SC House of Representatives Decides to Create Dept. of Administration
According to SC Politics Today (part of The State newspaper) the SC House has passed a bill that would remove some of the duties of the Budget and Control Board. To truly understand the magnitude of this bill one would have to understand what the Budget and Control Board does.
Governor Mark Sanford has been pushing, at least generally, for more of the duties of this board to be placed in a Department of Administration that the governor of the state would command. He believes that would make key state government functions much more accountable and able to act quickly should they need to.
First, let’s look at the Budget and Control Board. The board is made up of the following individuals: the Governor, the Treasurer, the Comptroller General, the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and the Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee. From looking at this information one can see that the board is managed by different folks across the political spectrum in South Carolina.
Next, let’s look at what exactly it is that the board controls. First, is the Budget and Analysis Division. This Division oversees: The Office of the State Budget, Board of Economic Advisers, Office of Human Resources, Office of Research and Statistics, and the Confederate Relic Room.
Second, is the General Services Division. This division oversees: Agency Services, Business Services, Facilities Management, and Real Property Services.
Third, is the Retirement Systems Division. It only controls retirement systems.
Fourth, is the Insurance and Grant Services. This division oversees: the Employee Insurance Program, Insurance Reserve Fund, Office of Local Government, and the State Energy Office.
Fifth, is the Procurement Services Division which only controls procurement services.
Sixth, is the State CIO’s Office. This division controls: Customer Services, Products and Services, IT Procurement, the SC Enterprise Architecture.
Seventh, is the Office of the Executive Director. It mainly controls internal functions of the Budget and Control Board.
Just from taking a glance at what the Budget and Control Board controls one can see that it has an overarching reach into State Government. For the House to decide to pass this bill is a milestone in SC politics. Now, we will all have to wait and see what the Senate will do with this bill. It could stall and fall apart or progress into shaping the future of SC State Government for generations to come.
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