COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- A South Carolina budget oversight board is cutting twice as much as expected from state spending plans as revenues fall short of expectations.
The state Budget and Control Board on Tuesday chose to cut more than $238 million from the overall $5 billion budget for the fiscal year that ends in June.
The cuts will hit state spending across the board, and affect education, health care, social services, prisons and other agency budgets.
An initial proposal had called for at least $122 million in cuts.
State tax collections have fallen sharply. South Carolina's 12 percent unemployment rate in October was the nation's fifth highest, a leading cause of plunging state tax collections.
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SC budget board to discuss agency spending cuts
A state budget oversight board will decide whether it needs to cut more than $122 million from South Carolina's spending plans as revenues fall short of expectations.
The proposal going before the state Budget and Control Board on Tuesday would trim more than 2 percent from education, health care, social service, prison and other agency budgets.
The state's schools would lose at least $53 million and Medicaid programs at least $20 million.
But House budget committee chairman Dan Cooper says the cuts could end up nearly double.
State tax collections have fallen sharply. South Carolina's 12 percent unemployment rate in October was the nation's fifth highest a leading cause of plunging state tax collections.
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