Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Amended

March 28, 2024

H. 4934

Introduced by Reps. Mitchell, Gilliam, Pace, Yow, Murphy, Guffey, Pope, Sandifer, Hart and Rivers

S. Printed 03/28/24--H.

Read the first time January 24, 2024

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statement of estimated fiscal impact

Explanation of Fiscal Impact

State Expenditure

This bill as amended increases the paid leave allotted to employees of the state or its political subdivisions who are either enlisted or commissioned members of the South Carolina National Guard, the United States Army Reserve, the United States Air Force Reserve, the United States Naval Reserve, the United States Marine Corps Reserve, or the United States Coast Guard Reserve from 15 to 30 days per year for training purposes or other duties as required.  The bill expressly includes school district employees as eligible for the paid military leave.

Admin reports that there were 361 state employees who used military leave in 2023.  Based on an average annual salary and fringe for state employees of $63,910, the additional 15 days of leave equates to $1,331,048 in prorated employee salary and fringe across all state agencies if each qualified employee uses all of the allotted leave.  However, this may not directly result in an increase in expenditures for most agencies, unless an agency is required to hire additional personnel or use other resources to manage workflows for employees using their additional military leave.  Therefore, the impact of this bill as amended on state agencies is undetermined.

According to the Adjutant General's Office, there are currently 731 non-fulltime members of the Air National Guard and 8,481 non-fulltime members of the Army National Guard residing in the state.  Under the bill, the office indicates that members who are state employees would be able to utilize the additional days to fully cover training requirements during regularly scheduled workdays and ensure that annual training requirements are satisfied.  However, it is unknown whether each member authorized 30 days of military leave would utilize the entirety of this leave allotment during the year as that would depend on their individual work schedules.  The Adjutant General's Office does not maintain records of the civilian employer of their non-fulltime SC National Guard members.

The impact of this bill as amended on state institutions of higher learning will be dependent upon the number of faculty members or other employees who will use the additional military leave as well as the institution's ability to manage course schedules and other workloads while employees are using leave.  Based on feedback from USC, Clemson, Lander, CCU, CofC, and FMU, the additional leave allowed by the bill would impact between $3,000 and $50,000 in prorated annual employee salary and fringe costs per institution if each qualified employee uses the entirety of their allotted leave.  Any actual increase in expenditures for the institutions will depend upon the institution's ability to manage courses and other workflows while a faculty member or employee is using the additional leave.  Lander indicated that temporary salary adjustments may be appropriate for current employees that will be required to manage the workload of employees using leave provided by the bill.  Since the actual amount of leave that will be taken in a given year and the number of adjunct professors or other temporary employees that will be needed are currently unknown, this bill as amended will have an undetermined impact on state institutions of higher learning.

Local Expenditure

This bill as amended expressly includes school districts as entities of the state required to provide 30 days of paid military leave to employees who are either enlisted or commissioned members of the South Carolina National Guard, the United States Army Reserve, the United States Air Force Reserve, the United States Naval Reserve, the United States Marine Corps Reserve, or the United States Coast Guard Reserve. 

SCDE surveyed all school districts in the state and received 18 responses regarding the potential fiscal impact of paid military leave.  Most responding districts indicated that the primary impact would be increased substitute teacher costs to cover the classrooms of teachers using their military leave.  Some districts reported having an existing 15-day military leave policy, while others indicated this would be a new requirement.  At a district-reported substitute teacher rate between $115 and $170 per day, assuming the teacher using military leave would use the entire 30-day allotment, this bill would increase substitute teacher expenses for school districts by between $3,450 and $5,100 per year per teacher enlisted in the SC National Guard or branch of the US military reserves if that district currently has no military leave policy.  If a district has an existing 15-day military leave policy, substitute teacher costs associated with a 15-day increase in leave allotment provided by the bill as amended would be between $1,725 and $2,550 per year per teacher enlisted in the SC National Guard or branch of the US military reserves.

Beaufort County School district reported the highest number of current teachers or employees who would qualify for the additional leave, indicating that aggregate salary and fringe benefits for 15 additional days of leave would be $103,117 per year.  Lexington - Richland School District 5, Spartanburg School District 3, Saluda County School District, Anderson School District 1, Anderson School District 3, Florence School District 1, and the Greenville County School District all indicate that there were some employees or teachers who would qualify for the leave under this bill, with prorated salary and fringe costs for 15 to 30 days ranging from approximately $2,000 to $24,000 per year.  The Governor's School for Science and Mathematics indicates they would hire an adjunct faculty member to cover the additional leave at a cost of $3,000 per impacted course or an estimated $12,000 per year.  Of the 18 respondents, 4 districts indicated that this bill would have no fiscal impact on the district's expenditures as there are no employees who qualify to use the leave or because the added leave and any ancillary costs will be managed within the district's current budget.

The local expenditure impact of this bill as amended on state local governments is dependent upon the number of employees who will be able to use the additional military leave as well as the local governing entity's ability to manage workloads while the employees are using the additional leave.  The number of local government employees that will be qualified to use the additional military leave and the actual amount of leave that would be used is currently unknown, and therefore, the local expenditure impact of this bill is undetermined.

State Expenditure

This bill increases the paid leave allotted to employees of the state or its political subdivisions who are either enlisted or commissioned members of the South Carolina National Guard, the United States Army Reserve, the United States Air Force Reserve, the United States Naval Reserve, the United States Marine Corps Reserve, or the United States Coast Guard Reserve from 15 to 45 days per year for training purposes or other duties as required.  The bill expressly includes school district employees as eligible for the paid military leave.

Admin reports that there were 361 state employees who used military leave in 2023.  Based on an average annual salary and fringe for state employees of $63,910, the additional 30 days of leave equates to $2,662,000 in prorated employee salary and fringe across all state agencies if each qualified employee uses all of the allotted leave.  The actual amount will depend on the salaries of the qualifying employees using military leave and the amount of leave used.  However, this may not directly result in an increase in expenditures for most agencies, unless an agency is required to hire additional personnel or use other resources to manage workflows for employees using their additional military leave.  Therefore, the impact of this bill on state agencies is undetermined.

According to the Adjutant General's Office, there are currently 731 non-fulltime members of the Air National Guard and 8,481 non-fulltime members of the Army National Guard residing in the state.  Under the bill, the office indicated that members who are state employees would be able to utilize the additional days to fully cover training requirements during regularly scheduled workdays and ensure that annual training requirements are satisfied.  However, it is unknown whether each member authorized 45 days of military leave would utilize the entirety of this leave allotment during the year as that would depend on their