-- Rep. Kenny Bingham, R-Lexington, arguing it is up to the Legislature to set rules on what medical facilities can be built. The House, however, voted to sustain Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto of a bill allowing Lexington Medical Center to construct a heart surgery center without state regulatory approval.

NOTHING BUT NET

Neither Rep. Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, nor Rep. Carl Anderson, D-Georgetown, touched a ball, grabbed a rebound or got back on defense, yet the two put on an exhibition of hoops trash talk on the House floor last week.

Ott, the Democratic leader in the House, was introducing the Class A champion boys basketball team from Calhoun County High School when Anderson rose from his seat.

Upon being recognized to speak, Anderson said, “Y’all beat us, so I’m wondering if I should just leave.”

Anderson’s district includes Hemingway High School, which fell 80-65 to Calhoun in the title game.

“We did beat y’all,” Ott said proudly. “And if we play again next year, we’re going to do it again.”

CHANGES IN LATITUDE

House Majority Leader Jim Merrill almost spilled his margarita at a recent Jimmy Buffet concert in Myrtle Beach.

Merrill said he spotted House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, at the show, held to commemorate the opening of a Margaritaville restaurant on the Grand Strand.

When Buffett began playing his classic “Come Monday,” Merrill said he looked around, expecting to see Harrell arm-in-arm with his wife, Cathy Harrell, swaying to the ballad.

“Instead, he’s holding hands with (Rep.) Thad Viers,” Merrill said.

Harrell laughed.

“I knew you were drunk, but I didn’t know you were that drunk,” Harrell told Merrill.

HARD-BOILED FEELINGS

Lawmakers scrambled last week to take credit for the idea of temporarily suspending the state’s gas tax to give drivers a break from rising fuel prices.

After Gov. Mark Sanford announced a news conference to talk about the gas tax, House members worked to put together a plan. They had been talking about such a tax break but had not acted.

When the House added the three-month cut to its budget later in the afternoon, newspapers the next day made scarce mention of Sanford, who privately told House members Thursday they had stolen his thunder.

With elections later this year, everyone wanted to take credit for the tax break.

But Rep. Walt McLeod, D-Newberry, had a different take. Only one man truly can take credit for it, he suggested: Oscar Lovelace, Sanford’s opponent in the June 13 Republican primary.

STUCK ON YOU

House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, and Republican Gov. Mark Sanford have not always been best friends, but it would be the political shock of the year if Harrell were to endorse one of Sanford’s Democratic opponents.

Yet there was Harrell’s SUV parked in the State House garage last week with a “Moore for Governor” bumper sticker. Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Aiken, is one of three Democrats seeking their party’s nomination.

Turns out a prankster had affixed the offending sticker to Harrell’s car.

“I have demanded an investigation,” Harrell said with a laugh. “I have informed the sergeant-at-arms and instructed him to pull the tapes from the garage. And I hope that 18 minutes of the tape is not missing.”

Harrell figures one of his fellow GOP House members played the prank, and he wants to find out who done it — if only to embarrass the offender on the floor of the House.

Still, Harrell was willing to play along. A little.

“Someone saved me the trouble of having to go down to the Tommy Moore for Governor office and get one for myself,” he said.

Harrell removed the sticker as soon as he saw it.

That didn’t prevent the Moore campaign from seeing an opening.

“You know what they always say about humor: It’s funny because there’s an element of truth to it,” Moore spokeswoman Karen Gutmann said.

EVERYWHERE A SIGN

Southbound toward Columbia on Interstate 77 last week, The Buzz felt a little nostalgic approaching Exit 55, home of SC2’s triple-digit Chester run-in with the Highway Patrol.

However, The Buzz was a little surprised Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer had marked the spot with an old campaign billboard touting South Carolina’s “hardest-working legislator.”

The Buzz has yet to see any such advertising on Interstate 385, site of another Bauer run-in with the patrol.

• AT THE STATE HOUSE

Some ways to influence lawmakers this week:

TUESDAY

• THE HOUSE convenes at noon. At 2:30 p.m., 426 Blatt Building, House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee with consider requiring hospitals to report infection data.

• THE SENATE convenes at noon.

WEDNESDAY

• THE HOUSE convenes at 10 a.m. About 1½ hours after adjournment, 516 Blatt Building, a Judiciary subcommittee discusses electronic monitoring of sex offenders.

• THE SENATE convenes at 2 p.m.

THURSDAY

• THE HOUSE convenes at 10 a.m. At 9 a.m., 516 Blatt Building, a Judiciary subcommittee reviews rules on campaign finance disclosures.

• • THE SENATE convenes at 11 a.m.

MORE MEETINGS

• Go to http://www.scstatehouse.net/ for a list of meetings.

LAST WEEK

PROPERTY TAXES: Senators approved a plan giving voters the option county-by-county of approving a higher sales tax so property taxes could be cut. Counties could choose which property taxes the relief would apply to and how much the local sales tax would rise. The approach differs sharply from one advanced by the House.

POULTRY FARMS: A bill stripping counties of the authority to restrict how close poultry operations can be located to homes is headed to the House floor. The bill, which already passed the Senate, won approval in the House Agriculture Committee.

HEIRS’ PROPERTY: A bill meant to help the descendants of slaves preserve their family land was pulled out of a House committee, setting up a floor vote next week that could advance the measure. Heirs’ property is land granted to or bought by former slaves after emancipation. It passed through generations, often without a will, leaving it held by many heirs with no clear title and vulnerable to sale.

CHILD-SAFETY SEATS: A bill increasing fines for those not properly restraining a child in a vehicle will become law in spite of Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto of the measure. Lawmakers voted to override the veto. The legislation increases the fine to $150, up from $25.

HEART CENTER: The House sustained Gov. Mark Sanford’s veto of a bill allowing Lexington Medical Center to move ahead with a heart surgery center without state regulatory approval. The 49-to-58 vote fell short of a majority, much less the required two-thirds margin.

TO LEARN MORE

• YGA Today, midday news from inside the State House, is updated several times each legislative day at http://www.thestate.com/.

WHAT THEY MAKE

• Go to http://www.thestate.com/ for an updated, searchable list of salaries for state employees earning more than $50,000 a year.