COLUMBIA, S.C. - Governors would need strong reasons for removing members from Santee Cooper's board under a bill now on the Senate floor.

The legislation moved out of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee Wednesday and was immediately put on the Senate's calendar for consideration in the next few days.

It's a reaction to board members being removed by former Gov. Jim Hodges and Gov. Mark Sanford, state Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach, said.

The legislation adds the state-owned utility to a list of agencies that governors could replace board members only for specific reasons, including incompetence, absenteeism and misconduct. It also sets professional standards for the utility's board and gives its customers power to sue board members who act inappropriately, similar to private power company shareholders have.

"The hope is this is an accountable board that's run like a business and not like a political football," Rankin said.

While the board's members are supposed to serve for seven years, it has lost 17 members in that time. The longest serving board member has been there only four years, Rankin said.

Last year, the governor ordered then-chairman and former Santee Cooper chief executive Graham Edwards, one of his own appointees, off the board. Days later, credit rating firm Fitch Inc. lowered its outlook on the utility's debt.

"The fruit-basket turnover of the board itself, starting back with Gov. Hodges till just recently, is the No. 1 cause for concern" for the credit rating agency, Rankin said.

The legislation also bars Santee Cooper from selling or leasing property tied to its utility operations without first getting approval from the Legislature. That's intended to head off any effort to privatize or sell Santee Cooper.

Rankin's subcommittee packaged all of that into one bill. It also approved a second bill that only bars removal of board members.

Sen. Bill Mescher, R-Pinopolis, said that was needed just in case the Senate ran out of time to get a bill to the House by a May 1 procedural deadline.