Gov. Mark Sanford's cost-cutting campaign has met with some resistance in the Legislature, but his efforts have seen success elsewhere. Witness the leaner State Ports Authority.
The agency was criticized by the governor last year for budgetary excess and its reluctance to cut loose unprofitable operations and underused assets.
This year, the governor gave the SPA high marks for its decision to sell property on Daniel Island, originally acquired for port expansion; for supporting the sale of the unprofitable operation at Port Royal; and for reducing operating costs by $2 million a year, in part, by cutting personnel and marketing expenses.
The governor contends that the sale of the SPA's large Daniel Island holdings can be used to help finance the development of a port on the former Navy base. Given legislative opposition to a port on Daniel Island, there is no real reason for the agency to hold on to the property.
The governor's remarks about spending by other state agencies at recent hearings on the budget indicate his commitment to streamlining government and reducing the public expense of its operation. The SPA's economies attest that the message is getting through elsewhere, even if hasn't been fully embraced by every state bureaucrat.
For some agencies, the governor's appointments have been key to moving his budget agenda ahead. That has been evident on the SPA board and on the board of Santee Cooper, the latest object of Gov. Sanford scrutiny. His biggest successes, however, have come in the Cabinet agencies that he administers.
The state Commerce Department, for example, reduced agency expenses by $2.3 million last year through agency streamlining undertaken by the governor's appointee, Commerce Secretary Bob Faith. The Department of Corrections, meanwhile, undertook economies such as increased food production by prison staff.
Unfortunately, many state agencies continue to receive their marching orders by legislatively appointed boards and commissions, and don't fall within the governor's immediate scope. The governor's budget hearings at least are putting some of those agencies on the spot.
The governor's ability to achieve significant change resonates with the taxpayers, who pay the bill. Budget reductions and agency streamlining achieved by agencies such as Commerce and Corrections can only increase the pressure on the Legislature to complete the restructuring begun by former Gov. Carroll Campbell more than a decade ago.
The governor is establishing an impressive record for fiscal responsibility and accountability. The Legislature should acknowledge the importance of giving the state's chief executive greater authority over state government. The result would be more public scrutiny and greater accountability.
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