Date Published: January 21, 2007   

Sanford presents full plate in State of the State

A less combative Gov. Mark Sanford showed up for his State of the State address this week.

In fact, Sanford admitted he has learned over the past four years “in amazingly concrete terms, that in South Carolina the governor can propose but that it is up to the legislative branch to dispose. Change is truly in your hands.”

Welcome to the realities of governance in South Carolina, Governor. Does Sanford’s sudden recognition of those realities mean he will no longer be humming the strains of the old country song, “Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way”? Will a new, improved, cooperative, compromising and collegial Mark Sanford be showing up every day at the Statehouse ready to do business with a Legislature that he has engaged in rancorous policy disputes since he was first elected in 2002? Hope springs eternal, just as pigs can fly.

However, the governor does appear to be willing to meet the Legislature at least half-way by signaling his attitude of “my way or the highway” that existed in the past four years may be subject to change. After all, he did say in his address that the changes he wants to bring to state government cannot occur without the Legislature’s buy-in: “I can’t possibly make these changes,” he said, “on my own — I need your help.”

That being said, the governor does have some solid and attractive ideas to bring to the table that merit the General Assembly’s consideration. For example, his number one goal as stated in his address is to update and change our government structure, and the first order of business, in his view, is to make the state Department of Transportation a cabinet agency. DOT for too long has been a fiefdom run by a good ol’ boy network with little accountability and transparency, and it’s sorely in need of reform. It is a fact that the agency’s budget has exceeded the rest of state government and even the southeastern average. Unlike 47 other states, DOT is not accountable to the executive branch. The governor is calling for it and the state’s constitutional officers, now elected, be placed on a ballot in a referendum that would allow the voters to decide if they should belong in an executive branch cabinet.

Along those same lines, he wants to deep-six the obsolete state Budget and Control Board, which consists of the governor, who chairs it; the state treasurer; the comptroller general; the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee; and the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. How obsolete is the Budget and Control Board? South Carolina is the only state in the country that has one; the other 49 states and their governors operate departments of administration that oversee budgets. Reform of this antiquated board is long overdue.

The governor still wants to cut state income taxes, and at the same time review in cooperation with the Legislature the current statewide tax system, also long overdue. He pointed out that several states led by Democratic governors have cut income tax rates, including one, Rhode Island, with a massive Democratic majority in the legislature, which now offers residents the choice of a flat tax that cuts the top tax rate from 9.9 percent to 5.5 percent. His point is that cutting taxes is fast becoming a bipartisan issue that has gained traction among many other states.

Among other issues brought to the forefront in Sanford’s State of the State:

  Reducing state government spending, which led the Southeast over the last two years with 25 percent growth versus the southeastern average of 13.7 percent. He wants South Carolina to hold the line on spending to rely on a formula of population growth plus inflation. To him, this is a valid pocketbook issue for all citizens.

  Reform of weak DUI laws by changing the way they are enforced.

  Continued reform of education by moving toward a single weighted funding formula, which would create greater educational equality as well as open avenues by which more educational choices could become available. And for good measure, he wants to see an abolition of wide-ranging school district sizes, i.e., consolidation, to a system of one district per county. We’ve been down that road before and enacting such a change will be a monumental task for all concerned.

  Property insurance reform, particularly along the coast, through the establishment of a catastrophe fund along with catastrophe savings accounts that encourage people to save for losses that come with a storm.

  Land conservation, with a strong focus on preserving open space that adds so much to quality of life for South Carolinians.

  Infrastructure needs, plus insurance rates, impacted by the rate of growth along the coast and the projection that a million people will be moving to South Carolina between now and 2030.

  Health concerns. “Lifestyle — not money — could add years and quality to every one of our lives,” said the governor. “It needs to be remembered that we rank 47th nationwide in overall health while ranking 11th in public health care spending per capita.” Sobering statistics indeed.

It’s a full plate the governor presented to the state. He challenged the General Assembly to “take the road less traveled in politics for our government structure to change.” Of course it’s up to the Legislature to determine whether it wants to travel the road Sanford has mapped out, or if it has a different route in mind. As the governor said, and we repeat: “I need your help.”

In the months to come we’ll find out if help is on the way or a repeat of the past four years is in store.