The looming $350 million deficit ought to be a sufficient call for action, since, as Gov. Mark Sanford and Sen. Glenn McConnell observe, the state currently spends 130 percent of the national average on state government. Bringing it to merely an average level would have an extraordinary effect on a $5-plus billion state budget.

Unfortunately, as the massive restructuring bill goes to the full Senate Judiciary Committee, one vital element already has been removed. Overhaul of the Department of Health and Environmental Control to provide for the logical consolidations of health agencies and of environmental agencies was scuttled by a Judiciary subcommittee. The importance of that proposal is outlined in the Commentary piece by Gov. Sanford and Sen. McConnell.

They point out that the current framework can require residents to deal with as many as three different health agencies, frequently duplicating effort and expense. Merging environmental departments could similarly save on administrative overhead and redundant personnel. The full committee should restore that proposal.

While some portions of the restructuring proposal are strictly in legislative hands, the most critical require constitutional amendments, to which lawmakers also hold the key. The General Assembly must agree by a supermajority to put those amendments on the ballot. Those decisions should not be denied voters.

Voters should be given the opportunity to decide the future of several constitutional officers, including the superintendent of education, the commissioner of agriculture, the adjutant general, the secretary of state, the comptroller general and the treasurer. Already some legislators are talking about preventing voters from making decisions on certain offices.

Reasonable questions may be raised about the future of the comptroller general and the treasurer, considering their responsibilities for state finances and the necessity of ensuring accountability. It is important to note, however, that Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom has endorsed the governor's plan to make his office appointive. The governor's office should have greater authority over state government, including its finances, Mr. Eckstrom says.

There should be no question that the governor should have the authority to make education and agriculture policy through his appointees. And the selection of the state's adjutant general should be removed from unseemly politicking for the leadership of the state National Guard. South Carolina, incidentally, is the only state in the nation that still elects that position.

The governor is expected to make his case today before the Senate committee in a move that should raise the visibility of his proposal. The restructuring plan is the most sweeping since Gov. Carroll Campbell created the Cabinet system of state government, and could well result in the most comprehensive change in governance since the 19th century, as the governor and Sen. McConnell note.

As the restructuring proposal goes through the Legislature, changes will be made. But they should be more along the line of fine-tuning. The Legislature should not whittle this essential reform down into such insignificance that the voters are left with little of substance to decide.