In South Carolina – a state where white Republicans have officially run things into the ground – thank God for black Democrats.
Specifically, thank God today for the Reverend-Senator Darrell Jackson, who is leading an effort to have the legislative session in South Carolina shortened by three months – which would save taxpayers upwards of $2 million dollars each year.
In case you’ve never spent a day watching your state government “at work,” you’re not missing much.
It’s basically a bunch of ceremonial introductions of “doctors of the day,” applause-inducing recognitions of retiring bureaucrats and celebrations of winning high school athletic teams – all with a little pre-decided, off-the-record voting thrown in for good measure.
Jackson’s bill to shave three months of wasted time (and money) off of the annual legislative session is a long-overdue reform – one of many that lawmakers should pass immediately upon their return to Columbia tomorrow for an emergency budget session.
By Dan Hamilton October 19, 2008 at 3:20 pm
From what I understand, we can thank the esteemed Senate for our ridculously long legislative session. Over the years, the SC House has passed session shortening legislation many times. There is no reason in the world for SC’s general assembly to meet from January to June, three days a week, year after year. States like Texas and Kentucky meet every other year for shorter periods of time. Its about time our Legislature spent more time at home in the real world. Hopefull the very Reverend Senator can convince Sen. McConnell and other leaders in the “deliberative” body to come home and save the taxpayers some money.
By Trey October 20, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Who cares about the $2 million, even for S.C. that’s pretty small. The point is that it would make Senators and representatives more effective by spending more time in their constituencies as well as opening up the legislature for more average citizens. It’s not exactly effective to have an entire chamber basically made up of independently wealthy people and retirees.