The event will be the second this week in which Sanford has addressed the direction and tone he will take in tackling the state's budget woes.

On Tuesday, he announced a plan to pare down the state vehicle fleet by more than 6,000 vehicles.

While the governor gave no timeline for the release of his budget, he did say his plan for overhauling the state fleet reflected the budget's entirety.

South Carolina faces a deficit between $350 million and $500 million. The governor has made no secret that he wants to deal with that shortfall, in part, by streamlining government.

In recent months, Sanford has come out with a number of plans that mirror the state fleet proposal's theme, including:

--?Requiring state law enforcement agencies to consolidate their air fleet, a move projected to save the state $1 million initially and $120,000 annually.

--?Urging all state agencies to save money on travel expenses by sticking to federal lodging rates for hotels and by "doubling up" when possible. The state spends between $25 million and $30 million on travel expenses annually.

None of the plans, including the reduction of the state fleet, make up the gaping hole in the state budget, but legislators on both sides of the aisle seem intrigued by what they've heard so far.

"He's using good, common sense in dealing with this thing, and I like seeing that," said Rep. Robert Brown, D-Charleston. "Of course, I will need to see more details to see how this will all work, but from what I've heard so far, it doesn't sound like a bad idea."

Many details of how and when the state would select and sell some of its fleet have not been worked out.

Sanford's fleet plan calls for eliminating 6,155 of the state's more than 15,000 vehicles. More populated neighbors Alabama and Tennessee have 5,713 and 9,943 respectively. North Carolina, with a population double South Carolina's, has a fleet of about 18,000.

Reducing the fleet, Sanford said, would result in a one-time cash influx of $33.7 million and an annual savings of about $8.5 million. About $25 million of the initial $33.7 million would go to the employer portion of the State Health Plan.

Will Folks, spokesman for the governor, said managers of the state fleet would choose which cars to sell and how to sell them. He said the cars would be auctioned off during the summer. The vehicles would be sold both in and out of the state to avoid flooding the market.

The state fleet provides the vehicles for all state agencies. The largest user is the S.C. Transportation Department with 4,007 vehicles. The Department of Social Services has 653 vehicles, 328 of them sedans. The Department of Mental Health has 1,025, which include 366 sedans, 448 vans, 55 station wagons and 55 pickups.

"Of course, 90 percent of our clients are in the community, and we use vehicles to do our job," said DMH spokesman John Hutto. "We operate seven hospitals. We ferry food and clients back and forth."

Hutto said the agency has yet to examine the governor's plan in detail but that it supports the idea of providing services as economically as possible.

Specialty vehicles used by a number of state agencies would not be touched, including handicapped-accessible vehicles and vehicles used to transport inmates or suspected criminals.

Speaker of the House David Wilkins, R-Greenville, said he supports the governor's concept but needs details. "We are all interested in streamlining government as we try to work our way out of this budget mess," he said.

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