Get rid of the Budget and Control Board

There is some political hay being made in Columbia over Governer-elect Haley and Treasurer-elect Loftis disagreeing over who ought to be Executive Director of the Budget and Control Board.  The conflict shows that politics will create enemies among the best of friends.  

That said, Haley and Loftis should worry less about who to get to run the Budget and Control Board and more about how to get rid of it.  Its very existence goes against the grain of good sense in government.  

No other state has such a system.  The Budget and Control Board of South Carolina is made up the Governor, the Treasurer, the Comptroller General, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.  While people think that the Governor "runs" the state, South Carolina government is actually ran by the five headed monster of the Budget and Control Board.  That Board further has an agency filled with employees, some of which make more than the Governor.   They even have their own mail service.  That's right.  They have a mail service.  They also control things like state leasing and maintenance of vehicles, all the day to day operations most folks think that a Governor should be responsible for. 


What is wrong with the current system?  Well, it gives too much control to the legislature and allows folks to pay out favors.  As Governor-elect Haley is learning, being politically connected and owed a favor means a lot more than actually knowing how to run things.  As such, the Budget and Control Board, which runs the day to day operations of the state, is a wasteful political favor backwater.  Slapping backs is more important than getting things done. 


It is time to put the South Carolina Budget and Control Board on the trash heap of history.  Eliminate it.  Let the Governor run the day to day operations and let the Governor fight it out openly with the legislature over all budget matters.  Let's have no more of five people huddling in a room and deciding to cut this or that or to hire this or that political buddy.  If Governor-elect Haley and Treasurer-elect Loftis really want to reform South Carolina government, then they should stand and scream out to get rid of the Budget and Control Board.