South Carolina has for many years needed shorter legislative sessions, but the reason to act has never been as compelling as it is today.

Today, due to the state's dire budget straits, many state employees are being asked to take unpaid time off. Legislators need to do the same, but make the days off permanent.

House members have toyed with the idea of taking several "furlough" days themselves. They should recognize that if the state can proceed fine without them in session for three days, they can easily shorten the session every year.

South Carolina legislators meet from January to June each year. That's too long, and veteran House Speaker David Wilkins knows it. He has urged a shortened session for years.

Other states manage to get by with shorter legislative sessions. South Carolina could do the same. The long sessions encourage inefficiency. Some of its core tasks, including passing a budget, get pushed to the last minute.

Long sessions also encourage dubious legislation, whether it is telling local school boards what to do or asking the Dixie Chicks to put on a free concert.

The House and Senate both are controlled by Republicans, and Gov. Mark Sanford is a Republican. If the party in power truly believes that government should be minimal, it should start by cutting the legislative session. The longer the lawmakers are in Columbia, the more government they create.

But beyond that, stories of all the suffering by the other state employees -- the ones who are not legislators -- should encourage the legislature to rein itself in.

At South Carolina State University, a 12-member booster club of retirees, faculty and staff is helping furloughed employees keep food on the table. They have found a way to give each of the 50 lowest-paid workers about $50 worth of groceries in the first three pay periods that the workers took home short paychecks. The university has ordered 15 days of unpaid leave for all 1,200 employees, spread out over six pay periods.

Those state workers are not alone.

The state Department of Juvenile Justice required its employees to take six days without pay.

The South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind forced employees to take leave during spring break.

Many more state employees have lost their jobs altogether.

The legislature could do its part by permanently reducing its five-month session.