WHAT’S GOING ON: In the State Senate

The South Carolina Senate spent most of last week debating a bill to end the state Budget and Control Board and put its functions under a newly-created Department of Administration. South Carolina is the only state in the nation that has a Budget and Control Board – an agency that reports to five different people, which makes accountability difficult.

In that same vein, also being debated in committee is a measure that would reform or abolish the state Department of Transportation Commission. Many have raised concerns that with a seven-member commission presiding over virtually every aspect of the Department’s operation, DOT has become inefficient and unaccountable. The agency has run deficits and had to seek emergency loans to pay its bills.

Finally, the Senate also acted to stop the sale of synthetic drugs in South Carolina. Known as “spice” and “bath salts,” according to senators, these drugs have come to represent a danger to public health – and until now had been sold legally in South Carolina.