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The South Carolina State Reorganization Commission was created by Act 621 of 1948, pursuant to the recommendation of then-Governor Strom Thurmond, and amended by Act 410, 1971 (1976 Code, Sections 1-19-10-260), for purposes of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of state government operations to the fullest extent practicable, promoting economy and reducing generally the cost of government.
A predecessor organization, the Preparedness for Peace Commission, was established in the latter stages of World War II to assist the state in the transition from wartime to peacetime governmental footing. In the process, it addressed issues related to governmental organization. Previously, a number of management and organizational studies had been undertaken, the earliest being the Griffenhagan study which led to the development of the state's first formal budget process in 1920.
Establishment of the Reorganization Commission was the State's most broadly-based initiative to bring about organizational change and represented a significant statutory commitment in that direction. Legislation creating the Commission provided the Governor with a special mechanism to convey organizational recommendations to the General Assembly and gave the Commission's recommendations something of a special "fast-track" status in the legislature.