Restructuring far too limited

e-mail this story discuss this issue in our forums

South Carolina has too many elected statewide officers. Instead of bringing more accountability to state government, this system diffuses authority, weakens the state's chief executive and makes state government less efficient than it should be.

Gov. Mark Sanford made the restructuring of state government one of the key planks in his 2002 campaign. He cannot claim success if what comes out of the state Legislature this year is the restructuring bill approved last week by the House of Representatives.

As it now stands, voters elect a long list of statewide officers: governor, lieutenant governor, superintendent of education, adjutant general, secretary of state, comptroller general, state treasurer, secretary of agriculture, attorney general. Each name added to that list subtracts power from the state's chief executive, the governor. Each elected office becomes a political kingdom with its own budget, own philosophy and own political machine.

The governor of South Carolina needs more authority. The state's chief executive needs more control over key state agencies, and that control comes through having the ability to appoint that agency head.

The leadership of the state House of Representatives gets credit for pushing through a restructuring bill. It just doesn't go far enough.

The House bill only looks at two elected positions: education superintendent and secretary of state. The Senate should add to the list, at the very least by putting the agriculture secretary and adjutant general in the bill.

It will take a constitutional amendment to turn an elected officer into an appointed one. Such an amendment requires a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate, and then it has to win majority approval by the voters in a referendum. And that's the key: the voters ultimately have to approve any change. They should be given a longer list than the one that came out of the House.

Several elected state officials have done a great job at protecting their positions by lobbying key lawmakers and winning promises that their positions won't be touched. The House leadership has been clear-eyed about the political challenges faced by those who want more agency heads to be appointed by the governor.

Last week Gov. Sanford called the House bill "a smaller bite at the apple than we'd hoped for but it's a good start in giving the voters a chance to create a more efficient, accountable government here in South Carolina." He's right: It's a good start, but the Senate should add more offices to the list. State government needs restructuring, and after all, the voters will make the final decision.