I recently announced the state’s revenue collections for the current fiscal year that began July 1, 2009, and the news was not at all good.  Through the end of February 2010, the state had taken in 6.4 percent less revenue (or about $250 million) than it had at this same point last fiscal year

In just the month of February 2010, the state took in $66 million less revenue than it did in February 2009.  Even more disturbing, the state mailed out more income tax refunds last month than it collected from every other source of general fund revenue combined.

What does such grim news mean for South Carolina?

For starters, it’s a clue that we could be a long way from the end of the road as far as the state’s budget woes are concerned.  In fact, when I released the numbers, I warned state agencies that they should voluntarily set aside some of the funds they have on hand in case the state is forced in the next few months to make even more budget cut because of continued revenue shortfalls.

It’s a solemn reminder of the need for government at all levels -- from your local town and county to the state of South Carolina to Washington D.C. -- to return to living within its means. Government has far too often tried to “be all things to all people,” rather than to simply provide essential, affordable services and provide them well. We’ve strayed far from the Founding Fathers’ vision of the best government being that which “governs least,” as Thomas Jefferson put it.

Too often, today’s public officials view spending as a measure of the value of their own service. They view their spending as the fix for every problem. They strain to “bring home the bacon” but, of course, the taxpayers are the ones picking up the tab for the “bacon.”

Public officials would be wise to do some soul-searching about whether government has grown too big and costly.  Perhaps they should consider reducing -- or even eliminating -- services and programs not related to essential functions of government.  Public officials would also be wise to search their souls about the responsibilities they have to represent the often overlooked taxpayers who provide them their generous salaries and benefits.

Our current revenue shortfalls remind us of the need for public policies that encourage and sustain economic growth -- low taxes, less bureaucracy, fewer unnecessary regulations -- and produce a government that lets free markets play out, spurring business owners to invest more in their businesses and to create badly-needed private sector jobs in the process.

In connection with all this, I can’t overstate the importance of spending transparency for government -- giving taxpayers free and convenient access on the Internet to details about where and how their money is being spent. When government spending is closely scrutinized by the public, officials are more careful about how they spend, and less likely to waste your hard-earned money that’s collected from you in taxes. Citizens deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent, and certainly they can be trusted with this information.

Tough budget years mean tough choices, and this year one of those choices must be to return to the traditional, common sense notion of government living within its means.