COLUMBIA, S.C. - The State Museum has half the staff it did about three years ago, admission fees for some have increased and Gov. Mark Sanford has proposed phasing out state funding.

But while director Willie Calloway is willing to consider some ways the museum might save or make money, he refuses to charge the 75,000 schoolchildren who visit for free every year because he wants legislators and others to understand how the educational facility is funded, and how important it is to the state.

"We're not in a crisis mode," Calloway said at a commission meeting Wednesday. "There's no reason we can't get through this fine."

Two weeks ago, Sanford proposed eliminating about $1.5 million per year in state funds over the next three years to free-up money for education and health programs.

The governor-appointed commission remained upbeat because they said the budget process is only beginning.

"This is the governor's budget, and we will see a budget proposal from the House and Senate," said Gray Culbreath, commission chairman. "The governor is only one step in the process."

The museum, which opened in 1988, already has received some support this year in the Legislature, which overrode a Sanford veto from last year's budget. Sanford wanted to do away with the museum's bond exemption from across-the-board budget cuts that other state agencies have faced.

"The State Museum is a real treasure and an asset to the state, particularly to all the schoolchildren that come from around the state to view it," Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, said earlier this week.

About $3 million of the museum's budget per year goes back to the state to pay off bonds for building the museum and for rent. That leaves about $1.5 million in state funding for operations. The museum raises another $1.5 million through private funds, admissions and rentals.

Calloway said some legislators don't understand the way the funding works, especially how much of it goes back to the state. If they did, he said, they might be a little kinder in considering the museum's budget.

"We could make another $100,000 if we charged" schoolchildren, he said. "But do I want to do that? No."

Right now, all the museum can do is make the case it is worth funding, he said.

Information from: The State