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Article published Dec 29, 2003
State agencies have increased out-of-state travel by 20
percent
State employees and agency heads should re-examine
their spending ways after increasing their travel expenses, some by more than 20
percent, during the first 10 months of this year.Out-of-state travel alone cost
state government $3.7 million during that time -- a time when state agencies
have seen their budgets slashed because of revenue shortfalls.The state's
lawmakers and taxpayers should, as Gov. Mark Sanford put it, find this
troublesome when field trips for students were canceled this year due to
education budgets being cut.At the same time, prisons had to lay off employees,
reducing the ratio of guards to inmates. Fewer troopers are patrolling our
roads. And schools are operating with 1,000 fewer teachers.Yet a new attitude
toward spending this state's precious tax dollars has not reached some
government agencies.One newspaper's review of government expenses shows that
travel spending increased this year among 16 state agencies. State employees and
department heads sometimes spent more than $250 a night for lodging.Government
records show that while state workers are traveling less within the state,
reducing the state's overall travel spending, the savings could have been even
greater if equal restraint had been shown for out-of-state travel.State agencies
had travel-related expenses of $32 million in the past fiscal year that ended in
July, and while some travel is necessary for education and training purposes, an
end should be put to state workers spending as much as $284 a night for
accommodations.That kind of spending is far too extravagant considering South
Carolina's budget crisis.State Sen. David Thomas of Greenvilleis correct to
insist on a review by theLegislative Audit Council, which should identify all
nonessential travel by state employees over the past year. The General Assembly
then should insist on specific policies that would rein in this type of
spending.