COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford had second thoughts about suing lawmakers over economic development legislation, but a government watchdog sees no problem with challenging the General Assembly on the law.

Edward Sloan Jr., best known for unsuccessfully suing Sanford about the governor's U.S. Air Force Reserve commission, said Wednesday he has sued lawmakers.

Sloan said he is going after the General Assembly for the same reason he sued Sanford: "To defend the Constitution."

The so-called Life Sciences Act violates the section of the state Constitution that says every bill should deal with just one subject, according to Sloan's suit.

The two-page suit has been mailed and is on its way to the state Supreme Court, Sloan said.

The law's main intent was to extend broader economic development incentives to pharmaceutical companies.

But lawmakers attached numerous amendments, including provisions to expand the University of South Carolina-Sumter to a four-year school and to create a four-year cooking program at Trident Technical College.

Sanford didn't like that tactic, calling it "politically driven, pork barrel spending." He vetoed the bill, but the General Assembly easily overrode that veto.

The governor stewed over the veto for two weeks and threatened to sue lawmakers himself, but backed off, instead giving the General Assembly a chance to solve the problem on its own.

Sanford, who just four months ago was sitting across from Sloan and fighting to keep both his job as governor and his reserve commission, said he recognizes Sloan's right to sue.

His spokesman Will Folks said Sanford hopes lawmakers now understand why it's important to pass the Life Sciences Act on its own - something the House has done.

Sloan's suit names Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer as leader of the state Senate and House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville.

When Sanford was threatening a similar suit against lawmakers, Wilkins said: "We believe that there are no merits to the lawsuit. He will not prevail."

On Wednesday, Wilkins said he could not talk about Sloan's suit because it was a pending legal action, adding "my opinion has not changed."

Neither has Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell's.

"I don't think that suit is going to be very successful," the Charleston Republican said. It will be easy enough to show that the bill deals with economic development or education issues, McConnell said. That's what the Constitution requires, he said.

"The real battleground for this is back in the Legislature" where rules need to be changed, McConnell said. "The pressure is on the General Assembly to look at" rules that would limit bills becoming bloated with add-ons, he said.

Upstate legislators, including Wilkins, worry the state could lose a pharmaceutical company considering locating in South Carolina. The House quickly passed a version of the bill that extends economic development incentives to that type of company without all the extra items. The bill is in a Senate committee and Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, said there's now more pressure to pass it.

McConnell said passing that could jeopardize the legal arguments that the Senate might make in court, suggesting that the Legislature did something wrong by passing the bill in the first place.

Sloan estimates he has filed about 30 lawsuits against various government agencies and entities in the past six years. He said his goal whenever he sues is to make sure governments obey the law.

He is the plaintiff in the suit, which was filed on behalf of "Edward D. Sloan Jr., individually, and as a Citizen, Resident, Taxpayer and Registered Elector of the State of South Carolina, and on behalf of all others similarly situated."