COLUMBIA--Plans for a volunteer naval militia to guard Charleston Harbor have broken down into what some lawmakers are calling a bad case of "rank envy."

As the Senate debated the state budget and veto overrides Tuesday afternoon, a committee of senators and House members sat at a stalemate over one very technical aspect of the proposed South Carolina Naval Militia -- basically, the number of stars the commander would wear on his uniform.

The problem, senators say, is that there is resistance to making the commander of the militia a two-star rear admiral, which is the language in both chambers' versions of the bill, because that would give that person roughly the same rank as S.C. Adjutant General Stan Spears.

House members say they want to see one less star on the uniform and that there is no need for the additional rank.

"You designate rank based on what you need to command a unit," said Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Columbia. "It looks like they've determined what they want and are sticking to it."

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, sponsor of the bill and one of the Senate conferees, said the New York Naval Militia's highest ranking officer is a two-star rear admiral, and South Carolina should have no less. McConnell said the House's argument makes no sense because of ranks in the State Guard, basically the state's militia, where there are a number of two- and three-star generals.

"If you want to designate rank for all these, let's do it that way, but don't pick on that," McConnell, R-Charleston, said. "There's very little talk of port security going on here. This is nothing more than rank envy."

House members tried to persuade senators to reduce the top rank of the militia's commander to a one-star rear admiral and tried to deflect various quips from Sens. John Kuhn and John Drummond. Kuhn said the Legislature should let the Maritime Security Commission decide the rank and not micromanage the situation. Drummond said that since these are all voluntary jobs, what does it matter?

"What's the difference in the pay when they're volunteers?" Drummond said.

The idea is to use unpaid volunteer specialists to augment the Coast Guard's role in homeland security. The naval militia would have a nine-member oversight board and would have a budget of about $64,000 a year.

The senators said the opposition to the bill came from the adjutant general's office, but Brig. Gen. Harry Burchstead, the deputy adjutant general, said Spears does not oppose the concept of a naval militia. And under the plan, Spears, as the state's constitutionally elected military officer, would remain the ranking officer, even though his military rank is equal to that of a two-star rear admiral.

"There was some concern about the two-star rank, but that wouldn't have any affect on the general. Under the constitution, he is the state's elected, ranking military officer," Burchstead said. "We're not concerned about the structure, but certainly the adjutant general would want to ensure that future adjutant generals remain the state's ranking officer."

The two sides will sit down again this morning to try to work out a compromise. But, the House does not appear to be backing down.

"Right now, it appears to be a deal-breaker," Harrison said. "I can't say if they want it that bad."