SC House Approves Government Restructuring

On Wednesday, the SC House approved sweeping government reforms designed to eliminate the Budget and Control Board, cut the size of state government, and make the state’s executive offices more accountable to the Governor.

“We got within a late Senate filibuster of reform, and after six years of debate, we’re here again,” said Rep. Garry Smith, R-Simpsonville, the bill’s primary sponsor. “I have worked for this reform since I was first elected to the House, and I’m proud my colleagues have once again overwhelmingly approved this essential government restructuring.”

The bill’s highlights include:

• Eliminating the Budget and Control Board,
• Giving the Governor’s Office more executive authority by transferring 88 percent of the current Board budget and 75 percent of the staff into the new Department of Administration, and
• Protecting the state’s AAA credit rating by creating two independent agencies with broader decision-making structures to ensure secure management of the state’s fiduciary responsibilities.

Last year’s legislation included a large reduction in full-time employees appropriated to the Budget and Control Board. That is not included in this year’s package because the House rolled those reductions into this year’s budget.

“We continue to be the only state in the union that has a Budget and Control Board, and the Republican Caucus has worked with Governor Sanford and Governor Haley to consolidate our state’s administration in the governor’s office where it belongs,” said House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister. “This makes government more accountable and makes our Governor a true chief executive. Future Governors will not be able to shift blame to the Budget and Control Board or the General Assembly, and the public will know who runs our state.”

The House-approved legislation is substantively similar to the Department of Administration compromise legislation hashed out in a House-Senate Conference Committee last year. That bill died when a filibuster on the last day of the 2012 legislative session took all remaining time.