[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6285379,"mediaKeyId","2572922-ceb137e270f65ed24377a2f40a90d5b6","parentId",2572922,"title","DEW seeks $1.9M for salaries and retention; CCWD and Gartner propose $10.3M portal to link education and jobs","audioSeconds",2407,"startMs",981000,"endMs",3388000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2572922-ceb137e270f65ed24377a2f40a90d5b6&start=981&end=3388","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2572922-ceb137e270f65ed24377a2f40a90d5b6/thumbnail_981000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6285379/South-Carolina/DEW-seeks-19M-for-salaries-and-retention-CCWD-and-Gartner-propose-103M-portal-to-link-education-and-jobs","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6285379-841bb75c2117fe6adbe80a09fe0ee668/orig.mp4?Expires=1770654489&Signature=PBZfQDQjJq2VMRjMjFjBJI2hJmzTkri5IdyW6JPqiFDoeG9r93JJNVikY0O449bKlrfiFOZRtnMxJVSGPGKUEq0w7Tv2MejzfBJYWY0lMAg6F9QPNEg729ILK64jo~VP1qS48I8EgL55LqoW4ajGr4B~982rO9Eak15MfgVf5jeB1CfVTcXU362Wc~aSEdgQnFvkow-9-0WcGSMX1nVX-TMcWbLNrCbxrSsgSZgwc2Lut9pOIGRv~wsdWDSwPebakJwdRWr8f9zj0r4wQWhH3oVERy5DMOuoMNg8q2CibxmOA4WRvNABAI3-Yezwzq3Tsa3gLfmWgs7nND2FmCuJSw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","South Carolina Legislature","date","2025-03-12T00:00:00Z","article","Executive Director (Director) Floyd appeared before the Senate Finance Transportation and Regulatory Subcommittee and requested approximately $1.9 million in recurring state funds for the Department of Employment and Workforce (DEW) and presented a separate funding request on behalf of the Coordinating Council for Workforce Development (CCWD) for a statewide education-and-workforce portal.

Floyd said DEW is primarily federally funded and that state funding is needed to cover the FY25 and FY26 portions of recently approved across-the-board raises and to limit turnover by rewarding high-performing staff. “Our request is approximately $1,900,000 recurring,” Floyd told senators; he said about $1.1 million would cover state-share costs for prior and current general salary increases and about $770,000 would fund targeted retention and high-performance awards.

Why this matters: Floyd said DEW relies largely on federal grants and that without state funding for salary increases the agency must stretch federal dollars to cover state pay actions, which he said is not sustainable. He said retention incentives would be used for staff with “exemplary” performance, documented contributions to agency goals and cost savings.

On behalf of the CCWD, Floyd introduced a feasibility study and funding request for a central portal to integrate education and workforce information from multiple agencies and private-sector sources. Floyd said the portal aims to give students, educators, employers and jobseekers a single front door for career pathways, training options and real-time labor-market information.

Carlton McArthur of Gartner Consulting summarized the firm’s feasibility study and recommended a phased, multi-year approach. “It is feasible for the state to move forward with developing an integrated education and workforce portal to help you achieve compliance with act 67,” McArthur said. Gartner surveyed more than 400 respondents, interviewed 10 stakeholder groups and examined other states’ efforts. The firm found more than 40 separate websites and portals currently provide related information and recommended a three- to four-year phased rollout starting in FY26 to reduce implementation risk.

Funding and timeline specifics presented to the committee include:
- A CCWD request for $10,300,000 in nonrecurring funds to procure technology and systems integration and $2,800,000 in recurring funds for administration and maintenance;
- A Gartner estimate of $22 million to $31 million total cost of ownership over five years for a phased implementation (jobs/careers/training in an early phase, education interfaces in a later phase);
- A multi-phase schedule with procurement and foundational work in FY26, initial jobs/careers/training functionality in FY27 and education integration in FY28.

McArthur said the portal would integrate existing sites — including SC.gov endpoints — but be distinct because it would combine state, education and private-sector job listings and provide personalized, career-planning tools, real-time labor-market data and veteran resources. He compared the user experience to a travel aggregator: a single query would return multiple, comparable options rather than having to visit many siloed pages.

Senators asked whether SC.gov already provides this capability; McArthur and Floyd said SC.gov covers state-government services but not the broader set of private-sector job postings and education-to-career pathways the portal would link. Floyd confirmed that the House had funded the CCWD request: when asked, he said, “They did.”

Floyd also described three DEW provisos in the budget materials: a date update, an expanded ability to care for state funds, and an exemption for DEW state-funded programs from mandated across-the-board reductions. He said the CCWD is collaborative and includes employers, education leaders and state agencies.

Next steps: The subcommittee heard the presentations and asked questions; no formal votes were taken. Floyd said he would provide committee members additional details comparing the proposed portal’s functionality with SC.gov. If funded, the portal would proceed by procurement and phased implementation over several fiscal years.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Finance Committee -- Finance Transportation and Regulatory Subcommittee Budget Hearing Wednesday, March 12, 2025 12:00 pm ","oneSentenceSummary","Executive Director Floyd asked the Senate subcommittee for approximately $1.9 million in recurring funds for DEW and presented the CCWD’s separate request for $10.3 million nonrecurring and $2.8 million recurring to build a statewide education-and-workforce portal.","taxTitle","Finance, Standing, Senate, Committees, Legislative, South Carolina","taxId",17657,"location","South Carolina","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6285384,"DOT requests more bridge money, warns EV registration fees threaten gas-tax revenue",1404,2462000,1058000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2572922-ceb137e270f65ed24377a2f40a90d5b6&start=2462&end=1058","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2572922-ceb137e270f65ed24377a2f40a90d5b6/thumbnail_2462000.jpg","/articles/6285384/South-Carolina/DOT-requests-more-bridge-money-warns-EV-registration-fees-threaten-gas-tax-revenue","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6285384-9096f842a822567f4dabb1bae40c65ce/orig.mp4?Expires=1770654489&Signature=M-iGhEGD-oxI-gbI5t7JeAdHAx8aegqAV7yucAZREKAzKRswws06ZM6WmZsRmcnBTG4GiCx9eKubuCyeOAg~5UHEIinGDxxtR7hs5YWWhXGPFqoBQ98fKINunaZjiP-EH0759D56s~rwSXB~NOMWl9WxyVDfgBFMmFBpC81SevPbfUL~x9kIvtsuo5F0~kW4~54hhUKX18mUXs5JEKWHiRJWsPpnvccHySNZhe2HChFzAGuPxTn6XYUG7NNwQbIaNXNyIpKglyGUiW4LsPqZsdfg04LSnFJFAkVAjOKRTEEeo5qu35ih1TlfqaJisT9lAY9152jloalI8KUaT-8M5A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Secretary of Transportation Justice Powell told the Senate Finance Transportation and Regulatory Subcommittee on an unspecified date that his department’s fiscal year 2026 budget asks the General Assembly for additional state funds — including a $200 million supplemental for bridges — and warned that growing electric-vehicle ownership is reducing the gas-tax revenue that pays for highways.

Powell said the department is executing the 10-year plan created after the 2017 roads bill and highlighted progress on rural road safety, pavements, bridges and interstates. “We set out a goal of a thousand miles of railroad safety projects. We have already gotten 1,126 miles underway,” Powell said, adding DOT increased the target to 1,300 miles after an additional appropriation. He told senators projects already completed on targeted corridors have produced a roughly 20 percent reduction in fatal and serious-injury crashes.

Why this matters: South Carolina’s primary highway revenue comes from motor-fuel taxes. Powell said hybrid and electric vehicles constitute a small but fast-growing share of the registered fleet — about 3 percent of roughly 3.4 million vehicles, with “double-digit annual growth” since 2022 — and pay far less in registration fees than gasoline vehicles. Under current state law in Title 56, Powell said an electric vehicle pays $120 every two years — about $60 per year — while many gasoline drivers pay at least $200 per year in gasoline taxes, depending on mileage and vehicle type.

Powell urged lawmakers to consider increasing EV registration fees to the $200-per-year level used by neighboring states and to examine a per-kilowatt-hour fee to capture revenue from pass-through charging at travel stops. “I would say we would need to look at a registration fee at the $200 level like we have in Georgia and Alabama and Tennessee,” Powell said, and suggested a per-kilowatt-hour charge so pass-through drivers who use South Carolina roads contribute to system costs.

On bridges, Powell said DOT owns about 8,400 bridges (9,500 government-owned statewide) and that 2,400 DOT bridges are 60 years old or older. At the current pace of addressing roughly 50 bridges per year without additional appropriations, Powell warned that the number of bridges older than 60 years would grow to about 3,900 in the next decade. He said DOT has 370 bridge projects underway and raised its replacement target from 500 to 530 bridges after a $200 million appropriation last year; DOT had committed about $67 million of that funding and expects to obligate the remainder before the fiscal year ends.

Powell outlined DOT’s estimated FY26 revenues at just under $2.8 billion, including about $1.63 billion in state funds and roughly $1 billion in federal reimbursements. He said half of the department’s $2.78 billion appropriations request would go to maintenance and system preservation; about $500 million is targeted annually for interstate capacity and operations. He also told the committee the agency has been debt-free since 2023.

Other budget items and provisos Powell discussed include:
- Requesting continuation of $120 million per year in match funds tied to federal programs;
- A separate $200 million bridge request to accelerate replacements and rehabilitations;
- Asking for $50 million to complete hurricane Helene-related debris cleanup not covered by FEMA or FHWA after staff-estimated damages of roughly $70 million in 16 upstate counties;
- A requested transfer deletion tied to welcome-center funding: DOT currently must transfer $5.1 million to Parks, Recreation and Tourism; Powell asked that the receiving agency be appropriated the amount directly so DOT can manage maintenance obligations;
- Increasing recurring funding for interstate-adjacent litter pickup from $3 million to $8 million;
- A proposed proviso to retain DOT’s expedited practice for very small right-of-way acquisitions, after an appraisal board ruling requiring full appraisals on entire tracts rather than only the small strip actually acquired; Powell said the full appraisals could cost about $2,500 each and have a possible $10 million statewide impact.

Powell also briefed senators on two discretionary federal grants for projects that remain unsigned pending federal review: about a $175 million grant for replacing the Lake Marion Bridge on I-95 and funds for reconstructing the Long Point Road interchange in Mount Pleasant, which serves port traffic. He said DOT was ready to sign agreements when federal approvals are complete.

Committee members asked how the House budget treated EV fee changes; Powell said altering EV registration fees requires a permanent law change in Title 56 and that the House budget included no change. Senators also pressed whether DOT’s small-parcel appraisal workaround preserves due-process protections for property owners; Powell said the statutory condemnation and fair-market-value processes would remain in place and the expedited practice would apply only to small-dollar acquisitions up to a $20,000 threshold.

Powell closed by reminding the committee that county transportation committees receive a 3.99-cent portion of the gas tax for local projects and that one-time general-fund supplements the past three years have driven swings in the total counties received. He offered to provide additional details on any items the committee requested.

Next steps: Powell’s requests and the three specific proviso changes will be considered by the Senate and could require statutory changes or appropriations; the committee did not take a formal vote during this hearing.","Secretary of Transportation Justice Powell told the Senate Finance Transportation and Regulatory Subcommittee on an unspecified date that his department’s FY26 budget asks the General Assembly for additional state funds — including a $200 million supplemental for bridges — and warned that growing electric-vehicle ownership is reducing the gas-tax revenue that pays for highways.","actionData","errors"]

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DEW seeks $1.9M for salaries and retention; CCWD and Gartner propose $10.3M portal to link education and jobs

DOT requests more bridge money, warns EV registration fees threaten gas-tax revenue