Sheheen: Legislative reform key to improving government

The state Senate has a tremendous opportunity today to move our structure of government into the 21st century when a Senate panel takes up the Legislative Reform Act of 2010, S.136.

Under our current structure, state government too often operates on autopilot, with little guidance or review by elected officials who should be the ultimate policy makers. Programs are continued and agencies operate with little oversight or evaluation by legislators or the governor. Along with my co-sponsors, I crafted and introduced this legislation in an effort to modernize our legislative operations so elected leaders can live up to their responsibilities to intelligently and consciously allocate our limited resources toward an effective and functioning state government.

You may believe that your Legislature regularly conducts in depth evaluations and reviews of the operations of state agencies and programs. You would be wrong. In our national government and in many states, the legislature is expected to review and evaluate programs and agencies on a regular basis or when problems arise. In South Carolina, we do very little of that evaluation. Instead, the General Assembly focuses on passing new laws and a budget each year. Although we do have separate committees on natural resources, education, penology, etc., those committees spend almost all their time considering new laws . They rarely review or provide oversight for existing programs and agency operations.

The Legislative Reform Act would restructure legislative operations to require the General Assembly to thoroughly review each agency and program at least once every five years, and more often if concerns are raised. It would enable standing committees of the Legislature to review agencies within their topic areas to ensure that programs are still needed, worthwhile and accomplishing the purpose for which they were created. Most importantly, it is a mechanism to determine that tax dollars are being wisely spent.

The legislation will put into place a standard procedure for the committees to use, allowing testimony under oath and subpoena power to gain needed documents. It will encourage cooperation between the governor's office, the Legislature and governmental agencies to improve the functioning of state government.

Commentators often say that South Carolina's government is controlled by the Legislature. The unfortunate truth is that we have developed a governmental system in which neither the governor's office nor the Legislature is actively guiding state government operations. This bill is an important first step toward moving our state into the modern era. While we empower the Legislature to perform its functions, we should also begin the empowerment of the governor's office. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Difficult times present important opportunities to reevaluate the operations of our state. When dollars are scarce and budgets are lean, we see the need for smarter budgeting and long-term evaluation of how government operates. Opportunities for big changes don't come along very often. Let's hope we seize this opportunity to improve our state's government by enacting the Legislative Reform Act of 2010.

Mr. Sheheen represents Kershaw, Chesterfield and Lancaster counties in the state Senate; he is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.