South Carolina Supreme Court puts state lawmaker pay raise on hold

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) — A state budget provision that would have given lawmakers a pay raise has been put on hold by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Lawmakers voted to raise their monthly stipend for in-district expenses from $1,000 to $2,500. That money is allocated to lawmakers on top of their $10,400 annual salary and per diems for expenses like travel to Columbia, lodging, and food.

The pay raise was set to go into effect July 1, alongside the state budget.

Proponents said the bump was needed to help align compensation, which had stayed the same since the mid-1990s, with inflation.

But, others like Sen. Wes Climer (R-York) argued it was unconstitutional for lawmakers to raise their own compensation before an election and that it should have been proposed as a standalone bill, not a budget amendment.

Climer, represented by former Sen. Dick Harpootlian, sued to stop the pay raise in early June, taking the battle to the state’s highest court.

“Regardless of how you feel about a legislative pay raise, this is the wrong way to do it,” Climer said during a June 9 press conference. “Violates the principle that the legislature cannot take the people’s money and appropriate it to themselves in real time.”

In an order filed June 25, the court issued a preliminary injunction, stopping the State Treasurer’s Office from distributing the funds “pending further order.”

Dozens of House members and several senators have chosen not to accept the additional money regardless of the legal outcome, according to reporting from the Associated Press.