COLUMBIA - The S.C. Senate begins its third week of work on the state budget Monday, stuck between the rock of raising taxes and the hard place of severely cutting services.

The latter could mean taking school funding back to 1977 levels and cutting at least $100 million in health care for seniors, the poor and the disabled.

Senators are writing a budget that is the leanest in modern memory. They do not have enough money to pay for services at this year's level, but they disagree on what to do about it.

They've voted down increases on state sales taxes and higher cigarette taxes.

They've also nixed House suggestions to impose fees on things including prison stays and traffic tickets.

That leaves senators looking to cut $262 million out of the state's $5 billion budget, or come up with a compromise such as raising taxes temporarily.

The debate has been vigorous.

Democrats and Republicans have been wrapping each other in procedural knots and jousting in words.

Consider this exchange.

State Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville: "What we need to do is tighten the belt."

State Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Aiken: "If you don't have any clothes on, you don't need a belt."

Although colorful, the debate has not always been productive.

State Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Beaufort, slammed his colleagues for spending two weeks and $500,000 in legislative time, at $74,000 a day, doing virtually nothing.

"I'm not sitting up here for another week of this shell game," Richardson said.

Senators have said they will finish writing their version of the $5 billion budget this week, one way or another.

They could:

Compromise on a proposal to increase cigarette taxes, as a way to raise $170 million a year for the Medicaid health care program.

Democrats and a handful of Republicans voted down a proposal by Republican Gov. Mark Sanford to raise the cigarette tax in exchange for lowering the income tax. This week, Republicans, the Senate's majority, might push for a cigarette-tax increase alone.

Pull some yet-to-be-named rabbit out of a yet-to-be-named hat.

But budget writers say they are out of rabbits. The state's already raided its reserve funds.

Send the budget out as is, essentially as the House sent it over.

That budget would lower per-student spending in public schools to $1,643, the same level as in 1977, when adjusted for inflation.

Because the Senate disagreed with House proposals on refinancing tobacco bonds and other changes, the as-is budget also would lower the state's contribution to the Medicaid budget by $100 million, money that would have been matched by $300 million in federal money.

The debate often has broken along party lines.

Republicans control the House and Senate and have Sanford in the Governor's Office.

Many have signed pledges not to raise taxes under any circumstances.

Democrats say the Republicans aren't leading. They have no plan for pulling the budget together.

Republicans say the Democrats are harpooning anything they try.

State Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, says he's tempted to give Republicans what they want just to show the consequences of not investing in the state.

"The worst thing in the short term could be the best thing in the long term."

But Leventis said he hopes the Senate reaches consensus on finding more money because the long-term damage to the state would outweigh any political bounce.

State Sen. Verne Smith, R-Greenville, said the Senate is in the worst shape he's seen it in his 30 years there, from rancor over the rules to lack of consensus.

For now, Sanford is optimistic that the Senate will rethink his plan, spokesman Will Folks said.

"We've, quite frankly, got a long way to go before this thing is anywhere near over," he said.

Once the Senate finishes writing its budget, a joint committee of the House and Senate will work out differences between their proposals.

The budget will then go to Sanford for his signature. It takes effect July 1.