Sanford to release budget plan today

Gov. Mark Sanford will release his executive budget proposal for fiscal year 2005-2006 today at a news conference.

The proposal is expected to suggest cuts in existing programs to help fund increases in law enforcement and health care.

The budget release comes after a series of previews, which included plans to eliminate some retirement benefits for future state employees and adding more than 300 new state law enforcement officers.

The General Assembly will consider the proposals before a final budget is passed later this year.

• Governor to host Open Door After 4

Gov. Mark Sanford will hold another Open Door After 4 program today. It’s the 25th installment of his open office hours program.

South Carolinians can sign up for private, five-minute meetings with the governor to discuss anything they choose. Appointments begin at 4 p.m. and run until 9 p.m. To sign up, call the governor’s office at (803) 734-1999 after 9 a.m. today.

• Republican running for top education post

Dan T. Hallman, a retired educator living in Anderson, said Tuesday he is running for the Republican nomination for state superintendent of education in 2006.

Hallman, 66, is expected to make a formal announcement about his candidacy Monday on the Anderson County courthouse steps.

Former colleagues urged Hallman, who taught and coached sports at Irmo High School for 10 years beginning in the mid-1960s, to run for the statewide office held by Democrat Inez Tenenbaum.

Tenenbaum told her staff last month she would seek a third term in 2006.

Contributing: Staff writers Jeff Stensland and Bill Robinson