Gov. Mark Sanford issued an executive order last week prohibiting state agencies under his control from spending taxpayers' money to lobby the General Assembly.

It's a necessary move, but it will have limited effect due to the structure of state government.

Taxpayers fund all state agencies. They fund them through state taxes, which they are forced by law to pay. That's why the state has a burden to make sure it justifies every penny it takes from taxpayers to spend on various state programs and agencies.

There is no excuse for a state agency to take some of that money and hire a lobbyist to go to the legislature and persuade lawmakers to take more money from taxpayers.

But that's what many state agencies do. They use taxpayers' money to hire someone to lobby against taxpayers.

Many more state agencies have lobbyists, but they are outside the governor's control. That's why this common-sense order will have limited benefit to the state.

This executive order shows the limited nature of the governor's authority over what should be the executive branch of state government. This limited authority restricts the governor's ability to make progress on the agenda he was elected to pursue, and it lessens the accountability of state agencies.

Lawmakers should pass legislation that bans all state agencies from hiring lobbyists. And they should finish the job of government restructuring.