COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The budget committee in the South Carolina House is getting ready to take up the state spending plan for next year.

The House Ways and Means Committee is meeting starting Tuesday to consider the $11.5 billion budget the General Assembly controls for the fiscal year starting in July.

The committee is also considering the House's income tax cut proposal which would spend about $1 billion to immediately drop the state's top income tax rate from 7% to 6.5% on the way to eventually landing at 6%. A Senate proposal would drop the top tax rate from 7% to 5.7% and set aside $1 billion for additional tax rebates.

A booming economy and plenty of stimulus of COVID-19 relief money from the federal government has lawmakers with a considerable amount of extra money to spend.

The House Ways and Means Committee will consider whether to provide teachers or state employees with raises, whether to build a new state health lab and hundreds of other requests.