Measure to abolish state Budget and Control Board advances the Senate

file photo: S.C. Statehouse

Legislation to abolish the state’s six decade-old Budget and Control Board advanced Tuesday following a month-long debate in the Senate on how to proceed.

The measure, which passed by a vote of 36 to 2, amended a bill to create a Department of Administration aimed at strengthening the governor’s office.  Florence County Sen. Hugh Leatherman (R) opposed the measure.  “I’ll do anything I can to stop that,” he said.  He proposed a seperate measure to eliminate the five-member board and assign many of its functions to a five-member State Financial Affairs Authority.  But proponents of the winning measure said giving that level of authority to an SFAA wouldn’t fully restructure government, amounting only to a name change.  “When five people are accountable, nobody is accountable,” said Sen. Tom Davis (R-Beaufort).  Davis co-sponsored the amendment.

Also at issue was procurement.  The amendment gives procurement authority to the Department of Administration.  But opponents said that power should be kept out of the department.

Gov. Nikki Haley held a news conference late Tuesday to call for passage of the amendment.  She later stated in a news release, “I want to thank the senators who listened to the will of the people and voted in favor of this amendment–and specifically Sen. Tom Davis, Sen. Shane Massey, Sen. Vincent Sheheen and Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, who did a tremendous amount of work to lay the foundation for a meaningful Department of Administration. Tomorrow’s task is to keep the ball moving forward–this is just one of many issues we need to address this session.”