirror the House’s version: raises for teachers to $50,500 starting pay, a 2 % increase for state employees, $308.7 million to implement the recent income‑tax cut, and $175 million for a new cancer hospital at MUSC.

The Senate’s version adds policy riders that were not in the House’s draft, reflecting divergent priorities on school security and data‑center oversight. The panic‑alarm mandate could lead to statewide installation of emergency systems in schools, while the data‑center curbs may affect future tech‑sector incentives. The Robert Smalls funding signals continued commitment to diversify Statehouse memorials, though actual construction depends on fundraising progress. With the House still to act, differences will need reconciliation in conference committees before the budget can reach the governor.