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Article published Jun 22, 2003
General Assembly should heed governor's correction

Gov. Mark Sanford used his first budget veto message last week to give the General Assembly some valuable advice about improving the appropriations process.
First he vetoed several of the legislature's raids on special trust funds. The money in these funds was raised by taxes, fees or even donations. It was paid to accomplish a specific purpose such as paying for the future cleanup of a waste site.
The state should not be raiding these funds to add more money to the general fund during a tight budget year. All leaders in Columbia admit that, but they say their hand was forced because of the severity of the state's fiscal crisis.
Sanford vetoed some spending and some provisions that took trust fund money. In future years, lawmakers should follow through on the state's commitment to spend the money on the purpose for which they raised it.
The governor also admonished lawmakers for trying to limit his veto power.
The governor can only veto single-line items of the budget, and at times the legislature combined single appropriations with sections that encompassed multiple unrelated expenditures. Lawmakers did so to keep the governor from being able to veto those provisions.
Sanford pointed out that this tactic could force him to veto entire sections of the budget, including spending items that are worthwhile, just to get at provisions that need to be vetoed. "An unfortunate consequence of continuing to budget like this will inevitably be the veto of large items or sections that include meritorious provisions, just to address objectionable matters," Sanford wrote.
Such manipulation of the budget process is an attempt by lawmakers to avoid the constitutional balance of power and preserve more of that power for themselves than they should legitimately have.
Sanford is correct in trying to preserve his own authority over the budget and that constitutional balance of power.
As it approaches another tough budget next year, the General Assembly should honor the commitments the state made as it established the trust funds, and it should honor the constitutional limits on its power.