The state Supreme Court handed Gov. Mark Sanford a victory Friday, agreeing that a piece of legislation some derisively referred to as the "Kitchen Sink bill" was weighed down by too many unrelated "bobtails."

Sanford last year vetoed the Life Sciences Act, as it's officially called, saying too many sections of the bill had nothing to do with the bill's intent and so were unconstitutional.

In siding with Sanford, the justices ruled 4-1 that unrelated riders attached to the bill should be removed. The rest of the act was passed into law.

The decision delighted many lawmakers, who said the central sections of the bill, all of which were kept intact, are crucial to the state's economic health.

Such sections included providing taxpayer support for biotechnology and related fields, offering financing options for university research programs and creating incentives for venture capitalists to invest in South Carolina companies.

A couple of the bobtails cut from the act would have authorized a four-year culinary program at Trident Technical College and gone toward financing an international convention center in Myrtle Beach.

"The governor consistently said that we ought to debate ideas based on their merits, but the tacking on of unrelated, often pork-barrel, spending amendments in many cases outside of the deliberative process ... just isn't good for business," said Sanford spokesman Will Folks.

The bobtailing brouhaha began soon after Sanford vetoed the bill in March. Lawmakers quickly mustered the votes to override the veto, many saying they sympathized with Sanford's reasoning but that the bill and its amendments were too important to die.

High-profile bills are often loaded with bobtails involving pet projects of lawmakers whose careers live and die by their ability to bring tangible benefits back to their constituencies. Their bet, which is often true, is that other lawmakers will be loath to throw out the proverbial baby with the bath water.

Still, the tactic violated the state constitution, which requires one subject per bill.

In April, Edward Sloan Jr., a Greenville businessman and self-proclaimed government watchdog, took up the governor's baton and sued the state over the bill. He was joined by state Attorney General Henry McMaster in the case.

In its 10-page ruling Friday, the court said:

"It is patent that the myriad provisions comprising (the act) simply do not comprise one subject. On the contrary, the act is teeming with subjects from life-sciences provisions to the establishment of a culinary arts institute."

The court pointed to the bill's "severability clause" in stripping out sections it ruled unconstitutional, while keeping the rest of the legislation intact.

That was an argument that McMaster made when he went before the court last month.

"The Supreme Court's decision marks a victory for the constitution and the people of South Carolina," McMaster said Friday. "It strikes a decisive blow against the unconstitutional practice of bobtailing while giving a bright green light to the critically important development of the life-science and biotech industries around our three research universities."

Even some of the defendants named in the suit praised the ruling.

House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, voted to override the governor because, he said, "the choice was either accept it as is or lose the whole thing. We couldn't afford to lose it."

Others named as defendants included Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, who acts as the president of the Senate, and Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, the Senate's president pro tem.

Wilkins said the House originally passed a series of separate bills that went over to the Senate as individual pieces of legislation but came back all tied together in one bill.

"With the force of this court ruling behind us, I am optimistic this will persuade all lawmakers to craft better bills," he said.

Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said he hoped that new rules enacted in the Senate at the start of the session earlier this month would either "dramatically reduce or even end the practice of bobtailing from now on."

The Senate agreed a few weeks ago to a set of new rules aimed at curtailing some much-maligned procedures such as bobtailing and filibustering.

While Harrell was generally happy with the ruling because it would mean more money for universities, such as the Medical University of South Carolina, he said he was a bit frustrated about how the outcome affected Trident Tech. "I understand why, but am disappointed," he said.

Trident Tech President Mary Thornley shared Harrell's sentiment.

"Obviously, we're very disappointed," Thornley said. "We are going to work with our legislative supporters to determine just what the appropriate course of action is."

The technical college already runs a two-year culinary course but was looking to the legislation to pave the way for a four-year program. The expanded program was slated to hold classes in Trident's new state-of-the-art Culinary and Hospitality Training Center. The training center is part of the $27 million Complex for Industrial and Economic Development, which is under construction at the main campus in North Charleston. Friday's ruling does not have any impact on the building of the center.