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Web posted Wednesday,
January 21, 2004
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Guest
column: Governor's budget a positive start
By
Ashley Landess
Special to the Carolina
Morning News
Voices of
Carolina
When Gov. Mark Sanford took
office, he said he was going to do things
differently. He has made good on that with his
first budget, an ambitious and thoughtful approach
to making government more efficient and
accountable.
It is encouraging that leaders
in the General Assembly have praised the 300-plus
page document and pledged to consider it carefully
in their budget debates.
The governor's
budget, which he is required to submit but the
General Assembly is not required to pass, is based
on the philosophy that government can operate more
efficiently and that programs ought to be examined
closely for duplication and
effectiveness.
Governor Sanford spent his
first year in office carefully studying government
agencies through budget hearings and his MAP
Commission. Those recommendations, along with
cornerstone proposals such as restructuring, are
prevalent in this budget.
Clearly, one of
the major components of the governor's budget is
an ambitious restructuring proposal that
consolidates agency functions and provides for the
appointment rather than election of most
constitutional officers.
This proposal is a
large part of his budget in that many of the cost
savings would not be realized without it. Not only
is it fiscally sound to consolidate government,
but such a plan would allow for a much higher
degree of accountability than currently
exists.
This is a plan whose time has come.
The governor should be held accountable for major
functions of state government, such as education,
and should have a cabinet to run it that is
accountable to him.
In the 21st century,
running state government means including all
functions in one big picture. An economic
development strategy is not complete without the
education strategy, and any agricultural issues
would need to be considered in that larger picture
as well.
The public needs one place to look
for vision and responsibility, rather than several
different offices that are interested in
furthering their own ideas, sometimes at the
expense of the larger picture.
The
governor's budget includes such measures as
consolidating eight health care agencies into
three to eliminate duplication and improve service
delivery, and merging the Department of
Corrections and the Department of Probation,
Parole and Pardon Services. These are ideas that
should be studied carefully.
Any real
reform starts with changing how government is
structured, and ensuring it is as lean and
accountable as possible. Under this proposal, the
governor can present a comprehensive vision for
South Carolina, and accept the responsibility for
implementing it.
Fortunately, restructuring
has powerful allies in the General Assembly.
Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell
introduced a broad restructuring proposal that
would accomplish many of the same goals the
governor proposed. Senator McConnell agrees with
Governor Sanford that government can operate
better than it does.
McConnell's bill would
include agency consolidation and the appointment
rather than election of most constitutional
officers.
House Speaker David Wilkins also
supports making government more
accountable.
Restructuring is the first
step toward making choices about what services
government should provide and how those services
should be delivered, as well as how much they
should cost. In addition, consolidated government
entities would result in a greater ability to
determine exactly how tax dollars are being
spent.
There are those who will oppose
changing the status quo, and others who will argue
restructuring is too much to get done this year.
Granted, a major overhaul of government should not
be decided without full consideration and healthy
debate, and lawmakers should engage in both. But
supporters would like to give the public the
chance to vote on it in November - lawmakers
should work aggressively toward that
goal.
Restructuring is one approach
Governor Sanford takes toward saving money. One
approach he does not take in his budget is to
raise taxes, and that is a positive thing for our
state's economy. Fortunately, leaders in the
General Assembly have also pledged to hold the
line on taxes. But those policy makers must resist
the siren call for more money that will inevitably
come from complaining constituencies whose pet
programs may get less funding this
year.
The governor deserves a great deal of
credit for an extraordinary effort on this budget,
and leaders in the General Assembly are to be
commended for their positive reaction to a
substantive approach to managing taxpayer
dollars.
The author, Ashley Landess, is
vice president for public affairs of the South
Carolina Policy Council Education Foundation, a
nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization in
Columbia.
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