Incumbents back in Legislature

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in both houses. The governing party

has power to direct needed reforms.

State government remains solidly in the hands of Republicans after Tuesday's elections. The GOP lost one seat in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, the party's dominance is unaffected, therefore giving the Legislature's governing party the necessary strength — and the mandate from voters — to install needed reforms in how we govern and tax.

Locally, voters sent all four incumbent Republicans who faced challengers back to the General Assembly. Greer Sen. Verne Smith and Sen. Danny Verdin, whose Laurens-dominated district includes southern Greenville, were re-elected. Berea Rep. Dwight Loftis and Simpsonville Rep. Garry Smith both won easily.

The venerable Smith, who will start his 33rd year, and Verdin, who will start his second term, both agree that the first order of business for the Senate is an immediate revamp of archaic rules that allow a single member to block legislation and thwart the will of both legislative bodies. Large portions of Gov. Mark Sanford's ambitious restructuring and reform agenda have been unable to withstand objections in the Senate after passing the House. Last year the House passed 14 of the governor's 16 legislative priorities. However, most of those bills died in the Senate, partly because of the way Senate rules indulge lawmakers.

It is encouraging to see Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell of Charleston recently stand with Sanford and pledge to lead the fight for change. It was McConnell who used the Senate's filibuster rule to block passage of a tougher seat belt law last session that won passage in the House.

The debates on tax reform, government restructuring, economic development, education spending, tort reform and health care are meaningful only if legislation that survives committee or passes the House is allowed a chance for a vote by the full Senate.

Sanford, at the midpoint of his first term, would like to give the chief executive unprecedented authority in South Carolina. But he needs a better relationship with the General Assembly to make his priorities the priorities of that body.

South Carolina has had a Republican governor and a Republican-controlled General Assembly for the past two years. Because of that dominance, the party now shoulders the responsibility for adopting the bold reforms that can streamline government and make this state more competitive in the global marketplace.