News and Press Releases for September 2007

GOVERNOR SUPPORTS GROUP’S REQUEST TO HAVE SUIT HEARD BY S.C. SUPREME COURT

9/17/2007

Columbia, S.C. – Gov. Mark Sanford today commented on the recently filed lawsuit seeking to dissolve the state Budget and Control Board, calling the suit one that could have “real consequences for every taxpayer in South Carolina.”

Last month, a group called Change SC Now filed the suit, seeking to disband South Carolina’s Budget and Control Board, a mammoth state agency that is unique to South Carolina. The suit challenges the Board’s existence on constitutional grounds, saying that its structure violates the constitutionally required separation of legislative and executive branch powers. The Board handles administrative functions of government that are handled by governors in 49 other states, where there exist clearer lines of responsibility back to the Chief Executives of those states.

In South Carolina, the Board is run by five separately elected officials, so that no clear lines of accountability exist. That lack of accountability was again made evident in a recent report by the GEAR Commission that identified $500 million in savings that could be achieved at that agency.

Last week, the governor filed an answer to the suit in which he concurred with Change SC Now’s request to have the suit heard by the Supreme Court.

“What we’ve said from day one and what has again been highlighted in the GEAR report is that the structure of the Budget and Control Board is costing taxpayers in very real terms,” Gov. Sanford said. “Whether it’s in government or in the private sector, structure matters – and the fact is that the structure of the Budget and Control Board is antiquated and chronically unaccountable. We’re the only state in the nation with a Budget and Control Board, which ought to tell us we’re doing something incredibly right or incredibly wrong – and based upon the findings of the GEAR report, we have at least $500 million in improvements that could be made there. We’re hopeful that the Supreme Court will ultimately decide to consider this important issue.”