Former President Ronald Reagan's respect for America and all [its] institutions - to the point of refusing to take his suit coat off while in the Oval Office - is a respect I still feel every time I walk into the S.C. Statehouse.

It is truly the people's house - a place for serious, not silly, business.

For the past six months, that's what the members of the S.C. House of Representatives have been all about. We concluded the 2004 legislative session having passed 14 of the 16 bills on Gov. Mark Sanford's Checklist for Change.

The governor's most important legislative priority - income tax relief - was passed twice by the House this session. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to pass it, and that is the story for several pieces of important legislation this year.

Senate rules allow even one senator to object to and possibly defeat a bill favored by the majority. But there is cause for hope. Senate leaders assure us they will change the rules next year so the majority can truly govern, as is done in the House.

In the meantime, blaming the House for what Senate rules do not allow the Senate to accomplish is like blaming radio for a bad TV program. Once a bill leaves the House, we have no control over its fate in the Senate.

In January, the House sent the Senate a comprehensive tort reform bill. We sent it a medical malpractice reform bill and one dealing with a ban on same-sex marriage. All those bills were passed by the House and died in the Senate.

On Gov. Sanford's Checklist for Change, the House passed not only income tax relief but administrative government restructuring, SMART education funding, conduct grades, charter school reform and the sunset commission act. Not one of those bills was passed by the Senate.

To its credit, the Senate was able to join the House in passing the fiscal discipline act, small-business regulatory relief act, the teacher protection act, employment-at-will and a bill that reformed the Public Service Commission - the body responsible for regulating the state's public utilities. These bills have now become law.

And while there has been much spin concerning the state budget, the fact is the state Appropriations Act is very conservavative. Our $5.5 billion budget includes $39 million to eliminate the marriage penalty and more than $13 million in estate tax reduction to conform our state to the federal tax code.

In addition, the $155 million deficit from the past few years is effectively dealt with and will be eliminated. The budget also fully funded the state Conservation Bank and Medicaid, while increasing our per-pupil expenditure and raising [average S.C.] teachers' salaries $300 above the Southeast average.

House [members] have long made it our business to be pro-business. We understand it's the private sector - and not state government - that grows the economy, creating jobs and opportunity. That's why we passed a number of pro-economic bills all designed to attract and retain high-tech industry and top-level researchers to South Carolina and make us competitive on a worldwide scale. Without a doubt, we have a governor and House both committed to fiscal discipline.

There will be times when we disagree. But it can and should be done in an agreeable fashion.

My hope is that we can follow Reagan's example and inject more respect, dignity and decorum into the discourse at the Statehouse. That would be an excellent precedent, a worthy legacy to bequeath.