Senators worked until about 1 a.m. to pass the state's $16.7 billion budget, $5.3 billion of which is state-controlled money. It was the fourth day of budget deliberations, a process that had gone smoothly until a bipartisan collection of senators introduced a bill Thursday to pay back the state's $155 million debt with extra money that is expected this year.

The amendment, sponsored by a collection of senators including John Kuhn, R-Charleston, and Vincent Sheeheen, D-Kershaw, was inspired by Sanford's call earlier in the week to use all $130 million in expected surplus to pay down the debt.

They were opposed by a group of veteran senators lead by Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, who refused to cut services to pay off the entire debt this year. Leatherman said such a proposal would knock the budget badly out of balance.

The stalemate continued until late Friday when senators agreed to use two revenue options from Sanford's executive budget and increased revenue projections to pay $77 million toward the debt. That money, combined with $50 million already earmarked for the debt, would leave just a small portion to be paid next year.

"Given what we had to work with and how big this budget is, what we were able to accomplish tonight was nothing short of miraculous," said an exhausted Leatherman.

According to Leatherman, the state is now expecting a surplus of at least $150 million, up $20 million from previous estimates. That, combined with a proposal to sell $32 million in state-owned real estate and $25 million from the sale of vehicles in the state fleet, both proposals in Sanford's executive budget, allowed the Senate to increase debt payment.

It also allowed them to keep intact a budget that gives state employees an across-the-board 3 percent raise, fully funds the state Conservation Bank, increases the budget of the state Department of Natural Resource and avoids cuts in the Department of Corrections.

Many in the Senate, prior to the late-night deal, considered the real estate plan and the sale of the fleet to be questionable revenue streams.

But after the deal was struck, Leatherman said, "If the governor thinks that they are solid areas of revenue, then I will defer to him."

It was a victory for Sanford, who has had trouble getting his agenda through the state Legislature. He did not get everything he asked for, but his request earlier in the week did change the course of budget discussions.

"The governor is pleased with how far they went," said Sanford spokesman Will Folks.

Sanford rolled out his executive budget in January and was immediately praised by legislators for creating a detailed document that could be used to run government on its own.

The document approved Saturday differs from Sanford's vision, but most agree he helped shape the argument.

The next step in the budget process is likely a conference committee, in which three senators and three House members will put the finishing touches on the document.

"What we passed tonight is a big improvement over where we were two days ago," Kuhn said. "We were basically ignoring the debt. Now we are paying back a large portion of it. That's a good thing."

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