2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 11 - Public Finance › Chapter 9 - State Finances Generally › Section 11-9-1140. Quarterly revenue estimates; reduction of general appropriations; action to avoid year-end deficit.

(A) In all revenue estimates made under the provisions of Section 11-9-1130, the Board of Economic Advisors shall incorporate quarterly revenue estimates within the annual revenue estimate.
(B)(1) If at the end of the first, second, or third quarter of any fiscal year the Board of Economic Advisors reduces the revenue forecast for the fiscal year by three percent or less below the amount projected for the fiscal year in the forecast in effect at the time the general appropriations bill for the fiscal year is ratified, within three days of that determination, the Director of the Executive Budget Office, after reducing the appropriation to the Capital Reserve Fund pursuant to Section 11-11-325, must reduce general fund appropriations by the requisite amount in the manner prescribed by law. Upon making the reduction, the Director of the Executive Budget Office immediately must notify the State Treasurer and the Comptroller General of the reduction, and upon notification, the appropriations are considered reduced. No agencies, departments, institutions, activity, program, item, special appropriation, or allocation for which the General Assembly has provided funding in any part of this section may be discontinued, deleted, or deferred by the Director of the Executive Budget Office. A reduction of rate of expenditure by the Director of the Executive Budget Office, under authority of this section, must be applied as uniformly as shall be practicable, except that no reduction must be applied to funds encumbered by a written contract with the agency, department, or institution not connected with state government.
(2) If at the end of the first, second, or third quarter of any fiscal year the Board of Economic Advisors reduces the revenue forecast for the fiscal year by more than three percent below the amount projected for the fiscal year in the forecast in effect at the time the general appropriations bill for the fiscal year is ratified, then the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives may call each respective house into session to take action to avoid a year-end deficit. If the General Assembly has not taken action within twenty days of the determination of the Board of Economic Advisors, then the Director of the Executive Budget Office must reduce general fund appropriations by the requisite amount in the manner prescribed by law and in accordance with item (1).
HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 540, Part II, Section 46; 2010 Act No. 152, Section 3, eff May 6, 2010; 2014 Act No. 121 (S.22), Pt VI, Section 9, eff July 1, 2015. Formerly Code 1976 Section 11-9-890, redesignated and amended by 2018 Act No. 246 (H.3895), Sections 1, 2, eff July 1, 2018; 2019 Act No. 1 (S.2), Section 42, eff January 31, 2019; 2022 Act No. 238 (H.3346), Section 2.C, eff February 28, 2023.
Code Commissioner's Note
At the direction of the Code Commissioner, in subsection (A), the reference to "Section 11-9-880" was corrected to reference "Section 11-9-1130" to reflect the redesignation of former Section 11-9-880 by 2018 Act No. 246, Section 1.
Editor's Note
Prior Laws: Former Section 11-9-1140 was titled Office of State Budget division, and had the following history: 2014 Act No. 121 (S.22), Pt VI, Section 8.A, eff July 1, 2014. See now, Code 1976 Section 11-9-860.
2022 Act No. 238, Section 3(B), provides as follows:
"[SECTION 3.](B) The provisions of SECTION 2 of this act take effect upon the ratification of an amendment to Section 36(B), Article III of the Constitution of this State to allow the Capital Reserve Fund to be used first to offset midyear budget reductions and raising the Capital Reserve Fund from two percent of the general fund revenue of the latest completed fiscal year to three percent of such revenues and first applies to the state fiscal year beginning thereafter."
The amendment was ratified on February 28, 2023, in 2023 Act No. 5 (S.381), Section 1.B.
Effect of Amendment
The 2010 amendment rewrote B.
2014 Act No. 121, Section 9, rewrote subsection B.
2018 Act No. 246, Section 2, in (A), deleted the first sentence, which had read, "Beginning August 15, 1986, the Board of Economic Advisors shall delineate the official fiscal year 1986-87 revenue estimates by quarters.", and in the first sentence, substituted "In all revenue estimates" for "In all subsequent revenue estimates".
2019 Act No. 1, Section 42, in (B)(2), in the first sentence, substituted "President of the Senate" for "President Pro Tempore of the Senate", and made nonsubstantive changes.
2022 Act No. 238, Section 2.C, in (B)(1), in the first sentence, inserted "after reducing the appropriation to the Capital Reserve Fund pursuant to Section 11-11-325,".