Sanford: Budget Crisis “Predictable, Preventable”

S.C. Gov. Mark Sanford said his state’s current budget crisis was “predictable, preventable” and “guaranteed” based on the exorbitant spending of S.C. lawmakers in recent years.

In a statement released this afternoon following the latest round of depressed revenue forecasts, Sanford said that the state’s current $420 million budget hole is a direct result of “the run-up in spending over the past four years,” which he referred to as “the legislature’s choice.”

“You can’t grow government faster than the economy and not have it catch up with you,” Sanford said. “The size and duration of the cuts we knew were coming based on the legislature’s choice to run-up government spending will be intensified and prolonged because of the scale of what’s happening in global credit markets.”

Sanford has been pressed by legislative leaders to propose targeted cuts, and he held a meeting with the few state agency heads who are actually under his control to discuss spending reductions earlier this week.

Ultimately, however, the responsibility for these cuts falls squarely on the shoulders of lawmakers, who are engaging in a transparent effort to make the governor look like the bad guy.

In good times, lawmakers are never shy in lording their authority over the executive branch. In fact, nothing delights them more than telling the governor to keep his nose out of the debate over state spending.

Ironic that big government lawmakers like Bobby Harrell and Hugh Leatherman now want Sanford’s input (i.e. a list of cuts that the governor’s office can take the blame for) now that the sky is actually falling.

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