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Article published Aug 17, 2003
There is plenty of blame to go around for the state's budget situation

It doesn't bode well for South Carolina that the main response of our leaders to the ongoing budget crisis is still to deflect blame.The state got more bad budget news last week. Not only will the state close the last fiscal year with a shortfall of about $22 million, but it won't have as much to spend this year as leaders had planned.The Board of Economic Advisers met Friday and decided that the state will probably receive $108 million less in revenue than it had expected.Leaders quickly responded by pointing fingers.Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom and spokesmen from Gov. Mark Sanford's office blamed former Gov. Jim Hodges for mismanaging the budget and trying to hide the extent of the state's fiscal problems.Hodges and his allies pointed out that the General Assembly, which has been controlled by Republicans in recent years, is really responsible for the budget.The truth is that they are both right. They all helped to create this mess and have not done enough to fix it.But why, when we are three years away from the next gubernatorial election, is this the main response of our leaders to this problem?This is not an election year. We can wait before pursuing the partisan recriminations. Everyone in Columbia should stand down from campaign mode. Let's see some action to fix things and restore some sanity to the state's budget process.The state is still in a fiscal bind. The General Assembly spent too much during the economic growth of the 1990s. It spent the money the state had, and some it only expected to get.Since then, leaders haven't really taken a hard look at all the programs the state spends money on, with an eye toward cutting the size of state government. The overall thrust has still been to cut spending across the board.Sanford has made a good start with his budget hearings this summer. Other leaders should join the effort. They should be taking a look at the way the state spends money, all of the programs that consume state resources, and prioritize them.As state revenue continues to dwindle, it should be spent on core priorities and services. Lower priorities may be scrapped altogether.It's easy to spread blame. There's plenty to go around. South Carolinians would rather see some responsibility shown in dealing with the situation.