Citing pork, Sanford vetoes incentives bill

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"This veto is all about protecting the taxpayers of South Carolina from politically-driven, pork barrel spending," said Sanford.

The legislation could unlock the potential of hundreds of high-technology jobs from a major biotech company that is considering a facility in Greenville County. The prospect has not been identified publicly by state or county officials.

Kathy Romero, a Greenville Technical College microbiology instructor, has kept an eye on the bill's progress and what it could mean in the classroom.

"Basically, we are going to be prepared when they all come in to offer them a trained work force," she said.

Legislative leaders predicted his veto would be overridden.

The legislation would provide financial incentives for drug companies that invest in the state and create a $50 million venture capital fund to help startup companies. It also would provide $220 million to build research "infrastructure" — land, buildings, roads — at the state's three research universities.

But it has been labeled the "kitchen sink bill" because of tacked-on measures that include making the University of South Carolina's branch campus in Sumter a four-year school, new criteria for LIFE scholarship recipients and creating a committee to study the idea of starting a law school at S.C. State University in Orangeburg.

Another amendment would give $7 million for a convention center in Myrtle Beach.

Sanford says he backs the bill's business incentives. But in his veto message to lawmakers, he detailed seven objectionable sections of the bill. He called it generally "flawed" because most of the "tack-ons" did not involve public debate and do not serve the state's interest.

"It's about changing the way things have always been done in state government," Sanford said.

House Speaker David Wilkins of Greenville said he understood the governor's objections but was "disappointed."

"The bad parts don't make the good parts any less needed for the state," he said.

The bill passed the House last week by a vote of 96-15 and sailed through the Senate by a vote of 35-5.

It takes a vote of two thirds of those present in both the House and Senate to override a veto.

"I hope we can pass it," Sen. Verne Smith, a Greer Republican, said Tuesday night. "I didn't vote for all those add-ons but that's the only way we could pass it."