S.C. votes to pay for buses with unclaimed lottery money
Lawmakers vote to use the $12.4 million to pay for school buses overrides Gov. Nikki Haley's veto of the original budget item. Haley vetoed the item because she believes the state should focus on privatizing its bus system, but lawmakers say students need safe transportation while the state investigates the benefits of privatization.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — State lawmakers voted last week to use $12.4 million in unclaimed lottery winnings to pay for school buses, overriding Gov. Nikki Haley's veto of the original budget item.
The override, which will result in upgrades to the state's aged fleet, was passed by a vote of 31-8 in the Senate and 103-6 in the House, Bluffton Today reports.
Haley had vetoed the item because she feels the state should be focused on privatizing its bus system.
Lawmakers said that students will need safe transportation to school while officials investigate the benefits of privatization, according to Bluffton Today.
Last year, the South Carolina Department of Education won 85 buses in an auction for the state of Kentucky's discarded school buses, as SBFpreviously reported. The purchase allowed the state to retire its 26- and 27-year-old buses and replace them with Kentucky's 18-year-old buses.
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