Legislation declared dead on arrival
THEIR VIEW

The legislation calling for voters to decide whether to let the governor appoint the education superintendent, secretary of state and lieutenant governor hadn't even made it to the Senate before President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell declared it dead on arrival.

The Senate couldn't muster the two-thirds vote necessary to approve those and other constitutional referendums last year, he told The Associated Press, so it would be a waste of time to try again.

He's right that it would be a waste of time - if the people who claim to support the legislation don't do any more to generate support than they did last year. ...

There are a handful of senators who truly support letting future governors appoint top executive branch officials - or at least allowing the public a say in the matter. But few believe passionately enough in the concept to risk their political capital, or even to lobby their fellow senators. ...

Sen. McConnell and others who say they support that concept need to get to work selling the idea of a unified executive branch, of less electioneering, of better-qualified administrators, of a more accountable governor. The Senate needs to debate the issue again. And this time, senators need to approve the plan to move us in that direction.

The (Columbia) State