Senate, House budget negotiations begin

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ South Carolina Senate and House members are beginning to hash out the final version of the state’s $7 billion budget.

Three members from each chamber started work Wednesday to combine the House and Senate versions of the bill. A second meeting was held in the afternoon.

The lawmakers agreed on pieces of the budget that matched in both versions, but they won’t start discussing areas of disagreement until Monday.

The Senate cut $180 million from the budget last month, and the House approved most of those cuts. But there are big differences in how the state would pay for public school programs. The House included plans for tourism grants and projects related to college research, but those were cut by the Senate.