COLUMBIA - Gov. Mark Sanford wants to bring the "bloodhounds" to South Carolina.

In 1982, President Reagan created a committee of private-sector leaders to work like bloodhounds to find government waste.

The Grace Commission, as it became known, made nearly 2,500 recommendations to save $424 billion.

Whether it ever succeeded in saving a dime is unclear. Some argue that the commission exaggerated the potential savings. Commission members eventually blamed Congress for failing to act on the recommendations.

Regardless, Sanford is willing to give it a try. The governor first mentioned the idea of a government waste watchdog group in his State of the State address in January. He said he wanted to roll it out by Memorial Day.

With the holiday just around the corner, South Carolina's version of the Grace Commission is still in the works, but on the way, Sanford says.

The governor's staff is collecting names, and the governor says "we're on track" to have the commission in place by the end of the month. That would give the group June, July and August to gather data and issue a report in September.

Sanford first thought of the idea before he became governor. Now that he's been in office for five months, he says the need is even greater.

"Every time I turn around I see more and more need for a macro look at the whole of the way we spend money in South Carolina," Sanford says.

Sanford already has addressed some of these issues. Last week he:

Railed against giving away empty state-owned armories to local governments.

Questioned the transfer of protective vests from the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Corrections.

Reagan's commission also gave rise in 1984 to Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group that has long favored Sanford.

The Grace Commission report was 47 volumes and 21,000 pages, compiled over two years by 161 corporate executives and community activists working with 2,000 volunteers.

While it's unlikely the S.C. version will be as voluminous or as audacious an undertaking, Sanford sees the chance for real results.