SC Supreme Court knocks down legislative pay raise

COLUMBIA — South Carolina’s high court ruled Nov. 12 the effort by state lawmakers to raise their own pay through this year’s budget process was unconstitutional.

The 5-0 unanimous determination ends a months-long legal saga that left the part-time members of the General Assembly without a paycheck for months while the process played out.

In an eight-page opinion this morning, the state Supreme Court said lawmakers’ efforts to raise their in-district compensation — the money they make for incidentals outside of the five-month legislative session — by about $18,000 per year violated a constitutional provision banning legislators from increasing their own pay during the current legislative term.

Attorneys for the legislature argued last month the increase from $1,000 per month to $2,500 p