Sanford, lawmakers not communicating yet, some say

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Sanford, and some fretful legislators, say time will work out the kinks.

"If anything hurts, it's that it's becoming obvious we're not working well together, not communicating well," said Rep. Harry Cato, R-Travelers Rest. He chalked it up to Sanford's unfamiliarity with the legislative culture and state government.

Sen. David Thomas, R-Fountain Inn, said he doesn't know what Sanford's agenda is, but "I give him the benefit of the doubt that it's there and he's pushing it."

"He's got his hands so full being governor, so many people pulling him this way and that way," said Sen. Verne Smith, R-Greer. "He's just got to have time to get his feet planted on the ground. And his staff has, too. There's very little experience in that Governor's Office.

Rep. Lewis Vaughn, R-Taylors, said that aside from the State of the State remarks that outlined an agenda of change, Sanford has provided little guidance for legislators. At a recent breakfast meeting, "we told him we needed to hear more," Vaughn said.

Sanford: 'Catch-22'

But Sanford said Friday, "There is a curious Catch-22 with some legislators. And that is, they'll say we want leadership and then when you provide it, they say, 'Well, we don't want that leadership.' "

He's also a governor whose own office budget isn't as robust as that of his predecessors, a factor, when combined with the worst budget crisis in decades, strongly mitigates against a broadbased legislative agenda, as he has said.

Sanford, an iconoclastic Sullivans Island developer, served three terms in Congress, disdains traditional politics and speaks of himself in terms of servant-leader. Unlike past governors, he never served in the General Assembly.

Asked to assess his first two months of interacting with the Legislature, he said "we're getting there. I'm the new kid on the block. When I came up here I didn't know three-quarters of legislator's names. You have some basic building blocks in terms of getting to know each other."

He said he enjoys going into the legislative chambers and talking with lawmakers, but is doing that now just to "build relationships," not to lobby.

Sanford hasn't offered the traditional post-inaugural bill of particulars to flesh out "bare-bones" campaign proposals, said Neal Thigpen, a Francis Marion University political science professor and Republican activist.

"A lot of voters, particularly Republicans, bought this guy on faith alone. (Now) nobody has a good fix on where he's going," said Thigpen.

'Haven't heard...'"There are a host of things you would expect the governor to weigh in on and we haven't heard from him. There seems to be no interest, no involvement at all. All we've heard are generalizations from a podium," said Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia, the House minority leader. "I wonder if they know there's a second floor to the Statehouse."

To Sen. Kay Patterson, D-Columbia, Sanford "talks nice; I like to hear him, but if you're talking about an agenda, I don't know what he wants."

Rep. Dan Tripp, R-Mauldin, said that when he asked a Sanford aide about the governor's program, he was referred to the campaign Web site.

Even close allies say they're aware something may be amiss.

John Rainey, the Columbia lawyer-businessman who convinced Sanford to run for governor, said, "I hear the rumblings, I hear the conversations, but I really don't know..."

Sanford outlined a wide-ranging agenda for reform and change in his State of the State Address on Jan. 22, but it wasn't until 10 days ago that he went public with a major, detailed initiative. At the time, Sanford unveiled a proposal for a cigarette tax to bolster Medicaid and maximize federal matching monies, combined with longer-term cuts in the state income tax to 5 percent from 7 percent. The latter was a signature issue in his election campaign.

Shot down

But the tax hike element was quickly shot down by fellow Republicans in the House, led by Speaker David Wilkins of Greenville. Support for the plan appears rooted in the Senate.

Wilkins said the administration "indicated to me that income tax reduction and government restructuring are two of the top priorities," Wilkins said. Meetings, in which the administration is expected to provide details, are planned this week.

The House passed legislation that created two new cabinet-level offices under the governor, another hallmark of Sanford's campaign.

Other measures that Sanford endorsed, Department of Commerce reform and lowering the blood alcohol level to .08 for presumption of driving while impaired, have passed the House. Both were issues that Sanford discussed during the campaign, although the DWI measure had been debated in the Legislature in past years.

Style and approach are factors in any executive-legislative schism, legislators said.

Republican Beasley and Democrat Hodges were "very different" governors, according to Rep. Smith. "It was a direct, physical engagement with the leadership communicating with the membership to ask for their support" for specific programs and the crafting of various bills, he said.

Thomas said Sanford "is somewhat laissez-faire, and that coincides with his political philosophy."

"I've never seen that with the five governors I've dealt with," he said. Warmup time

-RT>Sanford said he has talked to other governors "and they say their first six months are a getting-to-know you period."

He said he and his staff are improving their communication with lawmakers but they still have stumbles. He recalled a recent lunch with members of the Republican Senate caucus. He said he talked with one senator about his tax plan, who wanted it divided with the food tax.

The next day, Sanford said, the senator was quoted as saying he didn't know about the plan. He said the staff is now following conversations with paper summations to eliminate confusion and miscommunication.

Asked to evaluate his first two months, Sanford said it has been largely about establishing procedures, policies and his inner circle of staff and cabinet.

"I would say we've still got room to grow," he said.

Tim Smith in the Columbia bureau contributed to this report.