Governor's time to get tough
Friday, January 18, 2008
When it comes to government reform, Gov. Mark Sanford didn't mince words in his State of the State speech Wednesday night. If ever there is a time to hold the lawmakers' feet to the fire, this general election year is that time.
Some of what has gone on in the Budget and Control Board is "near criminal," the governor said during remarks advocating that the board — a government odd duck — be abolished.
He also zeroed in on reform of the Workers' Compensation Commission, noting that during a two-year period, lawyer-legislators received nearly $8 million in legal fees from the commission. "Our Workers' Compensation Commission awards are anything but predictable for the way that they are subjective and treat workers different. It's not fair to workers and not good for business, and so I ask you to help us in pushing toward objective standards in workers' compensation," he said.
His audience was at least more audibly receptive to the zingers he aimed at the five-member Budget and Control Board, which supervises one of the largest state agencies. While the governor is chairman, he has only briefly had the majority on the board, which includes the chairmen of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees, the treasurer and the comptroller general.
Gov. Sanford noted that the board is an outgrowth of the 1895 constitution, which diluted the power of the chief executive and put the powerful board in the hands of a small group out of fear "that a black man would be elected governor." A citizens study of the board, commissioned by the governor, pinpointed numerous questionable practices and enumerated the potential for hundreds of millions in savings.
As for one of the most sensational revelations, the governor noted: "For the last 22 years the board has given a politically connected company the insurance work for the state. It wasn't bid so that someone offering a lower price or better service could compete for the work. It was just given to the family with the connections — and cost the rest of us a little over $2 million a year." The contract has since been rebid.
There was more: "The board," the governor said, "just recently voted to give raises to a number of agency heads, and ultimately spend millions more as we go into a tough budget year — even though no one had asked for the raises, there were no performance reviews, and some of the people had only been on the job a few months."
The governor rightly wants to see the board abolished and the huge array of administrative duties it oversees transferred to the governor's office. He also is willing, he indicated, to settle for a little less, noting that two legislators have bills that would move substantial portions of the board's operation to a Department of Administration under the governor.
In recent months, bipartisan support has been building for revamping the board, the only one of its kind in the nation. Unfortunately, there apparently is little enthusiasm for other aspects of restructuring, including Mr. Sanford's continuing push to allow the voters to decide whether the governor and lieutenant governor should run as a team.
"Would it make any sense to have the president and vice president in Washington elected with opposing agendas and wanting to go in opposite directions? I don't believe it would, and I think the people of South Carolina deserve the right to vote on this."
Of course they do, and there's no better time for that vote than this general election year, with the change to take effect in 2010. Mr. Sanford is fully aware that his chances to advance the restructuring begun under former Gov. Carroll Campbell have definitely improved now that he is in the second year of his last term in office. Even his enemies have to acknowledge that for all practical purposes the next governor would be the real beneficiary of any changes.