SC senators advance DOGE plan, with eye toward regulations

Yahoo

14-02-2025

Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet, during a Finance Constitutional Subcommittee meeting Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream)
COLUMBIA — A panel of senators advanced a resolution Thursday creating a commission proponents say aims to reduce burdensome regulations and cut down on government spending.
After changing the commission's name to the Delivery of Government Efficiency — or DOGE, to mirror the federal Department of Government Efficiency — the six-member subcommittee advanced the resolution without objection. House Republicans, including members of leadership, have made a nearly identical proposal, which has not yet had a hearing.
Like the name, the idea for the commission came from the federal initiative that has begun to slash government spending, said Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, chief sponsor of the legislation.
If approved, it would create a 10-member commission tasked with combing through state spending and reporting its recommendations for potential savings by Oct. 1. The report would go to legislative leaders and Gov. Henry McMaster.
The commission would then spend the next year doing the same for the state's regulations, looking for those that are duplicative or overly burdensome, said Goldfinch, R-Murrells Inlet.
He doesn't expect commissioners to find a bunch of waste in agencies' spending. The commission's bigger impact, he said, will come from examining state regulations on businesses.
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No legislators would sit on the panel. Instead, the House speaker, Senate president and governor would each appoint three people, and a representative from the state Department of Administration would oversee the group.
The key will be to select people who know the state's processes and how they affect business owners, Goldfinch said.
'A lot of times, we hear from our constituents, but we're insulated, and we don't always know what the problems are out there,' said the attorney. 'This is a great way to find out what the actual problems are.'
McMaster called for similar reductions in regulations during his State of the State address last month.
He specifically wants to examine whether to eliminate any of the more than 40 professional licensing boards, 'run by 350 appointed board members, who license and regulate over 500,000 South Carolinians in the workplace,' he said.
'Each year, the licensing of these professions seems to become more complicated and burdensome,' McMaster said in his Jan. 29 speech. 'I agree with my colleagues that it's time we pause, review the laws that created these boards along with their statutory requirements and determine whether they are necessary, effective, and balanced.'
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The commission's findings could also be a chance for legislators to reevaluate some of their own spending, Goldfinch said. For instance, legislators could rein in the hundreds of millions of dollars they have spent on local projects annually through the last few state budgets.
'A little self-reflection is not always a bad thing,' Goldfinch said.
The state already has safeguards against unnecessary spending, other senators pointed out.
The Legislative Audit Council audits agencies and programs at legislators' request. The Office of the State Inspector General examines agencies, colleges and school districts. And oversight committees in both the House and Senate investigate state agencies over a seven-year review schedule.
'I'm not seeing the necessity for it, if we can maybe expand the responsibilities of the oversight commission as it is,' said Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Walterboro.
But she didn't vote against it.