South Carolina is in its tightest budget year in memory.

The comptroller general had called for immediately addressing an old deficit. That would mean further cutting the budget by as much as 4 percent.

The governor was in favor. The legislators, not so much.

So Wednesday's meeting of the State Budget and Control Board was tense even before it started. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom was there at 11 a.m. sharp. Ditto, Treasurer Grady Patterson and Senate Finance chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence.

State Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, came in right on time. By 11 a.m., all 50 people crowded in the governor's conference room were on their feet, waiting for the guest of honor, Gov. Mark Sanford.

Sanford was late. Five minutes, then seven. People shifted from one foot to the other.

Harrell broke the tension, saying he'd just left a meeting in the governor's office.

"I don't know where he is," Harrell said.

But, as a legislator, he said, he knows all about blame.

"They blame us for everything else," he said. "You can blame us for this, too. I'm used to it."

SIX-FIGURE WAGER

Sanford arrived soon after, and the meeting started. But the levity -- ah, those funny money matters -- continued.

State economist Bill Gillespie gave a report on the lagging economy. He said the forecast would continue to be gloomy; he'd bet on it, even wagering his own salary against Sanford's.

Sanford said he'd take that bet, saying his wife, Jenny Sanford, read somewhere that he was like "the 500th or 700th" highest-paid person in state government.

And indeed, the state salary database lists "Marshall Sanford, agency head, the governor's office," with a salary of $106,078. He is the 759th highest-paid person in government, long after university bigwigs and coaches and other long-serving department directors.

Gillespie? He makes $103,056.

MAKING PROGRESS

As for Sanford's running late?

Said spokesman Will Folks: "We used to joke during the campaign that 'Sanford time' was 15 minutes after the prescribed time.

"We're pleased to note that we cut that in half."