Gov. Mark Sanford on Tuesday introduced a commission, based on an idea by former President Ronald Reagan, to study government accountability and performance and cut waste.

Sanford hopes his Governor's Commission on Management, Accountability and Performance will help save taxpayer money and improve services.

"The purpose of this commission is to go back to a frequent drumbeat ‘.‘.‘. in this administration of how do you get more out of government," Sanford said.

The 14-member panel will spend the next three to four months working on a report that will involve the input of government employees and the public, chairman Ken Wingate said. That report will be released Sept. 30.

Among other things, the commission will analyze how many employees, vehicles and buildings an agency has. Members will look for ways to reduce costs, increase accountability, improve services and cut redundancy.

"We're really going to dig our teeth in, with empirical data, and figure out ‘.‘.‘. what's being done now and what could be done differently and done better," Wingate said.

Sanford wants to use the information as part of his budget process, spokesman Chris Drummond said. The governor intends to take a different approach with the state budget next year by getting public input through budget hearings and discussions across the state.

Sanford, who took office in January, said he has seen numerous inefficiencies in state government through his first budget process.

There has not been a performance audit of the state in years, including since state government was restructured a decade ago, said Richard Young, director of governmental research at the USC Institute for Public Service and Policy Research.

"I'd like to see a culture within the state government of South Carolina that attacks ‘.‘.‘. bureaucracy and waste," said commissioner Carl Falk, president of Falk-Griffin Foundation in Pawleys Island.

Sanford's idea for the commission stems from Reagan's Grace Commission, a two-year effort that began in 1982 to root out government waste.