The South Carolina Senate and House are so far apart on budget and property tax issues that it will be a miracle if they can resolve their differences in time to meet their adjournment date in early June. Never mind that lawmakers first met nearly six months ago.

Here's the rift: The House passed a $6.3 billion spending bill in February that calls for removing most property taxes on owner-occupied homes, and abolishes the grocery tax in exchange for a 2-cent increase in the state sales tax, to 7 percent.

The Senate last Tuesday agreed to a local-option plan that would allow localities to hold referendums to boost the sales tax in exchange for cuts in county or school-operated property taxes. But the taxes would have to be taken off all classes of property, not just owner-occupied homes.

The House is virtually certain to reject the Senate plan, and that will set the stage for what one lawmaker describes will be "the mother of all conference committees."

Most of the state's government observers, including economists, are contemptuous of both plans. Nor do they believe anything better will come out of the conference committee.

This points to a broader problem for South Carolina. It's one of the worst-governed states in the nation. It's not because voters elect bad leaders - they have a good governor and many fine legislators from both parties. It's that the governing system is unwieldy and unworkable. The finest driver can't drive well in a vehicle that's a mechanical wreck.

The Palmetto State's wreck is that the legislature holds too much power, and the governor too little. This is like having a committee at the wheel of the car instead of a driver. There also are too many people elected to state offices who should be appointed by the governor, starting with the state treasurer, comptroller general, superintendent of education and adjutant general.

Then there is the awful system of shutting the governor out of judicial appointments - lawmakers name all the state judges.

Under the current system it's hard to know who's responsible for what, or how to make things better. Power struggles ensue within the legislature - such as the one that's looming now - where nothing constructive gets done, even when all the levers of government are held by the same political party.

Look at the sorry record South Carolina has compiled with its government infrastructure. It is one of the lowest-income states, and ranks near the bottom in public school education; nearly half of the 83 school districts are classified as "disadvantaged" - hardly surprising given that the state is committed to providing only a "minimally adequate" education. That's not a helpful slogan when recruiting business and industry.

South Carolina has one of the worst per-capita crime rates in the nation, with more women murdered than in most states. According to the FBI, nearly 10 percent of the black population is arrested for serious crimes every year.

The state has one of the highest infant mortality rates. Its road and bridge repairs are the most underfunded in the land, contributing to the fatality rate, which is the nation's third-highest per mile traveled. Drunken driving accidents also are unusually high. There are other problems as well, including weak environmental laws.

All of these issues could be better dealt with if the legislature would just cede some of its authority to the executive branch - like most state governments. Gov. Mark Sanford has been pushing for such change, and needs to keep it up in his re-election bid. And so should his Democratic opponent, who likely will be state Sen. Tommy Moore of Clearwater. Strengthening the executive branch ought to be one issue both gubernatorial candidates can agree on.