COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - The 2005 General Assembly has opened for the year.

House and Senate leaders opened the session at midday. Much of their first work is formal and ceremonial.

It got off to a slow start in the Senate. Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer was supposed to be in the Senate at noon. The gavel did not fall until about four minutes after noon. Bauer was delayed because he was filming a television public service announcement for the state aging commission he now is responsible for overseeing.

The House was in session for about an hour and moved about 240 bills across the desk and to committees. House members have been doing preliminary work on those bills and the state budget for several weeks.

By Wednesday they expect to consider eleven vetoes from Governor Mark Sanford and by next week begin debates on key Republican agenda items including income tax breaks.

Bauer's late arrival is not the only delay in the Senate. Members of the upper chamber are working into the afternoon just to get organized. They are discussing rules, choosing seats and committees.

Sanford and Republican leaders want to change the rules to make it easier to stop filibusters, which they blame for the lack of action on some measures in recent years.