Sanford's 'Season of Change'

Sanford's 'Season of Change'

The optimism we felt on Gov. Mark Sanford's cold but sunny second inaugural day may have been long gone by the time the Legislature adjourns for the year. But as the governor begins his second, four-year term, we believe there is good reason for hope he is right in his pronouncement that "our state is in the season of change."

Quoting from the Bible and the Rev. Martin Luther King, the governor broadly outlined on Wednesday his familiar agenda that ranges from state government restructuring to restraining government's budgetary growth. The biblical reference - "...that for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven" came from Ecclesiastes. "This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism," quote came from the Rev. King's "I Have a Dream," speech.

While change has been a consistent theme of the Sanford administration, there is no question that his positions have been bolstered by his solid re-election in November. Further we detect more of a sense of purpose from those who have supported some key portions of his legislative agenda in the past.

Completion of the government restructuring begun by Gov. Carroll Campbell was a Sanford priority when he took office four years ago. Restructuring now also is at the top of the agendas of Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell and House Speaker Bobby Harrell. Both pre-filed restructuring legislation and promise that committees in both bodies will begin immediate consideration. The restructuring package has two-parts. One involves constitutional amendments that would allow voters to decide whether they want to allow the governor to select most other statewide officials, ranging from superintendent of education to adjutant general. The second involves placing all those state boards and commissions now run by legislatively appointed officials in the Cabinet system that was launched by the Campbell administration. The goal is to have a more accountable, streamlined system of government that would better serve the citizens while saving millions of dollars.

In recent weeks, the shocking results of a probe of the finances and management of the state Department of Transportation, which has had virtually no accountability to a statewide elected official, should have imprinted on lawmakers the urgency of the restructuring reform of that agency. Indeed, legislation that would give new oversight of the massive transportation department to the governor also is on a fast track.

Prior to his speech, the governor clearly was heartened by the opening remarks by Sen. McConnell, particularly since the Senate has been more reluctant than the House to embrace the Sanford agenda. The Senate leader described the governor's second inaugural as marking hope for "a new day in the state's history." State leaders, he said, "have been given a blank slate" and are "free to write a brilliant future" limited only by "fear and pride." Sen. McConnell's caution against taking comfort in "the safety of the status quo" and the fear to try new things doubtless was music to the governor's ears, as he awaits legislative support for his reform agenda.

The senator also set the theme for greater personal harmony between the governor and the Legislature by urging all assembled to "say goodbye to the discord of the campaign" - the old issues and disagreements. Gov. Sanford also emphasized more than once in his inaugural address the need for partnerships. "In our collective hands are the keys to change. I need your help," he told the state's assembled leaders.

No doubt there will continue to be those ready to rub old wounds between the governor and the Legislature. But that's a losing strategy. Gov. Mark Sanford's reform agenda has stood the test of a re-election. Members of the Legislature will face their own voter test in another two years. How well they fare may well be determined by how well they respond to this "season of change."

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