COLUMBIA--The destroyer Laffey took hits from four bombs and six kamikazes in a single hour during World War II, but "the ship that would not die" recently found itself in the crosshairs of another foe: the South Carolina Legislature.

ALAN HAWES/STAFF Suzanne Trice of Hurlock, Md., walks past the guns Thursday aboard the destroyer Laffey at Patriot's Point.

The House-approved version of the state's $5 billion budget is balanced in part by using interest from two Patriot's Point bank accounts that the self-supporting agency uses to stretch its income. The $90,000-plus in interest the agency earns in a year is scheduled to be confiscated -- including $7,000 in interest earned completely off private donations earmarked to maintain the destroyer Laffey, one of the ships on display at the Point in Mount Pleasant.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell found the funds among listed revenues while poring over the budget during the Senate debate Thursday, and immediately filed an amendment to remove that money from the budget.

"We are going to bankrupt the state doing this kind of thing," McConnell, R-Charleston, said. "I don't know if there's a law against us doing this, but it's not going to fly. That's not why these people gave this money, for us to use it in the state budget."

McConnell said the move would prevent people from donating to state-owned projects for fear that the money could go to the state's general fund.

"This money and the interest it earns was donated to keep this ship afloat -- not the ship of state," McConnell said.

South Carolina's current fiscal year budget uses about $43 million in interest earned by various restricted fund accounts -- including $76,000 from the Patriot's Point coffers -- that some agencies employ to hold donations or receipts if they charge admission. These accounts, which can only be used with Budget and Control Board approval, are a way for agencies to stretch dollars.

Tom Peltin, president of the Tin Can Sailors Association, an organization that provides preservation funding to seven historic destroyers, said that the state commandeering interest money earned through the Tin Can's grant program was not likely to win much favor among his 25,000 members.

The association provides $20,000 a year toward maintenance of the Laffey.

"Our members contribute because they are concerned about the ship, not because they are worried about alleviating problems in a state budget," Peltin said. "Certainly that is not in keeping with the spirit of the grant."

Peltin said this incident may prompt the association to add a provision to its contracts forcing grant holders to get permission to use interest money on their donations for any other purposes. If the state had asked, Peltin said, the group probably would not have approved.

"That $7,000 can buy a lot of paint and welding rods, the kind of unglamorous things that keep these ships up," he said.

David Burnette, executive director of Patriot's Point, said he was glad McConnell caught the budget provision swiping the agency's interest money.

"I'm always appreciative of anyone who realizes how an enterprise agency has to operate and come up with funds any way it can," Burnette said.

The Charleston County legislative delegation received approval only a few years ago for Patriot's Point to put its gate receipts, gift shop revenues and private donations into two separate interest-bearing accounts to help the agency earn more money. Although a state agency, Patriot's Point gets no direct subsidy from the state.

But the ensuing budget crisis and pledges from some lawmakers not to raise taxes led budget writers to seek funding from every available source. Beginning last year, lawmakers started siphoning interest off these accounts, including the Tin Can account that supports the Laffey.

State Rep. Bobby Harrell, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the interest from restricted funds amounts to about $7.2 million in the proposed budget for 2003-04 -- well below the $43 million of the current year.

"The General Assembly oversees all funds in state government, and if the Legislature decides it does not want to include some funds in the budget, that will be fine," said Harrell, R-Charleston. "They just need to amend the budget in the Senate."

The issue will likely come up in the House-Senate conference committee that will iron out differences in the two chambers' budget, but Harrell and McConnell say both sides will most likely agree to leave the Patriot's Point interest out of the equation.

And McConnell says that before he's done, he might try to force lawmakers to return the interest taken from other accounts, particularly those made up of private donations.