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The South Carolina General Assembly is a powerful thing, as is to be expected of any modern legislature. Many, including Gov. Mark Sanford, believe it to be too powerful, with, as they say, a level of control over executive functions unparalleled in any of the other 49 states. As with any legislature, it's important that the legislators are accountable to their constituents. If the people have given the legislature such a great amount of power, then they need to know that their legislators are acting responsibly and not abusing that power.
Accountability in a legislature necessarily involves transparency. Transparency in this situation involves having access to the full text of bills and resolutions introduced, along with a list of sponsors, as well as a record of how everyone has voted on important measures. This last element is missing in South Carolina and needs to be fixed.
Voice votes are the standard method of voting in the General Assembly. A note is simply made in the House's journal indicating whether or not the bill was agreed to, without any record of how anyone voted. This is fine in many cases. The legislature frequently adopts resolutions that merely congratulate one person or another, and there is no point in knowing how everyone voted. Recording votes would be a waste of time.
However, when it comes to substantive issues such as the state budget, the people ought to know how individual legislators vote. The state constitution provides for roll call votes when a sufficient number of legislators request them, but that doesn't often happen. As the S.C. Policy Council notes, roll call votes are the "exception rather than the rule" in South Carolina, unlike in other Southeastern states where roll call votes are required in some situations.
The current situation is ridiculous. In an election with two U.S. senators running for president, one often hears about the importance of voting records, yet state legislators here don't really have voting records. The people simply have to trust that their elected representatives are acting in the public interest. In a time of economic hardship, this is especially shameful. The people ought to feel that their money is being spent wisely, and if it's not, then they should know who to blame.
In April, Rep. Nikki Haley of Lexington County introduced H. 5019 - the so-called "2008 Spending Accountability Act" - which required recorded votes on bills and resolutions relating to the expenditure of state funds. Sadly, the bill was left to die in committee, but the move for more transparency has since gained support, and a new, broader version of the bill will be introduced next session in both the House and the Senate. If passed, perhaps our legislators will be less willing to try to give themselves another "cost-of-living adjustment" through a voice vote.
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