CHARLESTON, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday that his administration will continue the fight against pork barrel legislation and said the threat of a lawsuit has value.

"I'm not naive enough to think we'll ever eliminate pork, you won't," Sanford said following a speech to a civic club. "But can you have a more narrow range of pork so that at least when some of the legislators take a vote it's on at least a so-called topic."

Sanford threatened to sue the Legislature after they overrode his veto on a massive economic development bill. He said the bill ran up against a constitutional requirement that bills deal only with one topic.

That threat led to the governor calling a closed meeting with the House Republican caucus last week, which resulted in some heated exchanges, lawmakers said.

"My role is to constantly challenge the status quo. People have grown complacent about Christmas tree bills," Sanford said Tuesday. "I've had conversations with the House and the Senate leadership. Needless to say, they are going to be more circumspect in bills going forward.

"There's a value to knowing the threat of a lawsuit is still out there or knowing that we'll raise it again in a tighter time to get at the objective we're after, which is more narrowly defined legislative bills."

Sanford said that for now, the administration told legislative leaders "we will walk with you guys to a legislative remedy and see if we can't get something there."

The governor didn't think the controversy has affected his relationship with lawmakers.

"A guy who you see 180 degrees apart one day may be the guy whose vote you need the next day," he said.

"The funnel through which you bring about any of this legislative change is the Legislature. And the Catch-22 is there is a real need to shake up the political system and challenge it, to nudge it," he said.

One legislator agreed to tape last week's caucus session for The (Columbia) State. The newspaper agreed not to name the legislator. The taping was legal under state law and parts of a transcript were published.

The taping was "unethical," Sanford said. "There ought to be a code of conduct in the war of ideas, or the battle of ideas."