News and Press Releases for June 2007

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6/27/2007

Restructuring Legislation Aimed at Making Agency More Accountable

Columbia, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford today signed the Department of Transportation reform bill into law, a key piece of the governor's restructuring agenda aimed at making the DOT more accountable to the people of South Carolina.

The key provision of the new law is the creation of a Secretary of Transportation to run the agency, a person who would for the first time in our state's history be directly accountable to the governor and future governors. The new law will bring South Carolina in line with 47 other states where the Department of Transportation is already directly accountable to the Executive Branch. In 41 of these states, the governor appoints a transportation director, and in the remaining six states the governor appoints the entire commission.

However, the bill leaves in place the DOT Commission - with six commissioners elected by the legislature and one appointed by the governor - to continue governing some operations of the agency. The governor said that while the addition of an at-will director is a step forward, that the legislature should be willing to revisit the duties and powers of the commission if the new structure proves to be unworkable operationally.

"We believe this bill will be an important step toward addressing what's been made clear in the recent audit and in numerous articles from around the state, which is that the current structure at the DOT has failed South Carolina's taxpayers," Gov. Sanford said. "I'd give real credit to the House and Senate for getting this bill to my desk, and in particular to legislators like Senators Grooms and Ryberg and Representative Annette Young for their efforts to keep this issue on the front burner. The people of South Carolina deserve a DOT that spends their tax dollars wisely and makes good decisions with regard to our state's infrastructure, and we believe this bill will move the ball forward on that front."

In addition to creating an at-will director appointed by the governor, the bill is also aimed at encouraging sound infrastructure investments by requiring that decisions be made in the context of a statewide plan. It also gives the new Secretary of Transportation the ability to hire and fire down to the deputy director level.

A November audit found a number of problems at the state DOT, including overpaying by tens of millions of dollars for contracts, purposefully manipulating account balances, and violating state law on hiring practices for temporary employees. All told, the report found more than $60 million wasted by the agency that could have been used for infrastructure needs in South Carolina.