COLUMBIA--Gov. Mark Sanford has picked up two key allies in his push to put a major state government restructuring plan on the South Carolina ballot next year.

On Wednesday, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell and House Speaker David Wilkins said they would sponsor legislation to move all but two of the state's constitutional officers into the governor's Cabinet, one of the main themes of Sanford's campaign.

In addition, the multi-bill package being introduced by the state's two most powerful legislators would consolidate executive branch power by creating a department of administration, which they said would reduce duplication among state agencies and position South Carolina to operate more like a business.

There are no specific estimates on the savings these moves would have, but Sanford said changing the anachronistic system would help reduce costs. South Carolinians now pay 30 percent above the national average per capita for state government, he said.

"This is about building a more cost-effective, cost-efficient government," Sanford said.

Sanford said he's encouraged by the "serious legislative horsepower" behind his restructuring plan and is hopeful that some sort of compromise will make it to voters as a referendum in 2004.

Under the plan that the state's three top leaders are pushing, only the state attorney general and adjutant general would remain independent officers elected statewide.

The secretary of state, education superintendent and treasurer would be appointed by the governor with consent of the Senate. The comptroller general would be appointed by the Budget and Control Board and the agriculture commissioner would be appointed by the governor.

The lieutenant governor would run for office on the same ticket as the governor, much like the nation's president and vice president. Lieutenant governor would become a full-time administrative position and would no longer preside over the state Senate.

The proposed Cabinet-level agency, the S.C. Department of Administration, would handle the state's general services, human resources, employee insurance, procurement, internal audit and energy office.

The three state leaders invoked the name of former Gov. Carroll Campbell, who pushed major state government restructuring a decade ago. This is part two, the men said.

"He got us half the loaf," Sanford said. "We're going back to ask for the whole loaf."Wilkins and McConnell said the restructuring plan was both ambitious and realistic. The legislative leaders said Sanford consulted them on the ideas of the plan and asked them what had a chance of getting through the General Assembly.

There was no appetite for making the attorney general a governor appointee -- lawmakers insist state's chief law enforcement officer should be an independently elected official. With the national focus on the military and homeland security, lawmakers were also hesitant to fiddle with the adjutant general, who is responsible for the state's National Guard units.

But even with the leaders of both legislative chambers backing them, passage is not assured. Many of these proposals, which make elected officers governor appointees, require constitutional changes. To even get a constitutional amendment on the ballot takes a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.

Wilkins, R-Greenville, said he isn't sure every change will get through the Legislature, but "I think we can get a good bit of it."

"We all agree the people's right to elect candidates is sacred and must be guarded," Wilkins said. "However, we can also agree that just as the governor appoints the heads of agencies like DSS and the Revenue Department, it is appropriate for him to make additional appointments."

McConnell, R-Charleston, introduced his legislation in the Senate on Wednesday and could be seen making his way around the chamber to talk up the idea.

McConnell's own Judiciary Committee will open the debate on the restructuring proposals. He said his only concern with restructuring has been the risk of creating an imbalance of power in state government but that he doesn't believe this proposal would.

Right now, McConnell said, some functions of state government operate in a gray area between the legislative and executive branches.

"Let's clear up the lines," he said. "We're just going to try and build a consensus on what's best in the long term for the state."

With only seven weeks left in the legislative session, steering such a major initiative through the process could be difficult.

Wilkins and McConnell both said that if the legislation doesn't pass this year, it could still be passed next session in time to make it to the November 2004 ballot.