Short of doing nothing, the state Budget and Control Board wound up taking the easiest option available to deal with South Carolina's budget deficit mess. Gov. Mark Sanford, who was on the losing side of the 3-2 vote, rightly is continuing to explore other options.
The majority of the five-member board apparently questions whether the board has the legal authority to supersede the General Assembly and deal with past budget deficits, which total $177 million. That figure includes $155 million from 2002 and $22 million from the fiscal year that ended in June.
The board, which includes the governor, treasurer, comptroller general and chairmen of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, clearly has the authority to deal with projected deficits in the current year's budget.
That figure is now set at $108 million. But rather than cutting the budget by 1 percent now, the majority of the board decided to ask agencies to set that percentage of their budgets aside, in the hope that the economy improves.
The governor, however, believes that decision only gives false hope and delays the inevitable. He contends it would be nothing short of a miracle for the economy to grow by some 2 percent, as budget writers originally projected.
The longer state leaders wait to make the cuts, the more difficult it will be, he argues. We think he's right.
The reluctance of the General Assembly to face up fully to fiscal reality is at the root of the current deficit problem that threatens the state's AAA credit rating. The majority of the Budget and Control Board was facing election last year and refused to deal with the whopping $155 million deficit. Now matters only have gotten worse.
While state law may limit the Budget and Control Board's ability to deal with past deficits, what about the fact that the deficits themselves are unconstitutional? Gov. Sanford recognizes the constitutional issue as the bigger problem. Too bad the legality of past deficit spending hasn't already been challenged in the courts. That's certainly an option now.
So is the prospect of the governor calling the General Assembly back into session, even though it's impossible to limit the agenda or length of a special session. But the governor also recognizes how difficult this issue will be to deal with in 2004 when every member of the General Assembly will be up for election.
There is no question that the constitutional requirement for a balanced state budget is one of the reasons this state has a AAA credit rating. When the Legislature continues to fail to live up to that requirement, drastic steps may well have to be taken to bring lawmakers to their senses.
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