(A) The Board of Economic Advisors shall make an initial forecast of economic conditions in the State and state revenues for the next fiscal year no later than November tenth of each year. Adjustments to the forecast must be considered on December tenth and February fifteenth. A final forecast for the next fiscal year must be made on April tenth. However, before June thirtieth, the board may reduce forecasts for the next fiscal year as it considers necessary. Before making or adjusting any forecast, the board must consult with outside economic experts with respect to national and South Carolina economic business conditions. All forecasts and adjusted forecasts must contain:

(1) a brief description of the economic model and all assumptions and basic decisions underlying the forecasts;

(2) a projection of state revenues on a quarterly basis;

(3) separate discussions of any industry which employs more than twenty percent of the state's total nonagricultural employment and separate projections for these industries.

(B) In addition to fulfilling its economic and revenue forecasting responsibilities for future fiscal years, the board at each session shall monitor and review the flow of revenue for the current fiscal year in comparison to current year revenue estimates. If actual revenue collections represent an overall shortfall for any quarter of over one and one-half percent of projected revenue collections for that quarter, a synopsis must be prepared which shall include a detailed analysis of the factors contributing to the shortfall, the impact of the shortfall for the present fiscal year, a projection of whether the shortfall will be compensated for in the remaining quarters of the present fiscal year, and the impact of the shortfall on revenue estimates for the ensuing fiscal year. In addition, a similar detailed synopsis must be provided if a shortfall of one and one-half percent or more is experienced in any of the following individual revenue categories: sales and use taxes, individual income taxes, corporate income taxes, taxes on insurance premiums including workers' compensation insurance, and earnings on investments.

(C) All forecasts, adjusted forecasts, and reports of the Board of Economic Advisors, including the synopsis of the current year's review as required by subsection (B), must be published and reported to the Governor, the members of the General Assembly, and made available to the news media.

HISTORY: 1983 Act No. 151, Part II, Section 57; 1992 Act No. 501, Part II, Section 13D; 2014 Act No. 121 (S.22), Pt VI, Section 8.D, eff July 1, 2014; 2016 Act No. 199 (S.267), Section 2, eff June 3, 2016. Formerly Code 1976 Section 11-9-880, redesignated and amended by 2018 Act No. 246 (H.3895), Sections 1, 2, eff July 1, 2018.

Editor's Note

2016 Act No. 199, Section 3, provides as follows:

"SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon the approval by the Governor and first applies for the next annual regular session of the General Assembly."

Prior Laws: Former Section 11-9-1130 was titled Office of Research and Statistics; Economic Research division; Office of Precinct Demographics, and had the following history: 2014 Act No. 121 (S.22), Pt VI, Section 8.A, eff July 1, 2014. See now, Code 1976 Section 11-9-850.

Effect of Amendment

2014 Act No. 121, Section 8.D, in subsection (C), deleted "the members of the Budget and Control Board," following the reference to the Governor.

2016 Act No. 199, Section 2, rewrote (A), revising the dates of the forecasts; and in (A)(1) substituted "economic" for "econometric".

2018 Act No. 246, Section 2, in (A), in the fourth sentence, substituted "However, before" for "However, prior to".