COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The lights were off in the treasurer's office Saturday, the first weekend day state law says Thomas Ravenel's had to work after being sworn into office Wednesday.

But Ravenel, no fan of working the Saturdays, is seeking a change in the law. On this Saturday, he was driving back to Charleston after finding a house to live in while he is in Columbia and after saving the state borrowing costs for highway projects.

A law on the books since 1801, says the state treasurer "shall keep open and attend in his office from nine o'clock in the morning until two in the afternoon every day, Sundays, public holidays and the two succeeding days to Christmas excepted."

"The actual bricks and mortar office had no support staff so there's no need for me to be there," Ravenel said Saturday by cell phone as he cruised down Interstate 26 to his Charleston home. "There's nobody there to assist. There's no point in being in an office where there's no support staff.

"So I have a virtual office."

With his Blackberry loaded with 3,000 contacts, "I can do business 24-7," he said.

After Wednesday's inauguration, the millionaire real estate developer said he stopped by a couple of parties briefly and came back to the office to sign off on a $286 million bond deal that will cost the state 4.4 percent in interest - the lowest borrowing cost ever for the state Infrastructure Bank. The deal was signed just before rates bumped up slightly, Ravenel said.

And he's putting together a staff quickly.

He hired Ed Evans, who was the state Budget and Control Board's lawyer, to serve as his chief of staff and Scott Malyerck, the state Republican Party's executive director, to serve as spokesman beginning Tuesday. He asked former Treasurer Grady Patterson's chief of staff, Frank Rainwater, to stay on for a while.

That will cost the state more, but "there's a lot of institutional knowledge there and I want to take full advantage of that," he said. "I don't want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish."

But he's working on ways to save money. For example, he has been working with state Budget and Control Board executive director Frank Fusco on a plan to stop printing copies of paychecks and pay statements for the state workers who use direct deposit. The information contained in the pay statements would be available online, he said.

That could save $3 million in printing and postage. "We want to encourage people to do it to save the state some money," Ravenel said.

Fusco's job may be in the balance this year. In November 2005, Republican Gov. Mark Sanford and Republican Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom lost a vote against Fusco being able to retire and return to work at the board under a retirement incentive program. Patterson voted with the House and Senate budget committee chairmen to keep Fusco working.

That puts Ravenel in a swing vote position and he's already hearing arguments from both sides on Fusco's future.

He said he hasn't made up his mind. "Of late, I think he's put forth a lot of effort toward keeping his job," Ravenel said of Fusco.

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