U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis said Monday he doesn't share Gov. Mark Sanford's hands-off style and has only limited contact with the Governor's Office.

Inglis' comments to reporters and editors of The Greenville News tracked those made last Thursday by fellow Republican Rep. Gresham Barrett of Westminster.

Amid Sanford's embrace of change while "attempting some bold things," Inglis hinted at a lack of coordination with congressional offices.

"I want to know more about the Medicaid proposal. Most that I know I learned from your paper recently, couple or three days go, a piece about Medicaid, which, gee, it's really bold what he's attempting to do." Inglis said the Governor's Office didn't contact him about it.

Under Sanford's plan, for example, Medicaid recipients would get an amount of money for a personal health account to pay medical expenses. They could use the money to buy insurance that fits their needs, including a high-deductible or a full-service plan. Money left over could be used to pay deductibles at the hospital, doctor's office or pharmacy.

"Mark has a different way of operating," Inglis said. "It's a different style. We don't get much contact in that way."

Inglis said Sanford has an "allow-things-to-grow kind of style rather than direct their growth."

Asked if that would be his style, Inglis said, "No."

Joel Sawyer, Sanford's spokesman, said the governor has made his legislative priorities and goals for the state clear in a variety of ways, from his executive budget to travels around the state and one-on-one conversations with legislators and members of the congressional delegation as much as possible.

Sanford has had a rocky relationship with a Legislature dominated by his own party and most of his signature issues have been swept aside and some Republican business interests, upset over the state's lagging economy, are actively seeking a candidate to challenge him for re-election next year.

He has been criticized recently by new House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, and last week Barrett, said "more could be done" by Sanford to improve the state's economy.

Barrett said he had "reached out time and time and time again with him to go in conjunction," but added that Sanford reached back only "to a certain degree."

But Inglis also cautioned against comparing the economic records of Sanford and Gov. Carroll Campbell.

The two Republican leaders represent different periods and can't be held to the same measurement, the Travelers Rest congressman told The News.

Sawyer said Sanford is promoting a cluster strategy, initially with Greenville's International Center for Automotive Research and a new aerospace facility in Charleston that "will pay dividends for years to come in high-paying jobs that aren't going to get shipped overseas a few years from now."

Where Campbell, the state's 1987-95 governor, was instrumental in bringing BMW and related automotive manufacturing facilities to the region and state, Sanford faces different challenges, Inglis said.

"That's a model you really can't use anymore because that's just not where the action is apparently. The action really is in this innovation kind of activity, and that's a new world. Mark (Sanford) finds himself in the midst of some very different waters and you can't look at Carroll Campbell's great success and say 'Well, we'll just do that.' Because it's a different thing," Inglis said.