COLUMBIA - Budget cuts have depleted the number of S.C. law enforcement officers on highways and waterways, but Gov. Mark Sanford pushed public safety agencies Monday to find better ways to spend their money.

Most agency heads were able to offer cuts that would be relatively inexpensive compared with the state's $5 billion budget. In many cases, the agencies are working together to improve efficiency and avoid duplication.

Sanford is meeting with state agencies before he begins writing his executive budget. He said it was too early to tell whether there will be money for more officers in next year's budget.

State Law Enforcement Division Chief Robert Stewart said his agency was constantly looking for better ways to spend its funding. But the agency needs more officers, he said.

"He's very frugal," Stewart said of the governor. "And we all need to be."

Sanford questioned some agency programs, including the Public Safety Department's school bus safety program. The program costs about $42,000 and needs two full-time employees.

"How much difference could two people make?" Sanford asked Public Safety director James Schweitzer. "I just question whether $42,000 makes a difference one way or the other."

Schweitzer, a 33-year FBI veteran named director last spring, initially thought the program was a public ad campaign, but Sanford's spokesman Chris Drummond said the program puts state troopers on school buses to spot violators.

"We don't even know what the program does," Sanford said.

The program's two employees monitor school bus safety statewide, including compiling reports of vehicles passing stopped buses and driver violations, agency spokesman Sid Gaulden said.

Schweitzer did have some ideas for trimming costs, suggesting the State Transport Police could end the practice of checking diesel fuel in collaboration with the Department of Revenue to see whether taxes had been paid on it.

Other brainstorming ideas included shifting services to other agencies, charging the private sector for some services and increasing collections from local governments.

The agencies also had a chance to pitch programs that might be eliminated without additional state funds, including wilderness camps for the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Director Bill Byars said his agency will lose almost $8 million of Medicaid funding because of eligibility issues, which could threaten programs at Juvenile Justice.

"We're certainly not a model program for anybody in the nation," Byars said. "There's no way that we can operate at the minimal level ... without those funds."

The agency's operations had been under federal oversight.

The governor applauded the Natural Resources Department for consolidating offices and the Department of Motor Vehicles for becoming more customer friendly.

DMV Director Marcia Adams suggested her agency could end the practice of holding administrative hearings, many of which involve drivers applying for a temporary license while challenging the results of Breathalyzer tests.

Corrections Department head Jon Ozmint said his biggest problem is retaining officers, and he is concerned about alcohol and drug treatment programs being cut. Those programs are paid for with $1.8 million in federal funds.

"That money runs out this year," Ozmint said. Losing those programs "would be devastating," he said.