THERE'S NO QUICK and easy solution when the General Assembly makes a deliberate decision to ignore the state constitution and run a $155 million deficit, as it has done.

So we must turn to the long and arduous solution. That's because the only way out of this mess is for the Legislature to find the money -- either through further cuts to state agencies or through tax increases -- to pay the bill, and the soonest that can happen is January.

Although we agree with Gov. Mark Sanford that it's an awful situation, we believe the majority of the Budget and Control Board was right when it voted to ignore the deficit, which was created when the state essentially floated a check to cover a shortfall from the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2002. Even Mr. Sanford's attorney believes state law gives the board only the authority to prevent deficit spending, not to pay the bills once that occurs.

We are encouraged that the board refused to let the same thing happen again, voting to pay for a $22 million shortfall from last fiscal year that is being covered by current-year funds. As painful as it will be for state agencies to take another 1 percent across-the-board cut, that's far preferable to exacerbating our fiscal folly and constitutional contravention. We also are encouraged by the fact that legislative leaders are vowing to tackle the problem when they return to work.

But we've heard such talk before. Indeed, the very legislators who voted against action by the Budget and Control Board had vowed last year to make paying down the unconstitutional $155 million deficit a priority in the 2003 legislative session. For all the good that did.

Forgive us if we take the "we'll believe it when we see it" approach to these latest promises. All South Carolinians who care about responsible government should do the same -- and apply whatever pressure it takes to see to it that our legislators follow through.

Fortunately, the person who can apply the most pressure seems willing to do so. Mr. Sanford must make it clear to legislators that if they do not pay down the deficit -- or at least make a good start, along with new laws to force them to follow through -- he will veto $155 million in spending from the budget they pass next spring. Then we should all hold our breaths and hope he doesn't have to: While a veto pen is a less blunt instrument than the across-the-board cuts that the Budget and Control Board must resort to, it's much better that such drastic cuts be made using the precision tools available only to the General Assembly.

(While he's at it, Mr. Sanford needs to figure out how this one got by him. While we can sympathize with his having assumed that the Legislature had paid its bills, having done the same thing ourselves, the governor has the responsibility and the staff to ensure that such major oversights do not occur. Had he known about the deficit, he could have raised objections and, if necessary, vetoed enough spending this year to pay it off.)

Of course, we might prefer Mr. Sanford's vetoes to legislative action if legislators deal with this deficit in the same way they've dealt with recent budget shortfalls -- by trimming a little from every agency, slowly crippling our essential services while leaving at least partially intact those agencies and programs that we can live without. The deficit is too deep, the crisis too large and lingering to be addressed this way. Lawmakers must decide what services are essential, pay for them (raising taxes if they cannot pare the list sufficiently) and eliminate the rest. There is no other option.