Lawmakers must make tough decisions

The Greenville News
January 10, 2010
VOICES
The Greenville News Editorial

Barring a miracle, state legislators will not have a fun time in Columbia this year. With a few exceptions, elected officials prefer to spend money rather than take it away. And with South Carolina's state budget bleeding badly, this legislative year will be focused on dealing with more fiscal pain rather than spreading new revenue dollars and good cheer across the Palmetto State.

The state's general fund budget has been cut by slightly more than $1.5 billion over the past 18 months. That's a 25 percent cut in the funds lawmakers have the most direct control over.

To make matters worse, the recession that has put more than 12 percent of this state's workers in the unemployment line and forced the state to slash its budget is not close to being over. The state budget is crying out in pain because people aren't working, businesses are cutting payroll, and people are spending less money. Such tough times will demand far more discipline and better planning than this Legislature has been accustomed to.

Two potential maps already have been developed. One came late last week from Gov. Mark Sanford. In his FY 2010-11 Executive Budget, Sanford presented his ideas for achieving a balanced budget that funds core functions of the state government with the $5.84 billion the governor expects to flow into the state's general fund.

As in the past, some of Sanford's proposed cuts likely will not be reasonable - such as when he proposed last year to eliminate virtually all state funds for the Greenville University Center that provides access to higher education in this county for many students.

But as always, many of the governor's proposals are sound, such as saving money by changing custodial services in state buildings, consolidating fragmented local school systems and enacting furloughs for state government employees.

And again, the governor is looking forward to what's need to attract new business and industry to this state, and lawmakers should be, too. When the recession starts to thaw, the states with the most business-friendly environments and the best-trained workforces are likely to recover more quickly. Sanford has repeated his recommendation that the state cut its corporate income tax from 5 percent to zero.

Other sound recommendations were presented in an op-ed last week from the top four legislative leaders: Sen. Glenn McConnell, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Sen. Hugh Leatherman and Rep. Dan Cooper. Their call for establishing a Streamlining Commission to look for programs that have outlived their usefulness would be a waste. The state has several comprehensive studies that identify waste, duplication and outdated programs - such as one from the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review Committee.

Lawmakers who truly want to end outdated programs or squeeze other efficiencies out of state government need only dust off one of these reports. Enough studying has been done; lawmakers need to start implementing the best of the ideas from the GEAR Committee or other groups.

Other ideas proposed by the four powerful lawmakers - and they give much credit to State Treasurer Converse Chellis - are fundamentally sound. They propose increasing the size of the state's General Reserve Fund from 3 percent to 5 percent, changing how the Capital Reserve Fund is used so it will become an additional buffer during hard times, and changing how the state responds to declining revenues by making budget cuts automatic and setting the "trigger" for the cuts at 2 percent rather than 4 percent decline in revenue.

Legislators may not have as much fun this year as they would if tax revenue was flowing in and they could spend freely. But by making some smart decisions, they can help get South Carolina out of the ditch.