The Nerve

By RICK BRUNDRETT In debating next fiscal year’s state budget, House members could decide this week whether to funnel $23 million through the state’s tourism department and nearly $2 million through the S.C. State Museum for projects or programs that neither agency formally requested, records show. Most of those funding requests are included on an […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT Buried in the latest $32.3 billion state spending plan for next fiscal year is a $19 million expenditure for a proposed downtown Greenville convention center, and another $7.5 million to renovate the Sumter Opera House. The total $26.5 million – which is larger than the overall proposed fiscal 2020-21 budgets of at […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT In 2015 and 2016, S.C. lawmakers approved spending a total of nearly $4 million for a “Sports Development Marketing Program,” $150,000 of which was used for the Carolina Panthers’ summer training camp, records released Friday to The Nerve show. In an email response, Dawn Dawson-House, spokeswoman for the S.C. Department of Parks, […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT S.C. Reps. Bruce Bannister and Dwight Loftis want $5 million in state funding to help build a convention center in downtown Greenville that Bannister says would house a large art collection that had been displayed at the private Bob Jones University. Rep. Leon Stavrinakis, who has donated to the nonprofit South Carolina […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT S.C. Senate president pro tempore Hugh Leatherman appeared relaxed and confident before last week’s votes, at one point smiling and giving a thumbs up. Leatherman, R-Florence, didn’t make any long speeches in asking his Senate colleagues to override Gov. Henry McMaster’ vetoes of parts of a state budget proviso directing a total […]

By RICK BRUNDRETT At least three S.C. House members – and some of their favorite nonprofits – were probably happy with today’s early morning passage of a $28 billion-plus state budget. Buried deep in the 2018-19 budget, which passed the House by a 117-2 vote and now goes to the Senate, are nearly $1 million […]