Special session for budget woes

The Legislature can't say it wasn't warned. Gov. Mark Sanford repeatedly urged spending caution during the last legislative session but was rebuffed in his efforts to restrain state spending. Now, all state agencies will deal with across-the-board cuts.

The Budget and Control Board agreed last week to cut the budget for all state agencies by 3 percent because of a shortfall in state revenues. Across-the-board cuts hurt all agencies but some more painfully than others.

Public education, for example, is taking a $73 million hit. Existing problems in public-school funding at the state level are recognized by legislative leaders, who have appointed committees to make recommendations for their solution.

Meanwhile, public schools will have to deal with major new expenses created by rising fuel costs. The Department of Education has curtailed, for the present, its long overdue plans for replacing outdated — and energy inefficient — school buses.

The Department of Corrections, already operating at a deficit, will see its meager resources shrink by $10 million. How long can prisons be safely managed without the necessary support from the Legislature? Already, South Carolina has the lowest per capita prison budget in the nation.

The state may not have enough money to provide adequately for schools and prisons, but it has adequate funding for superfluous items paid out by the Legislature's Competitive Grants program.

As an example of questionable spending, Gov. Sanford cited the $100,000 allocation that will pay for German politicians to visit the Grand Strand in October.

While $100,000 won't make up agency shortfalls, the $18 million allocated to the Competitive Grants program, described as a "slush fund" by the governor, isn't exactly chicken feed. It would help the most beleaguered, essential agencies face their latest shortfall.

So would more selective cuts. By law, the Budget and Control Board can only make across-the-board cuts when faced with a revenue shortfall. Too bad the Legislature overrode most of the governor's $72 million in budget vetoes.

Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom got to the heart of the matter in his comments on the woeful budget situation: "Rather than spend just absolutely everything we think is coming in the door, we really need to think about more sustainable spending patterns."

The governor is considering calling the Legislature back into special session so agency budgets can be trimmed selectively. Considering the threat to essential services such as public education and corrections, that would be a responsible course.

But the Legislature wasn't willing to consider the governor's budget advice during the session. And it has never shown any real support for his frugal approach to government. Who is to say that the current budget crisis will make a difference?

If the budgetary problems facing schools and prisons can't concentrate legislators' attention, maybe the looming election will.

A special session to deal with the budget shortfall held before Election Day might actually produce results.