South Carolina Supreme Court considers lawmaker pay case as legislators aren't getting paid

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Supreme Court suggested solutions Wednesday that could have prevented lawmakers from going unpaid for months while the court reviewed the legality of a June raise. During oral arguments for a suit brought by one of the legislature’s own members, the justices said legislators could have officially called the fund for the raise an expense fund instead of compensation. They could have held off paying the extra money until 2027 after the next election for all members of the General Assembly, or they could have separated the raise in the budget from the money lawmakers already get paid so it all wouldn’t have gone away , the justices said. But none of that happened, so the legislative branch crossed the street to the South Carolina Supr