| Assembly aims to appoint leaders AIKEN - South Carolina's Republican-dominated Legislature will push for a constitutional amendment to turn the state education superintendent's post from an elected position into one appointed by the governor, a top state lawmaker said Tuesday. As part of a push favored by Gov. Mark Sanford to reorganize and streamline state government, the General Assembly will quickly consider a bill that will put more commissions and agencies under the governor's direct control, said state Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Lawmakers also will place the proposed change for the education superintendent before voters in the November 2004 general election, Mr. Harrell said, and could add one or two more of South Carolina's nine independently elected officers to the referendum. "Now is the time to do that," said Mr. Harrell, who called for "one voice" on South Carolina's education policy. "The timing's right. This is all part of the governor's restructuring package. He's going to be pushing for it and a number of us in the Legislature are going to be pushing for it." Mr. Harrell and other lawmakers said they need to move fast because any constitutional change has to be put before voters during a general election. If they don't act in time for the November 2004 election, they won't get another chance until November 2006. They said the occupant of the post, Inez Tenenbaum, a Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful, is not opposed to the measure. Her spokesman, Jim Foster, said she hasn't taken a strong position on the issue. "I've heard her argue it both ways," he said. "Her basic position is that if the General Assembly is in favor of that, she'd be perfectly happy to see it put on the ballot and let the will of the people decide." Will Folks, the governor's spokesman, said making the superintendent's post an appointed position is a top priority of Mr. Sanford and would continue the legacy of streamlining started by former governor Carroll Campbell, also a Republican. "When you're talking about something that covers half of our state budget and that every governor runs on, that would be a key win in the effort to restructure state government," Mr. Folks said. Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395 or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.
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