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South Carolina Amendment 1, General Reserve Fund Increase Measure (2022)
| South Carolina Amendment 1 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic State and local government budgets, spending and finance | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
South Carolina Amendment 1, the General 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 General Reserve Fund from 5% of state general fund revenue to 7% incrementally by a one-half percent increase each year. |
A "no" vote opposed increasing the General Reserve Fund to 7%, thereby leaving in place the current General Reserve Fund amount of 5% of state general fund revenue. |
Election results
|
South Carolina Amendment 1 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
947,610 | 61.89% | ||
| No | 583,583 | 38.11% | ||
Overview
What did Amendment 1 change about the General Reserve Fund?
- See also: Text of measure
The amendment increased the General Reserve Fund from 5% to 7% of state general fund revenues from the previous fiscal year. The increase was set to be phased in incrementally by one-half of one percent each year.[1][2]
What is the General Reserve Fund?
- See also: General Reserve Fund
The General Reserve Fund (GRF), as well as the Capital Reserve Fund (CRF), are South Carolina's two rainy day funds, also known as budget stabilization funds.[3]
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.[1][4][3]
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%.[5]
A constitutional amendment to increase the Capital Reserve Fund from 2% to 3% of state general fund revenue and to provide that the first use of the Capital Reserve Fund is to offset midyear budget reductions was also on the 2022 ballot in South Carolina.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ | Must Section 36(A), Article III of the Constitution of this State, relating to the General Reserve Fund, be amended so as to provide that the General Reserve Fund of five percent of general fund revenue of the latest completed fiscal year must be increased each year by one-half of one percent of the general fund revenue of the latest completed fiscal year until it equals seven percent of such revenues?[6] | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article III, South Carolina Constitution
The ballot measure amended Section 36(A) of Article III of the South Carolina Constitution. The following struck-through text was deleted and underlined text was added.[1]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
General Reserve Fund
(A) The General Assembly shall provide for a General Reserve Fund of five seven percent of the general fund revenue of the latest completed fiscal year. The five seven percent requirement shall be achieved by increasing the percentage requirement by a cumulative one-half of one percent of general fund revenue in each fiscal year succeeding the last fiscal year to which the three five percent requirement applied until the percentage of revenue in the General Reserve Fund equals the five seven percent requirement, which shall thereafter be maintained. Funds may be withdrawn from the reserve only for the purpose of covering operating deficits of state government. The General Assembly must provide for the orderly restoration of funds withdrawn from the reserve from future revenues and out of funds accumulating in excess of annual operating expenditures.
(1) The General Assembly shall provide by law for a procedure to survey the progress of the collection of revenue and the expenditure of funds and to authorize and direct reduction of appropriations as may be necessary to prevent a deficit.
(2) In the event of a year-end operating deficit, so much of the reserve fund as may be necessary must be used to cover the deficit; and the amount must be restored to the reserve fund within five fiscal years out of future revenues until the five seven percent, or the applicable percentage amount required to be transferred to the General Reserve Fund, is again reached and maintained. Provided that a minimum of one percent of the general fund revenue of the latest completed fiscal year, if so much is necessary, must be restored to the reserve fund each year following the deficit until the five seven percent, or the applicable percentage amount required by general law to be transferred to the General Reserve Fund is restored.[6]
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 -3. 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 identify committees, organizations, or individuals opposing the ballot initiative. If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
| 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.[3]
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. The General Reserve Fund may be used to cover year-end operating deficits. If funds are used, the General Reserve Fund must be restored to the constitutionally mandated full amount within five years with a minimum of 1% 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.[1][7][3]
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.
The chart below shows General Reserve Fund history since 2002.[7]
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.[1]
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.[3]
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.[5]
A constitutional amendment to increase the CRF from 2% to 3% of general fund revenue and make funding priority changes was also on the 2022 ballot in South Carolina.
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 | ||
| # | % | # | % | ||||
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 concurred with the House's amendments on June 15, 2022, by a 40-1 vote.[1]
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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.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 South Carolina General Assembly, "Senate Joint Resolution 1106," accessed June 16, 2022
- ↑ South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, "Historical analyses," accessed June 16, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 South Carolina Department of Administration, "Frequently asked questions: Budget," accessed July 7, 2022
- ↑ South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, "Historical analyses," accessed June 16, 2022
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 SC Votes, "2010 Constitutional Amendments," accessed July 7, 2022
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 7.0 7.1 South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office, "Historical analyses," accessed June 16, 2022
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 South Carolina Election Commission, "FAQs for the 2024 General Election," accessed August 20, 2024
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 South Carolina Election Commission, “Register to Vote,” accessed May 2, 2023
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 NCSL, "State Profiles: Elections," accessed August 13, 2024
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ Justia, "SC Code § 7-13-710 (2022)," accessed May 2, 2023
- ↑ South Carolina Elections Commission, "FAQs for the 2024 General Election, accessed August 13, 2024
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