Days after Gov. Mark Sanford put on hold his plans to sue the Legislature over a “pork-barrel” economic development bill, a retired Greenville businessman is picking up where Sanford left off.

Edward Sloan Jr., 74 — who unsuccessfully sued Sanford last year for holding a military commission while serving as governor — says the Life Sciences Act is an unconstitutional example of “bobtailing” because it involves unrelated projects.

He is suing House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, president of the Senate, arguing the state constitution requires that all acts relate to just one subject.

“It was a flagrant violation that needed to be dealt with,” Sloan said.

His lawyer, James Carpenter of Greenville, mailed copies of the lawsuit to the S.C. Supreme Court Wednesday morning.

Sanford vetoed the act last month for the same reason, calling it a “Christmas tree” full of “pork-barrel” projects.

The House and Senate overrode his veto soon after. Sanford then threatened to sue, but he pulled back last week after a stormy meeting with House Republicans behind closed doors.

Sloan said he hasn’t talked with Sanford about the issue and he wasn’t influenced by anyone to file suit.

The retired highway contractor says he’s a lonely defender of the constitution. Sloan has filed at least 30 lawsuits against government agencies or officials, including one in 2001 to force the caretakers of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley to make their records public

“I hope the constitution wins this time, for a change,” he said.

The Life Sciences Act is a hodge-podge of spending that offers incentives to certain biomedical and pharmaceutical companies that expand in the state, provides bond money for the state’s three research universities, includes a culinary institute at Trident Technical College and expands USC Sumter to a four-year college.

House and Senate members have blamed each other for the pork in the Life Sciences Act and other bills. Both sides argue they have taken steps to stop bobtailing.

“I sincerely do not believe it’s a serious problem,” Wilkins said.

Bauer said he opposes the practice of bobtailing, but he didn’t want to comment further because he had not seen the lawsuit.

Wilkins said he had been trying to avoid being sued. He and Sanford on Friday pledged to resolve their issues and work together.

Sanford spokesman Will Folks didn’t think Sloan’s lawsuit would harm Sanford’s efforts to work with the Legislature. He said the governor also hasn’t given up his option of suing.

“The governor knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of a Ned Sloan lawsuit,” Folks said. “He’s a persistent individual.”

Because Sloan is filing his lawsuit with the state Supreme Court, justices must decide whether they will hear the case. Lawsuits normally begin in one of the lower courts, but the Supreme Court can take a case if it is important to the public or extremely urgent.

Reach Talhelm at (803) 771-8339 or jtalhelm@thestate.com