The Right Way by Vincent Sheheen

7/29/2019 The Right Way by Vincent Sheheen

1/148

THE

RIGHT WAY

Getting the Palmetto State

BACK ON TRACK

Vincent Sheheen

United Writers PressAsheville, N.C., 2013

THE

RIGHT WAY

GETTING THE PALMETTO STATE

BACK ON TRACK

VINCENT SHEHEEN


2/148


3/148

THE

RIGHT WAY


BACK ON TRACK

Vincent Sheheen

United Writers PressAsheville, N.C., 2013


4/148

The Right Way

ii

The Right Way:

Geing the Palmeo State Back on Track

by Vincent Sheheen

Copyright 2013, Vincent Sheheen

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-934216-49-1

www.VincentSheheen.com

Printed in the U.S.A.


5/148

Vincent Sheheen

iii

Dedication

I dedicate this book to the past, present and the future of South

Carolina; to my parents, Fred and Rose, for the love they have giv-

en to family and the commitment they have shown to community;

to my wife, Amy, for her ery passion in everything she gives and

does; and to my three sons, Austin, Joseph and Anthony, for the

honorable men they are becoming.

And to all of those people around our state, who have shared their

hearts and hopes with me. We all still have much to do together.


6/148


7/148

Vincent Sheheen

v

Table of Contents

Introduction vii

Total Change 1

Education Improvement 7

Government Restructuring 27

Tax Reform 53

Transportation 73

Jobs and Economic Development 85

More Good Ideas 101

Conclusion 107

Endnotes 111

Index 121

About Vincent Sheheen 127


8/148


9/148

Vincent Sheheen

vii

Introduction

I am in love with South Carolinahave been and always will

be. From the pine-covered Sandhills, to the swampy Lowcoun-

try, to the rocky foothills, I have lived it, felt it and breathed it

all in. Ive argued, loved, prayed, cried and learned with these

stubborn, sti-necked, kind and passionate brothers and sis-

ters of mine for more than 40 years.

If America has a soul, its here in South Carolina. We have

pushed and pulled and torn and scraped this country back-

wards and forwards since before it was a country. White and

black, music and cuisine, war and gentility, great wealth and

great poverty, we have swirled the currents of our own lives

and the currents of the nation for centuries. South Carolina is

dierent and I love it.

We still have a sense of place here that leads to the inevita-

ble rst question upon greeting a new friend, So, where are

you from? If I know where you are from in South Carolina, I

probably know someone you know. If I know where you are

from, I can understand what you understand. And if you are

not from here, well, I can understand that too.

South Carolina is a small enough place for you to know some-

one from every part of the state, but its large enough not to

have to know everyone. In the words of our great patriot,

James Petigru, South Carolina is too small for a republic and

too large for an insane asylum.1

South Carolina is where our American patriots fought the

guerrilla bales of the Revolutionary War. Its the home for

men with names like the Gamecock and the Swamp Fox.


10/148

The Right Way

viii

I look from my window in my home in Camden onto the

ridge of the baleground where American patriots camped,

marched, fought and likely died. We know the War of Inde-

pendence was won right here, not in Delaware, not in Vir-

ginia but here where South Carolinians laid the groundwork

for American victory through tremendous losses, draws and

victories at places with names like Cowpens, Camden, Hang-

ing Rock, Ninety Six and Charleston.2

South Carolina is the state that launched an atrocious civil

war to keep a people enslaved. And its a place that could pro-

duce a hero like Sgt. Richard Kirkland3, the Angel of Maryes

Heights, who risked his life to share water with dying Union

soldiers on the baleeld. Throughout history, our state has

been lled with dark hate and passionate love. Its a state

known for its hospitality, friendliness and high spousal abuserate.

If America is a melting pot, South Carolina is a swirling, boil-

ing cauldron of diversity. We are the land of soul food, the

blues, the Charleston and Big Apple dances, Appalachian

music, blind tiger bars, grits and a church on every country

road. We are the place where Scots, Irish, Huguenots, Ger-mans, Native Americans, Jews, Africans and Anglos mixed

and lived from the very rst days. South Carolina is the home

of Dizzy Gillespie, James Brown, Mary Boykin Chesnut and

Stephen Colbert. Our state is small, but we live large.

With our richness of history, cultural diversity and unsur-

passed natural beauty, why are we still stuck in the ditchwhen it comes to employment, education, government and

health? Why in recent history have our neighbors to the North


11/148

Vincent Sheheen

ix

and South reliably and relentlessly embraced progressive re-

forms and proposals years ahead of South Carolina? Why did

North Carolinas leaders have the vision to invest and plan

for the Research Triangle while South Carolina was jacking

up college tuition rates on its students? Why did Georgias

elected ocials invest in four-year old kindergarten, while

South Carolina was being sued by her children for failing to

provide even a minimally adequate education?

South Carolina hasnt always been this way. When many

Southern states were using dogs and re hoses on their citi-

zens in the 1960s, South Carolina was, by and large, beginning

to peacefully, albeit recalcitrantly, integrate its colleges and

schools. While other Deep South governors actively blocked

black students from admission to schools and universities,

South Carolina remained calm with Gov. Fri Hollings say-ing the rule of law must prevail in his famous last address to

the General Assembly in January 1963.

In the 1960s and 1970s when most of the South was still stuck

in a mono-visionless agricultural past, South Carolina built

foreign investment in manufacturing. When many Southern

states struggled to understand workforce training, South Car-olina invented the modern technical college system that has

been copied around the country and globe. In the 1960s and

70s, South Carolina embraced public-private partnerships

that yielded real dividends in job growth, investment and

educational improvement as our visionary business and po-

litical leaders used personal friendships for the beerment of

our entire state. And we reaped the benets in the 1980s and

1990s as unemployment was low and our progress in educa-

tion was recognized around the country.


12/148

The Right Way

x

But thats changed in todays South Carolina. Where are the

visionary government leaders to carry on the work by gover-

nors like Fri Hollings, Robert McNair, Dick Riley and Carroll

Campbell? Where are state business leaders today who give

freely of their time, eort and capital to push South Carolina

forward like past business luminaries Francis Hipp, Charlie

Daniel, Buck Mickel and Jim Self? Its time to get their modern

equivalents more involved with government leaders to push

us forward.

Time to do whats right for South Carolina

We have heard over and over again that government isnt THE

answer. But surely it is a part of the answer. Otherwise, why

did our intelligent, hard-working forebears ght and die for

its independent establishment in this country? Why did theydedicate their sweat and time in order to form a more perfect

Palmeo State?

For more than a decade, the so-called leaders of South Caro-

lina have preached a false gospel. They have told us ad nause-

am that government is incapable of being ecient, honest and

constructive. And instead of remembering our past successes,we the citizens bought into their cynical rhetoric, their cynical

leadership. In return, we have ended up with the most ine-

cient, dishonest and destructive government a modern society

could practically have in America. With the leaders weve had,

its no wonder South Carolina is a recurring laughingstock on

late night television shows.

Its high time that we stop doing whats not working. My phi-

losophy of government is simple: Lets nd out what works


13/148

Vincent Sheheen

xi

and do it! Regardless of party, ideology or prejudice, lets nd

solutions and not be afraid to try new things.

South Carolina has all too often seen its major state agencies op-

erated like personal efdoms with unqualied campaign donors

and hacks running the show. We have seen inexperienced direc-

tors and board members appointed with disastrous results.

Im not referring to obscure bureaus with no purpose or func-

tion. Im talking about state agencies that provide core govern-

ment functions, which we all expect to perform without exces-

sive waste, dysfunction and incompetence.

Our Department of Employment and Workforce is

operating on such a dysfunctional level that the federal

government has threatened to take over becauseunemployment benets werent being paid out correctly

or in a timely fashion.

Our Department of Revenue operated so incompetently

in 2012 that it allowed millions of our tax records to be

stolenthe biggest electronic security breach of any

state ever.

Our Department of Social Services has paid more than

$100 million in nes with our precious taxpayer dollars

because it could not comply with basic rules about re-

quiring deadbeat parents to pay child support.4

During summer 2011, the state Department of

Transportation was mismanaged and had serious cashow problems. Contractors across the state were not

geing paid.


14/148

The Right Way

xii

This list goes on and on and on. We should learn two things

from these situations. First, the state should not appoint high-

ranking ocials simply because of their political connections

or contributions. Appointees should be well-qualied. Sec-

ond, the state should hold ocials accountable for failures

that rise to the level of criminal negligence.

Meanwhile, the practical things that really maer to our peo-

ple have been ignored.

Thanks to a roller-coaster of revenues supporting

our state budget, the S.C. Highway Patrol has been

strained in numbers, reaching a high of around 1,050

troopers in the 1990s, only to be slashed to about 800

by 2012. And while our state governments leaders

pushed state troopers out the door, our populationand numbers of vehicles on the road jumped

dramatically. Our state law enforcement ocers are

now among some of the lowest paid in the country.

Many trained state ocers leave the force to work for

local towns or counties who show them more respect

by paying them the living wage they deserve.

Over the last two decades, South Carolinas leaders

have made the tax system less fair, less transparent

and less predictable. Our leaders have allowed edu-

cation funding to lurch into an inequitable mess that

bases kids opportunities on where they happen to be

born. And our leaders have played politics while the

roads and bridges that our forefathers invested in arecrumbling and roing.


15/148

Vincent Sheheen

xiii

Even worse than the dysfunction of government agen-

cies, this state has notched an electoral record of crooksand ethically questionable ocials unsurpassed in

South Carolina modern history. We have seen a com-

missioner of agriculture and a state treasurer go to jail.

We have witnessed a governor plead no contest to 37

ethics violations and pay a $74,000 ne. In recent years,

our great state has been victimized, stigmatized and

traumatized by unsavory and unethical behavior fromnumerous elected ocials.

The results have been disastrous. South Carolina has ranked

as one of the highest unemployment states in America for the

last 10 years. We are one of the only Southeastern states to see

such large numbers of our college-educated young people de-

part our borders. South Carolina now has the highest public

college tuition rate in the Southeast and one of the very highest

in the nation. Recently, we were ranked as a state with one of

the worst economic mobility opportunities for our citizensa

literal repudiation of the American Dream.

Instead of promoting public education, our leaders have

preached hostility toward its historical role in providing a

means for families to move forward. Instead of making college

more aordable for middle class families, our elected ocials

have made it almost price prohibitive. And instead of working

to gain trust and honor in our government, they have squan-

dered their political capital on their own selsh personal and

political greed.


16/148

The Right Way

xiv

Surely one-party rule is part of the problem. Whether its

Democrats or Republicans, one-party rule leads to arrogance,

incompetence and unethical behavior wherever it occurs. Over

the last decade, South Carolinas government has suered

from an even more pernicious infectiona monstrous

aitude problem. Much like an unrelenting algal bloom on

a stagnant lake, our state has allowed an aitude of failure,

of inevitability and of disappointment to creep into our lives.

Today in times when we need dynamism and a bold vision toshake us out of our sleep, inertia is the most powerful force

in our states government. I believe it is time to get the ball

rolling again. It is time to make South Carolina what she

was and can bethe shining star of a bolder South, moving

forward and upward.

This short book is not meant to propose solutions to all of ourstates problems. Most of those can only be remedied when

each and every one of us takes a good, long look in the mir-

ror. But I oer the following chapters as a starting point to

get back to the basics of moving South Carolina forward. This

book proposes ideas for us to consider and debate to try to

get our state back on the right footing and shed the inanities

of the past few years. More than anything, this book of ideas

is an aempt to promote more rational political discussion

and policymaking. Ultimately, we will still need commied

citizens and leadership on many fronts to make it so.


17/148

THE

RIGHT WAY


BACK ON TRACK


18/148


19/148

Vincent Sheheen

1

1Total Change

The politics and government of South Carolina are just too

dysfunctional and too broken to repair piece by piece. We

need two things to happennew leaders and new govern-

ment. And we need them to happen as soon as possible.

New leadership now

Its time to scrap the current generation of nihilistic leaders.

You know who I am talking aboutthe type of people who

are always telling us why we cant accomplish things or

solve our problems. Think about it: What has South Carolina

accomplished during the last decade? Now, as it has for the

last 10 years, our state sits atop the list of states with high

unemployment rates. South Carolina has seen public collegetuition skyrocket to the highest in the Southeast at $10,698

per year5one of the highest tuitions in America. We have

seen the leaders of this state either ignore public education or

lead an assault on our childrens future by aempting to raid

education funding. We have suered embarrassment after

embarrassment caused by our leaders unethical behavior

and boneheaded statements and we have become the bu of

late night television jokes all too frequently.


20/148

The Right Way

2

This downward spiral in our government should surprise no

one. Why? Because we have elected leaders who proclaim a

belief that government is always part of the problem. Once

elected, they prove their theory correct by making our states

government a dysfunctional embarrassment that is incapable of

eciently meeting the demands of core government functions.

No maer the policy changes or government reform, the

Palmeo State will never move forward as long as we electleaders who drag us backwards. We need leaders at all levels

who believe their service in government is honorable and more

important than their own political careers.

Clean break for a new government

Hand in hand with a need for leadership change is a need for

structural change in our state government. Its time to scrap

South Carolinas current form of government. No longer can

we aord the tinkering that has occurred over the decades. We

need a clean break. We need a clean break because our govern-

ment structure is no good. We need a clean break because our

political culture is roen. After watching for two terms from

the back row of the South Carolina Senate, it is clear to methat the habits and expectations of South Carolinas political

elite and culture cant be reformed because it has just goen

too bad. Trying to mend the current way that our govern-

ment works would be like trying to use superglue to erect a

tree blown over by Hurricane Hugo. Now is the time for South

Carolina government to begin anew.

For a clean sweep of South Carolinas government to occur,

we must make changes outside of the inuence of the current


21/148

Vincent Sheheen

3

power structure. Its time for the people to rise up and once

again assert themselves in perfecting our form of government.

Its time for a South Carolina Constitutional Convention.

South Carolinas constitutional tradition has been one of

restrained popular involvement. South Carolinas citizenry

last met in a constitutional convention in 1895. Prior to the

Convention of 1895, the people of South Carolina had seen

t to meet together to perfect their form of government onmultiple occasions: 1776, 1778, 1790, 1865 and 1868. Until the

20th century, our populace and elected representatives were

not shy about calling for a convention to rewrite our basic

law. In fact, we used the convention an average of every 20

years for the rst half of our nations history (1776 to 1895 or

119 years), but we havent used this vital tool of democracy at

all in the second half of our democracy (1895 to 2013, or 118years).

When our last convocation occurred in 1895, only white men

could participate. The convention was in part called so that

newly re-ascendant whites could undo work that the states

Reconstruction government had created after the War Be-

tween the States. The convention also had a goal of re-central-izing power in the state government and away from emerging

local governments.

Since 1895, South Carolina has continued to use the

constitution for policy decisions by amending it many times.

We have amended the constitution dozens of times since

1895. Our constitution currently contains provisions dealingwith local maers as varied as paving assessments in Forest

Acres to revenue for bridges in Beaufort County. It controls


22/148

The Right Way

4

the alcohol policy of the state and decides how retirement

funds can be invested.

So what weve been doing for more than a century is amend-

ing a document that arose in the days after the Civil War when

horses and buggies were a primary means of transport and

the telephone was a newfangled invention. The constitution

that South Carolina operates under today continues to reect

populist urges present on the state level in the late 1800s andan approach to government and governing that are no longer

wise in the 21st century.

For example, our executive branch power is fragmented

amongst numerous elected ocials. Instead of the strong

separation of powers we nd on the federal level, our state

constitution allows sometimes strange intermixtures of pow-ers between the branches.

Many states have seen the need to rewrite their fundamen-

tal law in the modern era. Since 1950, some 15 states have

held constitution conventions. The time has come for South

Carolina to join the ranks of modernity. Our constitution is an

anachronism of a time that is past. Its fragmentation of poweramongst numerous ocials weakens the executives ability to

steer the ship of state. Mixed into the time-weary structure of

government is a jumble of policy decisions that are beer left

in statutory law.

Finally, if for no other reason, the South Carolina Constitution

needs rewriting because many of its provisions no longer arerelevant to our society. Among other nullities, our constitution

still states that each county shall have a senator and allows for


23/148

Vincent Sheheen

5

literacy tests for votingideas that were banished by the U.S.

Supreme Court in the 20th century.

Our state constitution is too badly structured to be remedied

by amendment. The time has come to rethink, fundamentally,

how our state is organized. The time has come to convene a

constitutional convention with nonpartisan delegates elected

to restructure and reform our broken system through rational

debate.

From such a convention should emerge a more balanced and

eective government. In that convention, we can strip away

the unnecessary policy provisions in our current constitution

and omit the historical appendages that remain. We should

focus on the basics: governments structure and our funda-

mental rights. We should empower our local governmentsand clearly dene the roles of the executive and legislative

branches.

A belief in American democracy is a belief in the constitution-

al form of government. Underpinning respect for our state

constitution must be a respect for ourselves. We must have

leaders we can be proud of and we must have a governmentstructure that works. South Carolina deserves both!


24/148


25/148

Vincent Sheheen

7

2Education Improvement

South Carolinas future

I remember how my twin sons, Austin and Joseph, each

wrapped their hands around my nger shortly after they

were born. Something changed inside me in that magical in-

stant. Not only did I feel a physical connection to my boys,

but the gentle squeeze from their hands opened my eyes to

the overwhelming responsibility that Amy and I now had. Inthose opening moments of their lives, I felt a duty to protect

Austin and Joseph and to make sure they got whatever they

needed to thrive and grow. I remember thinkingjust like

every parent thinksI want what is best for these boys so

they can experience the joys that I have been blessed to expe-

rienceand so that they can achieve things I never dreamed

of.

Four years after the birth of our twins came our new addition,

Anthony. He came into the world, reached out, grabbed my

nger and those feelings of responsibility surged inside me

again. I sat by, alone, for what seemed like hours as he was

placed into an oxygen tent to gain his strength.

Today, Amy and I still feel that same sense of duty every

daya responsibility that we need to provide, as best as we


26/148

The Right Way

8

can, for our sons and their future. No parent wants lives for

their children that are worse than the one they have enjoyed.

No grandparents want a grandchild to have fewer opportuni-

ties than they did.

But if my sons and South Carolinas children are to be ready

for the world of the futureto have lives that are beer than

that of their parents and grandparentstheyll need to be

ready to compete in the global economy of the future. And ifthey arent prepared, they will be relegated to competing for

a decreasing number of low-wage, low-skilled jobsif they

can get work at all.

Projecting from 2008 until 2018, new jobs in the Palmeo State

are estimated to grow by 94,000 for people with training and

education beyond high school. But jobs for high school grad-uates and dropouts are projected to increase by less than half

of that number. The same study showed that some 56 percent

of South Carolinas 1.2 million jobs will require some kind of

advanced training after high school.6

In other words, future success for South Carolinas workers

as well as the entire staterequires more education, not less.Unfortunately, South Carolinas recent leaders dont have a

good record in making smart investments in education to en-

sure that our children will have the training they need to get

the beer-paying jobs of the future. I believe its time we turn

that abysmal record on its head.

Simply put: How can the students of today expect to hold thejobs of tomorrow if they dont have enough knowledge?


27/148

Vincent Sheheen

9

Parents and teachers know

Talk with any teacher or parent and ask the question, Is itbeer for a child to have more or less education? Our answer

is a no-brainer: More, of course. So why do South Carolinas

education policies work in the opposite direction?

Solutions dont have to be complicated. South Carolina has

spent recent years implementing or irting with gimmicks

to improve public education that are more driven by politics

than data. Parents know our state is not going to standardize

test its way to success. And teachers know that vouchers

are just another unproven gimmick that will cost our state

dollars.

The key to future success, any teacher will tell you, is a solid

foundation of education. Not only do college graduates earn

more than people with lower levels of education, but more

schooling improves interpersonal skills, giving people a bet-

ter chance for a higher quality of life. More and beer educa-

tion gives people more and beer opportunities for jobs and

success.

But in South Carolina overall, students arent excelling at the

pace they need to keep up with the increasing needs of the

global economy.

A basic measure of how South Carolina is treating her chil-

dren is the annual Kids Count survey. Sadly, South Carolina

has consistently ranked in the boom 10 states in the country

for providing healthy, nurturing environments for our chil-

dren. Other key indicators from the 2012 survey:7


28/148

The Right Way

10

Poverty: Some 278,000 children, or 26 percent, of

children through age 18 live in households where

incomes are below poverty; about half of the states

children live in households with incomes 200 percent

of poverty.

Education rank: 40 of 50 states.

Failing: 7.4 percent of students were failing grades 1

to 3.

Below standards: 32.9 percent of third graders tested

below state standards in math in 2009; 22 percent

tested below standards in reading.

Achievement: 39 percent of fourth graders scored be-

low basic and 72 percent below procient on readingachievement levels in 2011.

Graduates: 34 percent of high school stu-

dents20,160 studentsdid not graduate on time in

2009.

A historic perspective

Part of the reason that South Carolinas children are behind

compared to other states is how the public school system has

developed through the years.

The current constitution for the state of South Carolinathe

one from 1895called for a liberal system of free publicschools for all children between the ages of six and twenty-

one years. In the South Carolina of that time, those schools

were segregated. In other words, the state ran two school sys-


29/148

Vincent Sheheen

11

temsone for blacks and another for whites. For a poor state,

that was an expensive proposition; as a result, few got a really

good education.

In 1947, almost two dozen black families in Clarendon Coun-

ty led a case against a local school district that mushroomed

into a case in which the families sought equal educational op-

portunities for their children. In 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court

agreed to hear this case, Briggs v. Ellio, and four others torule on separate but equal education in parts of the coun-

try, but particularly in the South. Two years later, the high

court ruled that separate schools were not equal and segrega-

tion was harmful. It ordered desegregation of public schools

with all deliberate speed.

And so came desegregation, although it didnt happenthroughout much of the state until the late 1960s and early

1970s. In fact, I was one of the rst generations of South Caro-

lina students to have aended integrated public schools from

start to nish. Its something that has enriched my life im-

measurably.

As desegregation of public schools came, so did the rise ofprivate schools from just a small handful to more than 250

today. In general, these private schools drained some white

students from public schools, which led, in some parts of the

state, to private schools with mostly white students and pub-

lic schools with mostly black students.

South Carolinas historical reliance on property taxes to fundschools also led to inequities in opportunities for our kids.

Counties with wealth and population tend to have the nan-

cial wherewithal to oer children many diverse and high


30/148

The Right Way

12

quality educational opportunities. Poorer rural communities,

however, often cannot even raise enough funds to build safe

and modern school buildings.

By 1993, poorer South Carolina school districts led a case in

state court claiming that school funding wasnt fairthat a

childs educational opportunities shouldnt be determined by

where that child happened to be born. These schools, many

located in the Corridor of Shame from Dillon to Ridgelandalong Interstate 95, argued their children received a constitu-

tionally, inadequate public education for a number of reasons

but most importantly because of funding inequities.

Six years later, the state Supreme Court issued a major inter-

pretive ruling that set the states standard of constitutionally-

mandated public education as minimally adequate. In otherwords, the court said the state constitution required that our

students receive only basic instruction on how to read, write

and speak English, do math, understand economic, social and

political systems and get academic and vocational skills. The

high court then sent the case back to a lower court for a ruling

on the allegations by the poor, rural districts.

Years passed. By 2004 after a 102-day trial with 102 witnesses,

Circuit Judge Thomas Cooper ruled the state had provided a

minimally-adequate education to the poor, rural districts. But

in a partial victory to those poor counties, Judge Cooper re-

quired the state to fund a limited, early childhood intervention

program to meet the provisions of the state constitution.8

Our state government did only what was minimal required to

satisfy the court and no more. This again proved that South

Carolinas current crop of leaders are unwilling to push for


31/148

Vincent Sheheen

13

a progressive vision of the future that could move our state

forward.

South Carolinas leadership responded to the ruling in 2006 by

establishing the Child Development Education Pilot Program

(CDEPP) as a public-private partnership to deliver 4-year-old

kindergarten to children in the 37 poor, rural school districts

from the 1993 case. By 2012, more than 5,200 children received

early childhood education from public and private sourcesthrough the CDEPP program.9 As I have learned while vis-

iting public schools, thousands more of our states children

whose parents desperately aempt to enroll them in early

childhood programs like 4-year-old kindergarten are turned

away every year.

Where South Carolina is

In many ways, the court-initiated establishment of the CDEPP

program was a validation of what teachers, business leaders

and academics had said for yearsthat children, particularly

those in poor areas with historic challenges, need more edu-

cation earlier.

Across South Carolina, public schools educate about 700,000

students in a variety of seingsfrom traditional schools to

charter, public Montessori, virtual and other schools. About

50,000 students are in private schools and an estimated 12,000

are home-schooled.10

State law requires aendance of ve-year-olds in a kinder-garten program, although parents may sign a waiver if they

dont want to send children to kindergarten. Other states

and even countries around the worldare doing much, much


32/148

The Right Way

14

more. Across the United States, leaders have increasingly fo-

cused on oering school to children early. In South Carolina,

the rst tentative step in that regard came only as the result

of an order of a court.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Ben Bernanke, who aended

Dillon public schools, once highlighted the importance of

starting school earlier:

Investment in preschool programs for disadvan-taged children has been shown to increase high

school graduation rates. Because high school gradu-

ates have higher earnings, pay more taxes and are

less likely to need to use public health programs,

such investments can pay o even from the narrow

perspective of state budgets; of course, the returns

to the overall economy and to the individuals them-selves are much greater.11

Of the almost 60,000 4-year-olds in South Carolina in late

2012, some 24,266 were in a public 4-year-old kindergarten

program provided by public school districts or private ven-

dors. This included 19,004 students in public 4K programs in

public schools throughout the state, 4,714 targeted studentsin public CDEPP programs in the states poor counties and

548 in CDEPP programs provided by private vendors. An-

other 5,994 4-year-olds participated in preschool through the

federally-funded Head Start program. Furthermore, 3,625

students were in pre-school special education classes and

another 2,165 in child care programs funded by ABC Child

Care vouchers. Finally, an estimated 9,000 children were inprivate kindergarten programs.12


33/148

Vincent Sheheen

15

All totaled, just over 45,000 children in South Carolina were

in 4-year-old education or child care programs. That left ap-

proximately 15,000 children apparently in no pre-kindergar-

ten program at all. Importantly, the quality and eectiveness

of the various public and private oerings varies dramatical-

ly. Some kindergarten programs are no more than children

parked in front of a television.

What South Carolina must do

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce says South Caro-

lina needs to do a much beer job on early childhood educa-

tion. One of its continuing goals to push the state to be more

competitive is for 80 percent of at-risk children to complete

pre-kindergarten by 2020.

I agree. But we must do even more if we want to compete in

the new, global world. We need must make early, quality child-

hood education something that all South Carolina 4-year-olds

can aend if their parents choose. Its particularly important

for the 15,000 children who get no 4-year-old pre-school edu-

cation right now and the thousands who are parked in subpar

day care programs.

If we can provide quality, early childhood education for chil-

dren across the Palmeo State, those kids will have a lot beer

chance of geing quality jobs and becoming taxpayers instead

of drains on public coers. Furthermore, the earlier kids learn,

the fewer problems appear later in school enabling teachers to

teach more and kids to have a beer chance of graduating. Inthe long-term, earlier childhood education opportunities will

reduce the number of South Carolinians in an unemployment


34/148

The Right Way

16

line or in prison. Our state must begin to think about the future

now. And the key is earlier education.

In a groundbreaking 2007 study, education researcher Robert

G. Lynch outlined how early intervention programs are a huge

benet to society overall:

Children who participate in high-quality pre-Kinder-

garten programs require less special education and

are less likely to repeat a grade or need child welfareservices. Once these children enter the labor force, their

incomes are higher, along with the taxes they will pay

back to society. Both as juveniles and as adults, these

children are less likely to engage in criminal activity

thereby reducing criminality overall in society. High-

quality pre-Kindergarten benets government budgets

by saving government spending on K-12 education,

child welfare and the criminal justice system, and byincreasing tax revenues.13

Lynchs study estimated the benets to South Carolina if it

were to start a high-quality pre-K program for 3- and 4-year-

olds. If the state had started a program in 2008, it would have

cost $442 million and would have started paying for itself in

just nine years. (My suggestion, remember, is to do voluntary4-year-old kindergarten statewide and not include 3 year olds.)

By 2050, Lynch predicted that investing in a two-year pre-

kindergarten program would cost $1.2 billion but save $9.2 bil-

lion. Not only would the state budget benet by $2.3 billion

due to education, prison and welfare savings, but individual

savings from crime reduction would be $1.8 billion. And be-cause South Carolinians would tend to graduate more from

high school and college, the states total increased wages and

benets would be $5.2 billion.


35/148

Vincent Sheheen

17

Its time for South Carolina to begin to think about how we

can save money in the long term and improve our quality of

life.

Businesses know

Lynchs research isnt unique. Businesses across the country

are starting to understand that early investing in education

will have a big benet for individuals and governmentbut

an even bigger benet to Americas future because it will help

the country remain competitive in the global economy. More

early childhood education, according to the Partnership for

Americas Economic Success, increases high school gradu-

ation rates by 16 percentand college aendance by more

than 50 percent.14

Currently, South Carolina isnt keeping up with the rest of the

country. A July 2010 report15 by the Georgetown Public Policy

Institute shows that two-thirds of the jobs in 2020 across the

United States will require some kind of postsecondary educa-

tion and training. But by that time, as mentioned earlier, only

56 percent of South Carolinas jobs will require such training,

which indicates that the Palmeo State will be caught in alow-wage/low-skill equilibrium. Whats worrisome about

this report is that it suggests South Carolina wont be ready to

compete for future jobs. Just as the state has been left behind

for years, it will continue to do so unless it gets its education

act together.

Other states are seeing big dividends on their investments.In Texas,16 every dollar invested in a high-quality, pre-kin-

dergarten program was projected to bring a $3.50 benet. In

Arkansas,17 long-term savings on education spending, child


36/148

The Right Way

18

welfare and criminal justice had a $1.58 benet for every dol-

lar invested, not to mention the additional benets to creating

more taxpayers earning more and paying more to the state.

For South Carolina to catch up and make sure we have the

knowledge for the future, we need to do more now. The best

way to start is by investing in a statewide, voluntary pre-kin-

dergarten program that will oer all kids a beer chance to be

ready for rst grade. Our neighbor, the state of Georgia, hasa model that we could follow prey easily by blending and

expanding current programs in South Carolina.

Georgia knew what to do

Twenty years ago, Georgia started a pilot program to oer

pre-kindergarten to 750 children in 20 counties.18 By the 1993-

94 school year, the program expanded dramatically to serve

8,700 at-risk children. Two years later, the state opened the

program universally to all eligible childrennot only at-risk

childrenon a voluntary basis.

By 2011-12, Georgias pre-kindergarten program, called

Bright from the Start, served 86,000 children at a cost perchild of just under $3,500.19 The total state dollars were just

over $300 million for the public-private collaboration. Those

monies were allocated between public school systems, which

provided 1,726 classrooms that educated 37,283 children, and

private providers, who oered 2,111 classes educating 44,732

children.

Although created by Democrats, Republican and Democratic

leaders in Georgia are now solidly behind the states pre-kin-

dergarten program. GOP Gov. Nathan Deal said that it was


37/148

Vincent Sheheen

19

a direct investment in future success on Sept. 28, 2012, as the

state celebrated the 20th anniversary of the program: As we

recognize this milestone, we also recognize that in order for

Georgia to be competitive in a challenging global economy,

we must have an educational system that transcends the K-12

model. Our nationally-recognized pre-K program is the rst

step in ensuring we have a highly-educated workforce ready

for the 21st century.20

Recalling that three quarters of South Carolina children al-

ready receive pre-kindergarten through publically-funded

or private sources, South Carolina conceivably could oer

voluntary 4-year-old kindergarten to the remaining 15,000

students for about $52.5 million (based on Georgias costs).

Assuming some capital cost help for school districts and that

some children in private kindergarten would take advantageof the public system, South Carolina could achieve universal

4-year-old kindergarten by simply dedicating $100 million

in recurring state revenues as a true long-term investment

in our children. This one simple commitment would create

beer opportunities for our kids and our states future. Most

importantly, such a transformational change could be made

now without raising taxes if South Carolinas leaders simply

have the foresight and guts to do it.

Consequences of doing nothing

Unfortunately, failure to provide universally-accessible, qual-

ity pre-kindergarten to South Carolinas children will cost us

more in the long run.

When we fail to invest early, children suer from

a range of problemsthey are at higher risk for be-


38/148

The Right Way

20

ing abused, becoming teen mothers, dropping out of

high school and misusing alcohol and illegal drugs.

They are less likely to be healthy and more likely to be

criminals.21

An example: States can spend $10,000 now per child on qual-

ity pre-kindergarten and if one student in 10 earns a high

school diploma, the state will save at least $2.50 for every

dollar spent, according to a 2011 analysis by economist Mark

Cohen and criminologists Alex Piquero and Wesley Jennings.As a contrast, states can pay $250,000 later because a high

school dropouts lower earnings create costs for public as-

sistance programs an eorts to oset the dropouts reduced

contribution to society.22

There is no beer time than now for South Carolina to

invest more in early childhood education, as suggested in aDecember 2012 column in the Florence Morning News by Don

Herrio, director of Innovista Partnerships at the University

of South Carolina:

Expanding the availability and improving the quality

of programs that serve young childrenpublicly or

privately fundedis imperative for the success of ourbusinesses and the prosperity of our state. Now is the

time to invest in South Carolinas future.23

Indeed.

Other education ideas

While early childhood education is the best idea to get South

Carolinas education system moving again, more great ideas

are out there. Here are some highlights:


39/148

Vincent Sheheen

21

FOR PARENTS: Accountable child-care ratings

State law requires the Child Care Services Division of the stateDepartment of Social Services to oversee child care programs

and regulate about 3,500 child care providers to ensure they

meet basic health and safety requirements. But programs that

operate less than four hours a day are exempt. Furthermore,

child care professionals say hundreds of child care providers

are operating without a license and dont register with thestate.

The lack of accountability makes it hard for parents to have

good information about quality and safety of the places where

they entrust their children. Fortunately, the Division of Child

Care Services has a voluntary ABC rating system that calls

for participants to post their ratings. But we need to go a stepfurther. Think about it: We already require businesses to post

business licenses and restaurants to post cleanliness grades.

Consider whats happening in South Carolina: Places where

you eat a hamburger are rated for quality but some business-

es that keep our kids arent.

Common sense tells us that the centers where we entrust thosewe love the most, our children, should be required to post

ratings in very visible places. Non-licensed centers that dont

participate in the program should be required to post a NR

(not rated) designation if they dont want to be accountable.

Having a visible rating system will ensure that parents have a

chance to know about the safety and quality of the businessesthat are entrusted with mankinds greatest gift on this Earth,

our children.


40/148

The Right Way

22

FOR TEACHERS: Less paperwork

Everybody knows how much time teachers spend at schoolfrom early morning hours until after school. And then after

school, they grade papers and plan future classes.

As the son of a school teacher, I can still remember walking to

my Moms classroom after school and watching as she cleaned

up, graded tests, met with parents and took a big box of papers

home to read over. And that was 30 years ago. Since that time,

South Carolinas government has imposed more and more bu-

reaucratic forms, reports and paperwork on the teachers who

should be allowed to spend their time teaching our kids.

What most people dont realize is how much paperwork that

teachers have to ll outforms, evaluations, reports and

more. As I have spent time in South Carolinas schools, one of

the greatest complaints that I hear from teachers is how over-

loaded they are with excessive paperwork.

What teachers across the Palmeo State really need is a way

to spend more time teaching and less time lling out unnec-

essary paperwork and red tape associated with it. Reducing

paperwork doesnt require changes of law or lots of bureau-

cratic nonsense. It requires the state Department of Education

and the 85 school districts across the state to take a good look

at how they do business with an eye for cuing the time that

teachers have to spend doing things that are not helpful to

teaching.

As a way to jumpstart a movement to cut unnecessary pa-

perwork, the state Education Oversight Commiee should

empanel a diverse blue-ribbon panel of teachers and adminis-


41/148

Vincent Sheheen

23

trators from across the state with the express purpose of de-

veloping common-sense strategies for our public schools to

reduce paperwork.

By geing rid of burdensome paperwork, well create a beer

environment for our teachers and allow them to do more of

what they enjoy mostteaching our kids.

FOR DISTRICTS:Alternative pathway programs for teachers

South Carolina can do a beer job in providing qualied

teachers in the classroom by rewarding life experience in the

teacher credentialing process.

If a businessman with a 20-year-record of running a success-ful business retires early and is willing to teach economics or

business in a public school, he should be able to do so with-

out having to complete a lot of burdensome coursework to be

certied. The same goes for a scientist, writer or other profes-

sional. As a state senator in a small county bordering North

Carolina, I have heard over and over how our neighboring

state to the north does a much beer job of streamlining the

process for geing business people and professionals into the

classroom as teachers.

To address teacher shortages and to increase diversity, par-

ticularly in rural areas that have recruitment challenges, the

state should develop a more streamlined licensure program

that allows professionals to get limited teaching licenses af-

ter completion of the program. Successful candidates must

be able to pass wrien exams on reading, writing and math.


42/148

The Right Way

24

They also need to be able to qualify for teaching in specic ar-

eas based on content exams for those areas. (A businessman,

for example, needs to be able to pass an exam on business and

economic concepts that will come up in the class he is teach-

ing.)

FOR STUDENTS: More math and science

STEM education focuses on improving high school educa-tion in four areasScience, Technology, Education and Math,

hence STEM. These are subjects where a tremendous num-

ber of high-quality jobs in the future will likely be focused.

South Carolina should review and overhaul how it delivers

STEM education and increase the number of teachers who

provide STEM classes, perhaps using the alternative pathwayprogram referenced above.

By providing beer STEM instruction, students will be beer

qualied to pursue college degrees in areas that are critical

to the countrys competitiveness. Having beer-qualied stu-

dents with science, technology, engineering and math skills

will lead to more scientists, software engineers and technol-ogy developers who can keep the country in face of growing

international competition.

Also by providing more training to teachers on STEM compo-

nents, the public school system will encourage more students

to take part in STEM classes, which again will increase the na-

tions output of technically-oriented students who are readyfor 21st century jobs in the knowledge economy.


43/148

Vincent Sheheen

25

FOR SCHOOLS: Education audits

Last year, I introduced a budget proviso to promote educa-tion audits. Education audits encourage school districts to

save our precious tax dollars so they can be focused on direct-

ly educating students. Education audits allow a school dis-

trict to retain the services of a private auditor who can evalu-

ate expenditures of school districts in a search to save money.

The audits can evaluate everything from ways to save on thepower bill to ways to save on purchasing and anything the

auditor is creative enough to think of reviewing. The savings

resulting from implementing recommendations can then be

used for helping teachers and students learn. The state of Vir-

ginia has seen great success in saving money through educa-

tion audits during recent years. We should be using this tool,

too.

Lets make South Carolina morecompetitive for the future

If we want to have more students ready for the global knowl-

edge economy, they have to get the needed knowledge. It is

our generations responsibility to ensure success in this en-deavor, just as our parents and grandparents laid the ground-

work for us. It is our duty to provide that level of commit-

ment now. Weand theycant aord to wait.


44/148


45/148

Vincent Sheheen

27

3Government RestructuringTime for a new state government

I love the sign that President Harry Truman kept on his desk:

The Buck Stops Here. It tells you everything you need to

know about governmental accountability. Ultimately, gov-

ernment is accountable when we have leaders who are hon-

est, open, responsible and eective. I share Trumans belief

that citizens deserve to hold someone accountable for govern-

ments failures.

Accountability in South Carolinas government has been

missing for more than a decade. In the end, a government

can be successful and accountable regardless of deciencies

in its structure if it has strong, responsible and eective lead-

ers. However in South Carolina, a combination of ineective

leaders and confusing structure has led to our governmentbeing ranked one of the most dysfunctional and unaccount-

able in the nation.

Accountability has been elusive for us despite the fact that

it is a concept that is fundamental to our democratic sys-

tem. It clearly establishes the right of the people both to know

what the government intends to do and how well it has metits goals.24 Our state government is so fractured that gur-

ing out who to hold accountable when problems arise can be


46/148

The Right Way

28

complicated, allowing our leaders all too often to escape re-

sponsibility.

After a series of reforms beginning in the 1970s, the gover-

nors oce has become a much more powerful position in the

Palmeo State. Now in control of almost all major agencies

through either direct or board appointment, the governor has

the ability to exercise power undreamed of by our South Car-

olina forefathers who strongly favored legislative power overexecutive.

While our General Assembly has dramatically loosened its di-

rect involvement in the executive branch of state government,

it has yet to step up to its responsibility in providing neces-

sary evaluation and oversight of programs and state agencies

that we should expect in a modern government. Furthermore,the continuation of hybrid entities such as the State Budget

and Control Board has led to efdoms of power exercised

by the governor and legislative leaders that intermingle the

roles of the executive and legislative branches, and fragment

the responsibilities of elected ocials. The result has been a

government on auto-pilot with no clear direction. When com-

bined with weak leadership, this fractured, auto-pilot style ofgovernment has failed to meet the modern challenges we face

as a state.

We must take control of our state government and make it

accountable to the people of South Carolina to meet our chal-

lenges head-on. To do that, we should fundamentally reform

the executive and legislative branches. Some of the work hasalready taken place over the last several decades, but much

more needs to be done.


47/148

Vincent Sheheen

29

Heres where we are so far:

The Home Rule Act of 1976 gave the state a moreautonomous, functioning local government structure

and removed much of that authority from the

legislature.

Major restructuring occurred in 1993 following

Operation Lost Trust, a federal sting operation that

need more than 20 state legislators and lobbyists.

This restructuring consolidated agencies and moved

most of the states agencies into the governors

cabinet.

In the late 2000s, the state Department of Transporta-

tion was reformed to allow the governor to appoint a

cabinet-level secretary to run the administrative side

of the agency.

Next, the Employment Security Commission was

abolished and replaced with a cabinet-level agency

directly responsible to the Governor.

Today, the Department of Natural Resources andDepartment of Health and Environmental Control

are controlled by the governor through board

appointments.

The Public Employee Benets Authority was created

in 2012 and removed a signicant component from

the Budget and Control Board, marking the rst steptowards its abolition.


48/148

The Right Way

30

The Oce of Inspector Generals creation in 2012 es-

tablished a true government watchdog whose whole

purpose is to sni out and expose government waste,

fraud and abuse.

Heres what should happen next:

Eliminate the constitutional impediments to unifying

the executive branch under common leadership to

establish a strong separation of powers in our state

government.

Abolish the oligarchic Budget and Control Board and

assign its various programs, duties and functions to

appropriate government agencies and the General

Assembly.

Establish a state Department of Administration to

carry out the day-to-day activities associated with

running the purely administrative functions of state

government that are now principally the responsibil-

ity of the Budget and Control Board.

Complete the 1993 restructuring and move remaininggovernment agencies into the governors cabinet

Ensure that the Oce of Inspector General is funded

and staed fully so it can be the watchdog of taxpay-

er interests that it was created to be.

Implement programmatic budgeting to enhance ac-countability among the states agencies for how well

they deliver services to the public


49/148

Vincent Sheheen

31

Restructure the General Assembly so it exercises its

constitutionally-vested authority to conduct oversight

investigations of the executive branch to ensure the

laws it passes are being carried out properly and,

hopefully, so that problems can be detected early and

dealt with before they become a crisis.

The restructuring of our state government will require

constitutional and statutory reforms. These issues can bedealt with by taking the bold step of holding a constitutional

convention to rewrite the states constitution or through an

incremental approach.

In Part One of this chapter, I oer the reforms we must

undertake and provide thoughts about how to achieve them

incrementally. Part Two of this chapter addresses the ideaof achieving many of these reforms through a new state

constitution.

PART ONE

Fix our state government now!

Reduce the number of constitutional ofcers

The South Carolina Constitution splinters the executive branch

into too many separately elected statewide ocers. When

I speak to groups, I often ask them to name our secretary of

state, commissioner of agriculture or comptroller general. Peo-ple very rarely know who hold these oces. Yet, we ask them

to vote on these positions.


50/148

The Right Way

32

In addition to electing a governor and lieutenant governor,

South Carolina voters elect an adjutant general, aorney gen-

eral, commissioner of agriculture, comptroller general, secre-

tary of state, state treasurer and superintendent of education.

The diuse power structure established by our constitution

fragments the executive branch, maintains the existence of

meaningless oces and inserts partisan politics into state of-

ces that should not be partisan. This needs to change.

Many of these oces need to be run by eective, ecient o-

cials who understand the powers and duties of their oce. We

do not need to inject partisan, elective politics into these oces

because they are mostly bureaucratic in nature. Excepting for

the governor, lieutenant governor, aorney general and trea-

surer, it is time that we move away from a multi-elected execu-

tive branch. Furthermore, either abolishing or unifying manyof the now elected oces under gubernatorial leadership will

mark a powerful step towards lessening the fragmentation of

state government and focusing accountability on the one state-

wide ocial that voters look to for leadershipthe governor.

To achieve this end, we should amend the state constitution in

several ways:

Comptroller General. The comptroller general per-

forms purely administrative tasks. The comptroller

generals role is essentially to be the states accoun-

tant. His primary job is to make sure that we have the

money in the bank to pay our bills and monitor the

transactions of the state treasurer.25 A good comptrol-ler general is someone who has a background in com-

plex accounting for large entities with a broad scope


51/148

Vincent Sheheen

33

of activities; preferably someone with governmental

accounting experience. Partisan biases have no role in

the duties exercised by the comptroller general.

I have twice proposed legislation to abolish the comp-

troller general. Under my plan, the powers and duties

of the oce would be merged with existing oces

and produce a more streamlined nancial agency for

the state through increased eciencies and a reduc-

tion in duplicative administrative operations. Why

waste money on an oce and department that is not

needed? Our governor should be able to nd the right

person for this jobthe person with the right mix of

skills needed to eectively administer this vital oce,

not the right mix of skills to get the most votes.

Secretary of State: The secretary of state is essentially

a high-paid record keeper for the state of South Caro-

lina who registers lobbyists and corporations and

maintains municipal records.26 While the state needs

a repository for these records and a person competent

to manage the repository, we do not need to elect that

person to a statewide oce and pay for another salaryand division of government. Rather, the duties of the

oce should be transferred to the aorney generals

oce, primarily because of the importance that most

of the records have to legal proceedings.

Adjutant General: South Carolina has the only elected

state adjutant general in the country.

The general serves asexecutive head of the State Mi-

litia,27 or Military Department. In that role, he also


52/148

The Right Way

34

administers the aairs of the South Carolina Army

and Air National Guard, the Emergency Manage-

ment Division28, the State Guard29, Youth Challenge30

and Americorps.31 Given the heavy inuence that the

military has on this oce, I believe that the adjutant

general, even more than any other oce discussed on

these pages, should be apolitical. The administration

of the Army and Air National Guard as well as oper-

ations of the Emergency Management Division dur-ing a natural disaster should not be inuenced by po-

litical leanings or ambitions. Permiing the governor

to appoint this position for a specied term of oce

with advice and consent of the Senate helps remove it

from the elective political realmas it should be.

The members of the Army and Air National Guarddeserve the right person for the job and the people of

our state deserve to know that in the face of an emer-

gency, we have the best possible people in place to

help them make it through tough times.

State Superintendent of Education: Our public

schools are in a crisis of neglect and right now theycannot look to Columbia for leadership. Like state

government as a whole, our state educational struc-

ture lacks eective leaders, is highly fragmented,

lacks strategic vision and has no single person that

can be held directly accountable for its shortcom-

ings. The state Board of Education is responsible for

seing state education policy for the state superin-

tendent32 to carry out. Correspondingly, the state

superintendent can be held responsible for a limited


53/148

Vincent Sheheen

35

number of administrative problems, but he cannot be

held responsible for policy decisions that dont work.

Our governor holds the bully pulpit on educational

improvement and too often fails to use it. The Educa-

tion Oversight Commission has a role in seing poli-

cy and standards for our schools, yet is mostly made

up of appointed ocials unaccountable to anyone.

Let me be clear: Our children need us to x this edu-cational unaccountability. We must streamline the

state-level educational structure so we can embark

upon one clear, coherent, strategic plan to establish

our public schools as among the best in the nation.

Even more importantly, we cannot continue to let

our leaders hide behind organizational confusion as

an excuse for failing to make the gains we need.

To achieve this one voice for education, I propose

we abolish the state Board of Education and have its

powers and duties transferred to the state superin-

tendent of education. A second step is to allow the

governor to appoint the state superintendent so one

unied strategic plan can be implemented and ourhighest state ocial can be held accountable by the

voters for failing to take sucient interest or action

in public education.

Commissioner of Agriculture: This oce has vari-

ous duties related to helping farmers, administering

weights and measuring systems, overseeing agri-

business-related licenses and regulations and more.

Today, the oce is much like a cabinet-level agency.


54/148

The Right Way

36

It shouldnt be a partisan political oce. As such, I

continue to call for the duties of the oce to be under

a non-elected cabinet agency appointed by and ac-

countable to the governor.

Abolish the Budget and Control Board

For several years, I have introduced legislation to abolish the

states Budget and Control Board. It is an oligarchic agency

that controls a limited number of the operations of state gov-

ernment and has served as a repository for an inter-branch

smorgasbord of functions33 that do not t neatly into other

agencies or programs.

The governor chairs the board and serves with the treasurer,

comptroller general, chairman of the Senate Finance Commit-

tee and chairman of the House Ways and Means Commiee.

Collectively, they oversee the administration of the confus-

ing mixture of powers and duties vested in the board that

comprise the byzantine agency. For example, the board is

responsible for things ranging from ensuring light bulbs are

changed in government oce buildings to procuring of state

governments goods and services to regulating the use of thestates geothermal resources and allowing state government

to decit spend.

There are two primary problems with the Budget and Control

Board. First, the blended executive and legislative functions

irreparably blur the lines of proper separation of powers and,

as a result, erode the inherent checks and balances that formthe foundation of good government. Second, because a board

makes decisions rather than an individual, accountability for


55/148

Vincent Sheheen

37

those decisions suers. The governor and other board mem-

bers all too often hide behind the will of the board when

faced with having to answer for unpopular or poor decisions.

Furthermore, the board allows the governor to exercise legis-

lative power and the legislative members to exercise execu-

tive power. The result is a disempowerment of the General

Assembly as a whole on nancial issues and a fragmentation

of executive power on administrative issues.

Following years of debate on this subject, I have concluded

that the Budget and Control Board cannot be reformed. It

must be dismantled and its component parts reassigned to

appropriate government agencies and the legislature. For

years, I have proposed eliminating the Budget and Control

Board and creating a Department of Administration to absorb

the purely executive functions currently undertaken by theBoard34 that are not more appropriately located at another ex-

isting35 or a newly-established agency while sending the leg-

islative duties to the General Assembly.36

Under my proposal, the Department of Administration would

also house an Executive Budget and Strategic Planning Oce

to equip the executive with the tools necessary to make se-rious, thoughtful spending recommendations to the General

Assembly and to establish a forward-looking strategic vision

for our state government.

Creating the Department of Administration will be a vital step

toward establishing a more traditional separation of powers

and bring with it the checks and balances that are necessaryfor accountability between the branches of government. A

new department also will shift accountability for much more


56/148

The Right Way

38

of the operation of the state to the governor and shift nancial

policy decisions to the General Assembly. Accountability, be-

tween the branches of government and individually for the

governor, is fundamental to good government. When a govern-

ment ocial knows he or she must explain decisions and ac-

tions, he or she is more careful about the decisions made or ac-

tions taken. Furthermore when things go wrong, knowing who

to hold accountable is the rst step in solving the problem.

In 2012, the General Assembly took the rst signicant step to-

ward eliminating the Budget and Control Board by establish-

ing the Public Employee Benet Authority to oversee state em-

ployee retirement and health care. In so doing, we were able to

take employee benets out of the hands of politicians and put

them in the hand of industry experts. Now is the time to nish

the job.

Complete restructuring started in 1993

In 1993, South Carolina saw a broad restructuring of our state

government. The bipartisan eort resulted in the governor be-

ing handed an unprecedented amount of authority as the cabi-

net was drastically expanded. The governor now has 16 cabinetagencies37 that allow the chief executive to direct some of the

most important functions of state government. For example:

The Department of Commerce and the Department of

Parks, Recreation and Tourism are central to economic

growth in the state. Properly utilized, those two agen-

cies can bring jobs to our fellow South Carolinians andexpand the revenue base for the government.


57/148

Vincent Sheheen

39

The Department of Health and Human Services and

the Department of Mental Health provide vital health-

care for the neediest among us. The role that these

agencies play will be increasing in the years to come.

The Department of Employment and Workforce pro-

vides the helping hand that our states unemployed

need to bridge the gap between jobsand helps

match them with new job opportunities.

But the 1993 restructuring didnt go far enough. It must be

completed because it is an indispensible part of establishing

an accountable government with a clear separation of powers

between the executive and legislative branches. There are still

a few agencies operated by unaccountable, appointed boards38

or constitutional ocers39

that need to be abolished or foldedinto the cabinet. Finishing the 1993 restructuring will end the

days when the public has to go hunting for the person who is

responsible for some problem caused by a government agen-

cy. The governor and the agency head will be forced to stand

tall and account for the outcomes of their decisions.

Some argue that the recent dysfunction of the Department ofRevenue and the Department of Employment and Workforce

are prime examples of why we cannot give the governor more

authority. I disagree. I think that we are fortunate that the re-

cent problems arose at cabinet agencies because we know the

buck stops with the governor for the failures.


58/148

The Right Way

40

Fully fund the new Ofce of Inspector General

On February 1, 2012, the governor signed into law a bill thatI authored to establish the Oce of the State Inspector Gen-

eral.40 This was signicant for our state because for the rst

time we have a government ocial who is responsible for in-

vestigating and addressing allegations of fraud, waste, abuse,

mismanagement, misconduct, violations of state or federal

law and wrongdoing in agencies.

41

Criminal maers wereinvestigated by the State Law Enforcement Division or other

investigatory agencies and then prosecuted by the Aorney

General and our solicitors, but no single public ocial was

dedicated to rooting out and exposing non-criminal but dam-

aging mismanagement and misuse of taxpayer money.42 You

have heard of the fox guarding the hen house. Well before this

new agency in South Carolina, no one was guarding the henhouse.

By creating the Oce of Inspector General, we have estab-

lished a platform for enhanced accountability and an enforce-

ment mechanism for breaches of the public trust related to

governmental waste, fraud and abuse. Now it is time to en-

sure that the Oce of Inspector General is funded sucientlyso that the inspector general can hire the sta and marshal the

resources he needs to carry out his mandate.

In scal year 2013, the Oce of Inspector General was ap-

propriated enough to hire four people.43 That was enough to

get started, but it is far from where we need to be. It is go-

ing to take a commitment from the General Assembly and thegovernor to bring this oce to stang levels that it needs to

fully act as the taxpayer watchdog it was created to be. In the


59/148

Vincent Sheheen

41

scal year 2014 budget, the governor proposed a signicant

increase in the inspector generals budget44 that should allow

for hiring more sta. I support the commitment to the Oce

of Inspector General as reected in her budget but I hope

that the General Assembly will be able to improve upon her

proposal. I will work to ensure the inspector general has the

resources necessary to keep every agency of our state govern-

ment accountable for their actions.

Restructure the legislature

South Carolina is often referred to as a legislative state,

meaning that the General Assembly is the predominant pow-

er in the government. That may have once been the case but

not so anymore. Truthfully, the General Assembly controls

lile of what actually occurs in the operations of state govern-ments day-to-day operations. The General Assembly, how-

ever, is complicit in our state government operating on auto-

pilot for years because it neglects its responsibilities to review

programs and agencies on a regular basis.

Each year the General Assembly convenes on the second

Tuesday in January and adjourns sine die on the rst Thursdayin June. It may come back for a day or two to complete some

clean-up or housekeeping maers, but for the most part its

work is done in early June.

While in session, the General Assembly does lile more than

pass bill after bill on subjects ranging from where you can

hunt to what you can buy in a store. The General Assemblyalso passes a budget each year that appropriates money to

the various government agencies so that the auto-pilot can


60/148

The Right Way

42

keep humming along. It would astonish most South Carolin-

ians to see how quickly their representatives in Columbia spend

billions of dollars without fully scrutinizing how well our gov-

ernment agencies are performing with the money they already

have. It seems that debate on budgetary maers is rushed more

each year.

To combat this problem, the General Assembly needs to reform

the way it appropriates the taxpayers money and change theway it generally carries out its business. A structural and cultural

change is necessary for the General Assembly to transform itself

into more of an active participant to steer the ship of state rather

than a passive bystander enabling the ship to sail rudderless.

Two important ideas could dramatically change how the legisla-

ture operates: Performance-based budgeting and proper use oflegislative oversight.

Performance-based budgeting

Raising and spending revenue is one of the fundamental consti-

tutional duties of the General Assembly envisioned by our early

leaders. The manner in which the legislature carries out thatduty is governed by statute. I have proposed that we change our

statutory budget mechanism to a performance- or program-

matic- based budget model. Under the current system, each

agency comes to the General Assembly and asks for appropria-

tions based upon what it received the year before. There is some

quick talk in sparsely aended sub-commiees and then the

talk shifts to how much more money the agency needs to dothe same job they did the previous scal year. This process is

repeated year in, year out.


61/148

Vincent Sheheen

43

Performance-based budgeting diers from traditional ap-

proaches because it focuses on spending results rather than

the money spenton what the money buys rather than the

amount that is made available.45 While no one denition ful-

ly encapsulates the varied nuances involved in performance-

based budgeting, it has been noted that [m]any experts in

public nance believe that the cardinal aim of PBB is account-

ability.46 Such accountability is the key to budget process re-

form that will ensure we have our limited resources properlyfocused on the agencies and programs that are performing.

It will also expose the agencies and programs that are falling

short so we can determine what, if anything, can be done to

get them on the right path.

Unlike the current system, a performance-based budget sys-

tem requires agency accountability in the form of objectivedata concerning its progress toward achieving predetermined

performance measures and the General Assemblys active

monitoring and assessment of that data and what it reects.

Without measuring outcomes, how can we know if our agen-

cies are successful?

After measuring outcomes, the General Assembly and gover-nor can then make funding decisions based upon an agencys

or programs performance. This approach is a much more

complex system that requires increased aention from the

agency and the General Assembly. It will force the execu-

tive and the legislative branches to engage more fully in the

budgetary process and turn o the auto-pilot. I am also

convinced a system like this will result in more thoughtful

and informed appropriation decisions which, in turn, will im-

prove the quality of governmental service delivery.


62/148

The Right Way

44

Legislative oversight

In the modern age, the General Assembly has an obligationto do more than meet in Columbia and think up new laws to

impose on the people of South Carolina. Section 1 of Article

XII of the State Constitution requires the General Assembly

to provide for appropriate agencies to function in the areas

of health, welfare and safety, and to determine the activities,

powers and duties of these agencies and departments. Thisconstitutional duty is a continuing and ongoing obligation of

the General Assembly that is best addressed by periodic re-

view of the programs of the agencies and departments.

Despite this constitutional duty, the General Assembly does

not conduct appropriate oversight of the executive branch. As

an institution, the General Assembly does not organize itselfto exercise this duty and, as a maer of culture, the General

Assembly has not yet expressed a desire to exercise this con-

stitutional obligation.

I have proposed legislation that will hold the legislatures feet

to the re. Under this proposal, each agency of the state gov-

ernment will have to undergo a full oversight review by alegislative commiee on a recurring schedule. Oversight in-

vestigations will focus on whether the agency is executing the

programs, laws and regulations within its jurisdiction in ac-

cordance with the intent of the General Assembly and wheth-

er the agency or programs should be continued, curtailed or

eliminated. In addition to the scheduled agency investiga-

tions, this legislation also allows for more frequent oversightreviews when appropriate.


63/148

Vincent Sheheen

45

The goal of these oversight reviews is not to dig up dirt on

government agencies or target them for unwarranted scru-

tiny. Rather, it is my hope these oversight activities will al-

low the General Assembly to troubleshoot issues before they

reach a crisis point and support programs that are performing

well. Of course, if problems are uncovered and an agency is

found to be acting contrary to the intent of the laws within

its jurisdiction, then appropriate action is warranted. Overall,

legislative oversight should become a constructive, profes-sional process of accountability where the needs of the people

of South Carolina are at the guideposts for all involved.

The citizens of this state deserve a legislature that operates

in the modern age and is not stuck in the era of horses and

buggies. Proper legislative review and oversight of state pro-

grams will result in dollars saved and beer government.

PART TWO

We should start over.

While we should take

Documents

The Right Way by Vincent Sheheen