AIKEN --- On the first leg of a two-day, 10-city tour, Gov. Mark Sanford made a stop in Aiken County on Wednesday morning to speak with small-business owners about their needs and to talk about his goals and agenda.
"Small businesses are the backbone of the country," he told Vance Wall, of Langley Drug in Warrenville.
With the country and the state in the midst of an economic crisis, Mr. Sanford spoke at length about the need for fiscal responsibility in Columbia and the need to change South Carolina's antiquated government structure.
"Last year, the Department of Administration bill passed the House, but it did not make it to the Senate," he said. "But it could happen this year."
Mr. Sanford said a Department of Administration would help with the underlying growth of government that has caused a significant shortfall in the state budget.
Legislators are scheduled to convene next week and "will see about making $400 million worth of cuts," he said. "It shouldn't have happened. Government grew at 40 percent over the last four years," a rate faster than the growth of the economy.
A Department of Administration would take over many of the administrative functions handled by the Budget and Control Board, giving the governor the same responsibilities performed by governors in other states.
"The governor of South Carolina has insufficient power in this state due to the Budget and Control Board," said Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom, who stood with Mr. Sanford and South Carolina Policy Council President Ashley Landess, Rep. Tom Young, Rep. Nathan Ballentine and Sen. Shane Massey. The Department of Administration bill "would transfer power back to the governor," Mr. Eckstrom said.
The governor also said he supports the policy council's call for more on-the-record voting. Currently, only 5 percent of bills gain passage with on-the-record votes.
"A representative democracy is controlled on the public's right to hold government accountable," Mr. Sanford said.
Mr. Massey said the items everyone is talking about -- limiting spending, government restructure, transparency, accountability -- "those aren't the sexiest things to talk about. They're not the most exciting thing to talk about, but it's important for people to understand that they're vitally important issues," he said.
"And they're a big reason why we're going back next week to do budget cuts."
Reach Michelle Guffey at (803) 648-1395, ext. 110, or michelle.guffey@augustachronicle.com.
SANFORD'S IDEAS
SPENDING LIMITS: Laws to limit spending increases to the growth of the population plus inflation.
RESTRUCTURING: Create a Department of Administration, which would take much of the Budget and Control Board responsibilities and give the governor more power.
TRANSPARENCY: More on-the-record voting, local government spending disclosure, a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbyists, public officials income disclosure and expanded open record laws.
ETHICS LAWS: Creation of an objective campaign finance enforcement entity for the House and Senate and closing the door that allows government regulators to leave government and lobby on behalf of issues they used to work on. The governor supports Rep. Nathan Ballentine's bill to require disclosure of all campaign contributions within 48 hours of receiving them in the two weeks before an election.
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