Start streamlining now

South Carolina state government has been battered by the economy since 2008, and economic analysts predict that 2010 will be another tough year. The situation argues for reform measures that will produce economies in the near term. Plans for a legislative cost-cutting study commission shouldn't preclude needed action next session.

The Streamlining Commission is among the recommendations listed by legislative leaders in a column on our Commentary page today. It would examine ways to consolidate, privatize or cut existing government service, but isn't expected to make recommendations until 2011.

However, there are plenty of good ideas already out there to advance a credible streamlining agenda next legislative session.

Recommendations to cut duplication and waste have been made in recent years by the Legislative Audit Council; the Management, Accountability and Performance (MAP) Commission, a citizens group appointed by Gov. Sanford during his first term; and the Government Efficiency and Accountability Review (GEAR) Committee, a group of business and finance executives who looked at state government operations.

The Audit Council has suggested many millions in potential savings over its 34-year existence, many of which have been ignored by the Legislature. For example, it concluded in 2003 that a consolidation of state health agencies could save $21 million a year.

Among the MAP Commission's proposals to save some $300 million a year were agency consolidation under the executive branch and returning to a 30-year retirement plan for state employees. The Legislature unwisely reduced that requirement to 28 years in 2001.

The GEAR Committee recommended savings of $500 million in 2007. Most would be realized by reducing agency duplication.

In addition, Gov. Sanford's executive budgets have included suggestions for streamlining government, but there's never been much inclination by the Legislature to take them seriously. Last year, the governor's budget sought savings of $267 million.

In many instances, the legislative Streamlining Commission will be covering old ground.

That's not to say that the impulse for reform has been altogether absent in the Statehouse. The House of Representatives last year endorsed the consolidation of numerous state operations under a Department of Administration.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell says that bill has a chance to pass the Senate this year, and insists that reform of the state Employment Security Commission also will go forward.

"This doesn't slow down anything," Rep. Harrell says of ongoing reform efforts. The commission, he says, will "identify what we can do without and what things can be combined."

Nevertheless, the commission will be a legislatively dominated body, and it is reasonable to question the extent to which it will be willing to make governance changes that will diminish the Legislature's authority over executive operations. Six seats would be controlled by the Legislature; two would be appointed by the governor.

Maybe the Streamlining Commission will reach some of the same conclusions as earlier reform studies. Maybe the Streamlining Committee will advance reforms where other groups have been ignored.

But the Legislature should look now to cost-saving recommendations from its own Audit Council, and citizen commissions, and act accordingly.

The state's financial situation says there's no time like the present to cut unnecessary expenses.