Senate serves greater good

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The state Senate acted decisively Tuesday to change many of its outdated rules that often block the will of the majority and ultimately hurt this state by dooming many pieces of much-needed legislation. Legislators are elected to do the people's business, and quite often, the people's business has taken a back seat to the personal agendas of only a few senators.

Normally the public takes little notice of the opening day of a new Senate session — a day traditionally devoted to insider business such as adopting rules for the next two years. This year, however, much pressure was put on the state Senate to change its rules so it can do more of the people's business and cater less to narrow special interests.

Many of the Senate's rules were changed or modified Tuesday — much to the credit of Gov. Mark Sanford, some reform-minded senators such as Larry Martin of Pickens and a consortium of business interests led by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

Martin, a Pickens County Republican and chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, said he and other senators had already been working on changing the rules when Gov. Sanford made it a priority late last year. Business groups, including the state Chamber and the Palmetto Institute, added their voices to the debate a few weeks ago by pointing out that a few senators have been allowed to block a critically needed agenda aimed at raising the income level of all South Carolinians.

Some of the changes adopted by the Senate: (1) Made it impossible for a single senator to indefinitely block a bill. (2) Reduced the number of votes need to shut off a filibuster from 28 to 26, or three-fifths of the 46 members present. (3) Agreed to not allow bills to be amended on third reading without agreement from three-fifths of the senators present and voting. (4) Made it more difficult to attach unrelated amendments to a bill in a practice called bobtailing.

As Sanford wrote on our op-ed page last year, 39 bills were blocked in the last legislative session by a single senator, and 13 of those bills were held up for more than a year. Sanford watched much of his agenda fly through the House of Representatives, only to die a slow death in the Senate. The death wasn't from thoughtful debate and serious deliberation, but rather came from senators using stalling tactics.

What the Senate did Tuesday was commendable and absolutely essential to this state moving ahead in ways that make South Carolina more competitive, a more attractive business environment and home to more well-paying jobs for its residents. It was a good way to start this new legislative session.