COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina's Senate voted 33-8 on Monday to kick state treasurer Curits Loftis out of office over a $1.8 billion accounting error.

It will now be up to the House to decide whether to hold its own hearing. If at least two-thirds of its members vote against Treasurer Loftis, he will be removed from office.

Monday's hearing was the culmination of over two years of investigation by the Senate that began when state accountants unintentionally exaggerated money given to colleges and universities by $3.5 billion.

That led to the discovery of an account error that started a decade ago when the state was changing from one accounting system to another. If accountants couldn't balance the entries in the two sets of books as they moved thousands of accounts with different definitions, they kept adding it to a special account year after year until it grew to $1.8 billion.

It took forensic accountants during a third party audit to discover that nearly all of the money was not real cash but just an accumulation of errors.

Two Republican senators led the call for Loftis to be kicked out of office, saying he can no longer be trusted to handle South Carolina's bank accounts. They argue that Loftis is incompetent and never reported the mistakes to lawmakers as required by law while refusing to take accountability.

“He's a liar that was so concerned with his public appearance that he would do and say anything to cover up his mistake,” Sen. Stephen Goldfinch said.

Loftis continued to counter that argument by saying these issues fall under the responsibility of other officials.

“Would you tell me what you want me to take responsibility for, because it is complicated,” Loftis replied.

No office holder has been removed in this way since South Carolina became a state 235 years ago.

Republican leaders in the House have not indicated whether they will take up the matter.