Harvey Peeler

Gov. Mark Sanford made it one step closer Thursday to the type of government he envisioned nearly seven years ago when he took over as chief executive.

A Senate subcommittee will begin work this fall to consolidate, restructure and redefine five health agencies, a priority the two-term Republican has pushed without much success for his entire tenure.

Sanford said he thinks that will change during the upcoming session, and he may be right.

Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, a Gaffney Republican, called on the Medical Affairs subcommittee to consider whether to split up the Department of Health and Environmental Control into two agencies with a secretary who reports directly to the governor.

The DHEC has long been criticized as an unwieldy agency with two diverging sets of priorities.

The subcommittee also will decide if it wants to send to the full Senate proposals that would create a Cabinet-level agency named the Department of Behavioral Health Services to replace the Department of Mental Health, the Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services and the Continuum of Care.

A third bill that the subcommittee will debate would establish the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs as a Cabinet agency with a secretary who works for the governor. The current board would serve an advisory role.

The governor has said he is approaching legislators with a new, humbled spirit after the lessons he learned following his public admission of an extramarital affair and subsequent fallout.

Sanford argued that because his political career is over in 16 months when his term ends, his legislative opponents won’t have to worry about giving him a political victory. He said they would be free to vote for restructuring on its merits as something that will provide for more efficient and effective state government.

“We’d, of course, commend Senator Peeler for his initiative on this front, and will work with both members of the Senate and House to take some substantive steps on restructuring this coming session,” said Ben Fox, the governor’s spokesman.

Peeler is chairman of the Medical Affairs Committee. He appointed Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens, to chair the subcommittee. Other members are Sens. David Thomas, R-Fountain Inn; Ray Cleary, R-Murrells Inlet; Darrell Jackson, D-Hopkins; and Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg.

“I’ve appointed these senators to serve on the subcommittee because of their leadership in health care issues,” Peeler said. “I want their political DNA to be on health care restructuring before the bills are passed out of the Medical Affairs Committee.”

Two of the restructuring bills have cleared the House this year and next need approval by the full Senate. The third bill, which establishes the DHEC as a Cabinet agency, was filed in February in the Senate and has been awaiting action.

Post and Courier
Yyvonne Wegner