State Republican legislative caucus leaders are exploring possible changes in the Freedom on Information Act to allow them to hold closed-door strategy and brainstorming sessions with the public excluded.

House Majority Leader Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, said there are no specific proposals, but the House and Senate Republican caucuses want to clarify what they can do.

Jay Bender, attorney for the South Carolina Press Association, said he is preparing "suggested language recognizing that part of what caucuses do is political and part is governmental."

It would allow closed political discussions while assuring that no public business would be conducted. "Some balance ought to be struck," Bender said.

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"The notion is that what a caucus does is sometimes party politics, and I don't know that that needs to be public. The governmental part always needs to be public," Bender said Thursday.

Merrill said members have discussed leaving all sessions open, as they are now, amending the law to specify the caucuses as public bodies and granting exceptions to the Freedom of Information Act or place the caucuses under House and Senate rules outside the act.

"Members of a caucus should be able to meet and discuss without it going to the opposite party or whomever," Merrill said.

Merrill believes the caucus can close its doors but has faced objections from the South Carolina Press Association.

Rep. Lewis Vaughn, a Taylors Republican, said the issue has surfaced from time to time in the past. He said he doesn't believe it's a burning issue now.

Vaughn said he doesn't recall a meeting that would have benefited from a closed-door session.

"You have some strategy sessions you would like to do, but you can do that without a quorum," he said.

A catalyst for the move came last year when House Republicans met to discuss electing a speaker of the House after Greenville's David Wilkins was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Canada and reporters sought access, Merrill said.

Last year, Senate Republicans concluded their caucuses are public bodies and needed to be open, and the House reached a similar conclusion when it came time to elect a new speaker, Bender said.

Sen. John Land III, D-Manning, the Senate minority leader, said closed caucuses are no harm to the public.

"We don't take any votes in there. We discuss pending legislation and ideas for legislation to be introduced, personnel matters about our staff. I don't see how that conflicts with anything."

Some Upstate lawmakers said there is a need for at least a limited ability for caucuses to meet in private.

Rep. Adam Taylor, R- Laurens, the assistant majority leader, said, "It is my personal belief that we ought to be able to meet like that. We talk about a lot of things, personnel issues, other races, things like that. There are a lot of issues we talk about that aren't related to legislation."

Taylor said those issues include discussing who might run for an upcoming vacancy, caucus events and personnel. "Things like that I think should be able to be discussed in private," he said.

He said there is some disagreement about whether the current law allows closed-door meetings. Taylor said whatever is done will be done in compliance with the state's Freedom of Information Act.