Two More Bricks In The Wall

Don’t look now, but S.C. Governor Mark Sanford might actually be getting something done.

Yesterday, the S.C. House Judiciary Committee passed two bills that would give Sanford and future Palmetto State governors direct control over two troubled state agencies – the State Department of Disabilities and Special Needs (DDSN) and the Employment Security Commission (ESC).

Now if the House will only pass Rep. Jimmy Merrill’s bill allowing future governors to appoint a true CEO for the State Ports Authority, South Carolina might actually be getting somewhere on government restructuring.

All three agencies – DDSN, ESC and SPA – have lived up to their alphabet soup ineffectiveness in recent years, although that’s not the real reason to move them under the governor’s purview.

These agencies should all report to the state’s “chief executive” because they are part of the executive branch – not some bastardized quasi-executive, quasi-legislative entity that’s accountable to everybody and nobody at the same time.

“We’ve seen time and time again that when everyone is in charge, no one is in charge,” Sanford said yesterday, “and these bills represent two important steps toward changing that. I’d urge the full House and Senate to continue moving forward on these bills and get them to my desk as soon as possible.”

On this point, Sanford has been exceedingly clear – and ideologically consistent.

He’s also gone so far as to make all of the sweeping structural reforms he has proposed effective after he stepped down – so as to remove any legislative excuse for inaction.

For those of you worried about future governors wielding too much power, South Carolina’s current government structure leaves our “chief executive” in control of less than one-fifth of his own branch of government.

That’s insane – and no way to run a state.

Lawmakers should not only pass these two bills, they should immediately move forward on the rest of Sanford’s administrative restructuring and Constitutional Officers’ restructuring proposals.

It’s time to bring SC out of 1895 and into the 21st Century …

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