| Sanford, lawmakers get ready to discuss budget AIKEN - South Carolina lawmakers start their next session Tuesday, with the stage set for the ongoing political melodrama between Gov. Mark Sanford and fellow Republicans who control both houses of the Legislature. As in the first two sessions of Mr. Sanford's term, a budgetary tug-of-war between lawmakers and the governor will be the primary plot. Mr. Sanford, who has said he values his role as an agent of change more than he does building a legislative legacy, drew a fiscal line in the sand last week with his executive budget, a $5.3 billion blueprint that calls for a reduction in the state income tax and a 3.6 percent cap on spending increases. While raising the curtain on this 200-page document, the governor noted maneuvers made by legislative leaders of his own party to balance past budgets without tax increases. Those moves included raiding $655 million from state-administered trusts' funds and doubling the state's bonded debt from $1.1 billion in 1999 to $2.2 billion in 2003. Mr. Sanford wants to earmark $200 million to pay off debt. His aides say much of that money can come from a projected $356 million surplus the state expects to rack up this year, the first extra revenue South Carolina has seen since 2001. But the governor's plan sets up a conflict with House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, and Aiken County Legislative Delegation Chairman Roland Smith, R-Langley, the chairman of the panel's public schools subcommittee. The legislative budget process starts in Mr. Harrell's committee. Both men want to spend $22 million to raise teacher salaries to $300 above the Southeastern average of about $42,000 a year. They also want to spend $315 million during the next three years to raise the amount of state money spent on every public school pupil to the level called for by the Education Finance Act, a target lawmakers have missed because of budget constraints. Mr. Sanford proposes a more modest increase that falls $100 short of the $2,300-a-student target for next year. He also wants to trim $1.4 million out of an incentive program for teachers who earn national teaching certificates and reduce money for student assessment programs by $2.7 million. Mr. Harrell, who has chided Mr. Sanford in the past for picking fights with legislative leaders of his own party, is careful not to start another rhetorical firefight with the governor. Legislative leaders have learned to ignore Mr. Sanford's rhetoric in order to get on with the business of governing, Mr. Harrell said. "We know him better," he said. "We know how he talks. I wish he didn't use some of the words he does, but that's just Mark Sanford. If we want to work with him, we have to work with him despite that talk." Other lawmakers are less charitable. "It's always easier to curse the dark than strike a match," said state Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Clearwater. "This is bigger than finger-pointing. This is about making the best out of the worst." Mr. Moore applauded the governor's call to repay money raided from trust funds and pay down a portion of the debt. He also criticized the Republican legislative leadership's reliance on one-time money, trust-fund dollars and sharply increased fees for basic government services in order to avoid a tax increase during the fiscal crisis. "The budget writing over the last several years leaves a lot to be desired," he said. The budget battle during this legislative session will boil down to the need to pay for essential government programs, such as Medicaid and education, versus the desire to pay down debt and other budgetary IOUs, said state Rep. Robert J. "Skipper" Perry, the newly elected vice chairman of the Aiken County legislative delegation. At least lawmakers enter this session with hopes of having a budget surplus, said Mr. Perry, a Republican who also favors paying back money used to balance past budgets. During the past three sessions, they faced revenue shortfalls that dictated painful midyear cuts to every state agency. They also face a much smaller revenue gap on Medicaid - about $50 million instead of the $200 million they faced two years ago. "If you've got things in dire need of funding, you've got to fund it," Mr. Perry said. "Fund what you've got to fund, then pay off the debt." OPENING BELL The South Carolina General Assembly starts a new session Tuesday with the prospects of the first revenue surplus since 2001, a projected $356 million. Gov. Mark Sanford's $5.3 billion executive budget sets the stage for the annual wrangling between lawmakers and the chief executive. Reach Jim Nesbitt at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111 or jim.nesbitt@augustachronicle.com.
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