South Carolina Amendment 2, Capital Reserve Fund Increase Measure (2022)

South Carolina Amendment 2
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic State and local government budgets, spending and finance
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

South Carolina Amendment 2, the Capital Reserve Fund Increase Measure, was on the ballot in South Carolina as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022. The measure was approved.

A "yes" vote supported increasing the Capital Reserve Fund from 2% to 3% of state general fund revenue and providing that the first use of the Capital Reserve Fund is to offset midyear budget reductions.

A "no" vote opposed increasing the Capital Reserve Fund amount from 2% to 3% of state general fund revenue and providing that the first use of the Capital Reserve Fund is to offset midyear budget reductions.

Election results

South Carolina Amendment 2
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		973,178	62.46%
No		584,911	37.54%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did the amendment change about the Capital Reserve Fund?

See also: Text of measure

The amendment increased the Capital Reserve Fund (CRF) annual funding requirement from 2% to 3% of state general fund revenue.

The amendment provided that the first use of the CRF would be to offset midyear budget reductions. As of 2022, CRF funds could not be used to offset a mid-year budget reduction. The measure required the South Carolina General Assembly to provide in state law that, if before March first, expenditures for the current fiscal year are projected to exceed the projected revenue for the year, then the current year's appropriation to the Capital Reserve Fund must be reduced before any budget reductions. After March 1st of each fiscal year, the legislature can appropriate CRF funds by a two-thirds (66.67%) vote for capital improvement projects and to pay interest and principal on bonds.

What is the Capital Reserve Fund?

See also: Capital Reserve Fund

The Capital Reserve Fund (CRF), as well as the General Reserve Fund (GRF), are South Carolina's two rainy day funds, also known as budget stabilization funds. The GRF (funded at 5% of general fund revenues) is used to cover year-end operating budget deficits when the state's General Fund revenue collections cannot fully fund the state's expenditures in a fiscal year. The state legislature must appropriate 2% of the state's general fund revenue from the previous fiscal year to the Capital Reserve Fund. If GRF funds are used to cover a year-end budget deficit, money in the CRF must first be used to replenish the GRF. If there is no year-end operating deficit and the General Reserve Fund is fully funded, money in the Capital Reserve Fund can be appropriated through a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of present voting legislators (but not less than three-fifths of the total members in each chamber) for specified purposes. Funds not appropriated from the Capital Reserve Fund are returned to the state general fund at the end of a fiscal year. For fiscal year 2021-2022, the CRF was funded at $183.58 million.

Has South Carolina voted on amendments concerning the General Reserve Fund and Capital Reserve Fund in the past?

See also: Background

Amendments concerning the General Reserve Fund and Capital Reserve Fund were approved by South Carolina voters in 2010. Amendment 3 increased the General Reserve Fund amount from 3% to 5% of the state's general fund revenues incrementally by one-half of one percent over four years. It was approved by a vote of 71% to 29%. Amendment 4 provided that money in the Capital Reserve Fund must first be used to replenish the General Reserve Fund before being used to offset mid-year budget reductions. It was approved by a vote of 73% to 27%.

A constitutional amendment to increase the GRF from 5% to 7% of general fund revenue was also on the 2022 ballot in South Carolina.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was as follows:

“

Must Section 36(B), Article III of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to provide that the Capital Reserve Fund of two percent of the general fund revenue of the latest completed fiscal year be increased to three percent of the general fund revenue of the latest completed fiscal year and to provide that the first use of the Capital Reserve Fund must be to offset midyear budget reductions?

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article III, South Carolina Constitution

The ballot measure amended Section 36(B) of Article III of the South Carolina Constitution. The following struck-through text was deleted and underlined text was added.

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

General Reserve Fund

...

(B) The General Assembly, in the annual general appropriations act, shall appropriate, out of the estimated revenue of the general fund for the fiscal year for which the appropriations are made, into a Capital Reserve Fund, which is separate and distinct from the General Reserve Fund, an amount equal to two three percent of the general fund revenue of the latest completed fiscal year.

(1) In any fiscal year in which the General Reserve Fund does not maintain the required percentage of general fund revenue, monies from the Capital Reserve Fund first must be used, to the extent necessary, to fully replenish the General Reserve Fund. The Capital Reserve Fund's replenishment of the General Reserve Fund is in addition to the replenishment requirement provided in subsection (A)(2) of this section. After the General Reserve Fund is fully replenished to the required percentage, the monies in the Capital Reserve Fund may be appropriated, except that the Capital Reserve Fund must not be used to offset a midyear budget reduction The General Assembly must provide by law that if before March first the revenue forecast for the current fiscal year projects that revenues at the end of the fiscal year will be less than expenditures authorized by appropriation for that year, then the current year's appropriation to the Capital Reserve Fund first must be reduced to the extent necessary before mandating any reductions in operating appropriations.

(2) Subsequent to appropriations required by item (1) of this subsection After March first of a fiscal year, monies from the Capital Reserve Fund may be appropriated by the General Assembly in separate legislation upon an affirmative vote in each branch of the General Assembly by two-thirds of the members present and voting, but not less than three-fifths of the total membership in each branch for the following purposes:

(a) to finance in cash previously authorized capital improvement bond projects;

(b) to retire interest or principal on bonds previously issued;

(c) for capital improvements or other nonrecurring purposes.

(3)(a) Any appropriation of monies from the Capital Reserve Fund as provided in this subsection must be ranked in priority of expenditure and is effective thirty days after completion of the fiscal year. If it is determined that the fiscal year has ended with an operating deficit, then the monies appropriated from the Capital Reserve Fund must be reduced based on the rank of priority, beginning with the lowest priority, to the extent necessary and applied to the year-end operating deficit before withdrawing monies from the General Reserve Fund.

(b) At the end of the fiscal year, any monies in the Capital Reserve Fund that are not appropriated as provided in this subsection or any appropriation for a particular project or item which has been reduced due to application of the monies to a year-end deficit must lapse and be credited to the general fund.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2022

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 31, and the FRE is -2. The word count for the ballot title is 71.

Support

Supporters

The following officials sponsored the amendment in the state legislature.

Officials

• State Sen. Thomas Alexander (R)
• State Sen. George Campsen (R)
• State Sen. Harvey Peeler (R)
• State Sen. John Scott (D)

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for South Carolina ballot measures

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Ballotpedia has not identified political action committees registered to support or oppose this measure. If you are aware of one, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

South Carolina General Reserve Fund and Capital Reserve Fund

The General Reserve Fund (GRF) and Capital Reserve Fund (CRF) are South Carolina's two rainy day funds, also known as budget stabilization funds.

General Reserve Fund

The GRF is used to cover year-end operating budget deficits when the state's General Fund revenue collections cannot fully fund the state's expenditures in a fiscal year. As of 2022, the GRF was mandated by the state constitution to be funded at 5% of the state's general fund revenue from the previous fiscal year. If funds are used, the General Reserve Fund must be restored to the constitutionally mandated full amount within five years. A minimum of 1% must be added back to the fund each year. For fiscal year 2021-2022, the state general fund budget was $9.27 billion and the GRF was fully funded at $458.96 million.

In 2010, South Carolina voters approved Amendment 3, which increased the General Reserve Fund amount from 3% to 5% of the state's general fund revenues incrementally by one-half of one percent over four years.

A constitutional amendment to increase the GRF from 5% to 7% of general fund revenue was also on the 2022 ballot in South Carolina.

Capital Reserve Fund

Going into the election, the state legislature was required to appropriate 2% of the state's general fund revenue from the previous fiscal year to the Capital Reserve Fund. Money in the CRF was required to be used to replenish the GRF if funds were used to cover a year-end operating deficit. If there was no year-end operating deficit and the General Reserve Fund was fully funded at the amount required by the state constitution (5% of state general fund revenue), money in the CRF could be appropriated through a two-thirds (66.67%) vote of present voting legislators (but not less than three-fifths of the total members in each chamber) for specified purposes. The specified purposes are as follows:

• to fund authorized capital improvement bond projects;
• to retire the interest or principal on past bonds; or
• for capital improvements or other nonrecurring purposes.

Capital Reserve Fund appropriations must be ranked in priority of expenditure and take effect 30 days after the fiscal year ends. If the fiscal year ends with a deficit, then CRF appropriations must be reduced beginning with the lowest priority appropriation and applied to the year-end deficit before using GRF funds.

Funds not appropriated from the Capital Reserve Fund are returned to the state general fund at the end of a fiscal year. For fiscal year 2021-2022, the CRF was funded at $183.58 million.

In 2010, South Carolina voters approved Amendment 4, which provided that money in the Capital Reserve Fund must first be used to replenish the General Reserve Fund before being used to offset mid-year budget reductions.

South Carolina ballot measure statistics

See also: List of South Carolina ballot measures

In South Carolina, a total of 54 ballot measures appeared on statewide ballots between 1985 and 2018. Forty-five ballot measures were approved, and 9 ballot measures were defeated.

South Carolina statewide ballot measures, 1985-2018
Total number	Annual average	Annual minimum	Annual maximum	Approved		Defeated
				#	%	#	%
54	1.63	0	9	45	83.33	9	16.67

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the South Carolina Constitution

To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required in both the South Carolina State Senate and the South Carolina House of Representatives.

SJR 1106

The measure was introduced in the state legislature as Senate Joint Resolution 1106 on March 1, 2022. It was approved in the Senate on March 17, 2022, by a 43-0 vote with two members absent and one vacancy. On May 4, 2022, the House amended the proposal and unanimously approved the amended version, sending it back to the Senate. The Senate voted 40-1 to concur with the House’s amendments on June 15.

Vote in the South Carolina House of Representatives May 4, 2022
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 82  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	111	0	10
Total percent	91.74%	0.00%	8.26%
Democrat	39	0	4
Republican	72	0	6

Vote in the South Carolina State Senate June 15, 2022
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 30  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	40	1	3
Total percent	90.90%	2.27%	6.81%
Democrat	13	0	1
Republican	27	1	2

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in South Carolina

See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in South Carolina.

How to vote in South Carolina

Poll times

In South Carolina, all polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration

Check your voter registration status here.

To register to vote in South Carolina, one must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of the county and precinct where he or she is registering, and at least 18 years old by Election Day. People who have been declared mentally incompetent by court order, are imprisoned, or are still serving a sentence for a felony conviction are ineligible to register to vote. The deadline for registration is 30 days before the election. Prospective voters may register using one of the following methods:

• Online,
• In person at the county board of elections or one of the following locations:
  • Armed Forces Recruiting Stations
  • Commission for the Blind
  • Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services
  • Department of Disabilities and Special Needs
  • Department of Health and Environmental Control
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Department of Mental Health
  • Department of Motor Vehicles
  • Department of Social Services
  • Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities
  • Vocational Rehabilitation Department
• Returning a voter registration form by email, fax, or mail to the county board of voter registration. Note that mailed applications must be postmarked by at least 30 days before the election.

Automatic registration

South Carolina does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

South Carolina has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.

Same-day registration

South Carolina does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

Prospective voters must be residents of the county and precinct in which they are registering to vote.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

South Carolina does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury.

All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters.

Verifying your registration

The South Carolina Election Commission allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting the MyscVOTES website.

Voter ID requirements

South Carolina requires voters to present photo identification while voting.

Voters can present the following forms of identification:

• SC Driver’s License
• SC Department of Motor Vehicles ID Card
  • includes SC Concealed Weapons Permit
• SC Voter Registration Card with Photo
• U.S. Passport
• Federal Military ID
  • includes all Department of Defense Photo IDs and the Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits Card

Voters can obtain a free photo ID from a local DMV office or a county elections office.

See also

2022 measures

• 2022 ballot measures
• Budgets on the ballot

South Carolina

• South Carolina ballot measures
• South Carolina ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• South Carolina SJR 1106 full text