Restructuring South Carolina State Government
Restructuring government will allow South Carolina to better compete against not only the likes of North Carolina and Georgia, but China, India and a whole host of other nations around the world. The plain truth is that our state government's arcane structure holds us back - as a state, as an economy, and as a people.
Our current constitutional structure was created in 1895 under the leadership of "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman - and fashioned in such a disjointed and unaccountable way for fear that a black man would one day become governor. Yet there are several straight forward reforms to this Jim Crow Constitution that would immediately have an impact on our state's competitiveness going forward:
One, we could streamline and consolidate state agencies. South Carolina’s state government is a hodgepodge of some 50 independent agencies and departments. These provide hundreds of sometimes duplicative public programs and services, making our government more expensive and less efficient. South Carolinians pay 137% the US average for government, and that's a number that has to change if we're to truly hold our own in an increasingly competitive world.
For example, there are currently five autonomous health care agencies and departments delivering similar services. Each provides drug treatment services (costing $41 million plus), which is wasteful; each has its own administrative arrangements (costing more than $15 million), which is duplicative and costly; and each has a separate governance board or commission (consisting of a total 35 persons), which results in a lack of accountability. By consolidating these departments with similar missions, state government could provide better service to clients and better value to taxpayers.
Two, we could encourage clear lines of authority in government by making the central administrative functions of government accountable to the governor. In a private company, the buck stops with the boss - and he or she is given the authority and responsibility to make sure things run smoothly. Not so in South Carolina state government.
Already this legislative session, a bill that would create a cabinet-level Department of Administration has passed the state House, but lingers in the state Senate. A Department of Administration would provide better support services to state agencies, and bring South Carolina in line with the 49 other states in the union instead of relegating authority and diffusing accountability to a five-member quasi-legislative oversight board - what we call the Budget and Control Board.
Three, we could enhance accountability to the taxpayers and save taxdollars in the process by shortening the statewide ballot. Multiple executive branch officers erode real accountability by parceling out executive branch power between the governor and eight other statewide-elected constitutional officers. This often results in leaders working cross-wise and producing inconsistent public policy. We don't elect the US President and Vice President separately, and it seems just as odd that we do in fact do that here in South Carolina. Positions that could become appointed Cabinet members include the Adjutant General, the Commissioner of Agriculture, the State Superintendent of Education, and the Secretary of State.
