COLUMBIA - Gov. Mark Sanford is likely the first to veto the entire state budget, but Wednesday the Legislature quickly rewrote history.

Sanford asked the lawmakers to extend their stay in the capital city and rewrite the budget, but the House and Senate both voted to override the veto.

'We're getting ahead of ourselves,' Sanford said of the spending plan.

The governor argued that the $6.6 billion state budget that the Legislature ratified Wednesday night is an unsustainable increase in spending. He cautioned lawmakers that the budget might eventually result in midyear cuts for state agencies.

'It's growing substantially faster than the growth of people's pocketbooks and wallets,' said Sanford, who won the Republican nomination Tuesday.

Many lawmakers said they were concerned that rewriting the budget would cost $100,000 a day and could potentially shut down government.

House and Senate members returned to take up Sanford's vetoes, including the budget and a number of other bills. The regular session ended June 1.

The House voted 99-13 to override the budget veto and sent the spending plan to the Senate, which voted 34-7.

'I believe we've got one of the best budgets I've ever seen or written. I have no apologies,' said Sen. Hugh Leatherman, a Florence Republican and 26-year veteran.

In cursory reviews Wednesday, neither senior historians with the state Department of Archives and History nor Legislative researchers could find evidence of a previous governor vetoing entire state budgets. Governors typically use their line-item veto power, which was granted to the executive branch in 1895.

Bill Moore, a political scientist at the College of Charleston, classified Sanford's budget veto as a 'highly charged political action.'

'Once again it shows the very strange relationship he has with the Legislature,' Moore said. 'It no doubt deepens the division and increases the divisiveness.'

Moore said Sanford's waiting until after the primary to release his decision was deceptive to voters.

'He was obviously concerned that it could backfire on him,' Moore said.

'By vetoing the entire budget, he deflected the criticism of a core group of voters and prevented him from alienating a specific constituency,' Moore said.

Sanford said his team was frantically working on the veto message last night, but acknowledged he 'began to lock in on' the decision Monday.

The governor also vetoed $6.5 million in capital reserve spending that both the House and Senate overrode. He distributed a list of $50 million in line-item vetoes he would have cut from the budget.

Sanford said he settled on vetoing the entire budget in part because the Legislature has tied his hands in the past by overriding his line-item vetoes, including 163 in 2005 and 106 in 2004. He also said it was not possible to cut $400 million in 'unsustainable' spending with his veto pen and bring it closer to the version he prepared in January.

'We're trying to go the road less traveled, some other route than spending everything that comes in,' he said.

Sanford also pointed to a report the National Association of State Budget Officers released earlier this week that puts South Carolina third in the nation for the fastest growth in general fund spending. The report said the state will increase spending by 25 percent this year since the 2004-05 budget.

'Isn't it incumbent upon me to say, ?I see a red flag?' ' Sanford said.

Five Lowcountry lawmakers, all Republicans, voted to uphold the governor's veto. They are Rep. Wallace Scarborough, Charleston; Rep. Ben Hagood, Sullivan's Island; Sen. Chip Campsen, Isle of Palms; Sen. Larry Grooms, Bonneau; and Sen. Bill Mescher, Pinopolis.

'It has too much excess government spending,' Hagood said. 'I agree with the governor on that premise.'

 

Veto votes

The Legislature wrapped up its work and went home for the year Wednesday after taking up more than a dozen of Gov. Mark Sanford's vetoes.

Overridden

--The House's entire budget bill
--Seven spending items in a House bill linked to a rainy day account, including a new roof at The Citadel's infirmary.
--House bill preventing protests within 1,000 feet of a funeral.
--Senate bill setting up licensing standards for dietitians.
--Senate bill barring advertising by unlicensed motor carriers.
--Senate bill expanding tax breaks for hiring to some large retailers.
--Senate bill making dozens of routine changes in state tax law, but that includes greater power for legislators in economic development efforts.
--House bill setting up a state-controlled database for certain types of prescription drugs.
--House bill giving the attorney general more authority to prosecute price gouging.
--House bill changing how some job tax credits are calculated.

Sustained
--Senate bill requiring all nurses to wear identification badges
--Senate bill letting students in a Sumter County subdivision attend other public schools without cost.
--House bill exempting gold, silver and platinum bullion, coins or currency from sales tax.
--Senate bill setting a $5,000 cap on fines for people who don't file campaign finance reports with the state Ethics Commission on time.
--House bill requiring children to wear helmets and goggles and have training before operating all-terrain vehicles.
--House bill raising minimum insurance requirements for cars.

 

Veto highlights

Eminent domain: The House and Senate agreed to restrict government condemnation of property to public use, not public benefit. The move restricts power granted to local governments in a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision. The Legislature also agreed to appoint a committee to continue to study the issue and release a report in March. Left out of the legislation this session was the State Ports Authority's right to bypass the state Budget and Control Board when condemning property. Also left out were definitions for blighted property and property owners' rights to buy back the property if its use was changed or if the government did not move forward with plans to develop it in 10 years.

Price gouging: Despite a veto, the Legislature voted to allow the attorney general to investigate price gouging of gas and other commodities during a national disaster declared by the president. Previously, state law prohibited the attorney general from examining price gouging unless the South Carolina governor declared a state of emergency.

Education funding: The Senate announced plans to form a bipartisan committee to study equitable education funding. It is expected to release a report in time for the start of legislative session in January.

ATV safety: The House and Senate sustained a veto by Sanford that would have required children to wear safety gear and have training before riding an all-terrain vehicle on public or private property.

 

Reach Yvonne M. Wenger at 745-5891 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.

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