COLUMBIA - Sandwiched between two squirming, squealing piglets, Gov. Mark Sanford walked up the Statehouse steps to take a lighthearted jab at the legislature about pork in the state budget.

But instead, the stunt infuriated lawmakers, who took it as a direct insult and an attempt to embarrass them, further eroding their relationship with the governor.

The move came a day after House members angered Sanford in what has become an ongoing clash over the $5.5 billion state budget.

With cameras rolling and lawmakers and lobbyists gaping, Sanford stood just outside the House chambers, pigs wriggling under his arms, and criticized House members for burying pork barrel projects in the budget.

House members on Wednes-
day angered Sanford by accepting just one of his 106 vetoes of the state budget. Sanford also criticized lawmakers for relying on the sale of property to pay down the last $16 million of a $155 million deficit.

"Pork won and taxpayers lost" with the budget vetoes, Sanford said. "I find it unbelievable to think there's not one additional dollar in savings that could go to pay down that unconstitutional $16 million debt."

House leaders countered quickly, saying Sanford had taken a previously genteel argument over fiscal responsibility to a new low.

"It's beneath the dignity of the governor to bring pigs in the Statehouse outside the chamber just to get a photo opportunity," said House Speaker David Wilkins. "This is the people's House. He defiled it."

Sanford called the appearance an attempt to have fun with the issue, but lawmakers and the governor have clashed throughout this legislative session. The back-and-forth had turned more shrill this week.

Legislators were irked that Sanford would veto 106 items in the state budget, especially when they based the spending plan on a proposal he sent them in January. Several said they had never worked with a governor who struck more than a few dozen items.

On Wednesday, the House whizzed through Sanford's vetoes, overriding 105 in just 99 minutes. About midafternoon, Folks called the House's actions a "mockery of the legislative process" and "a slap in the face." Sanford backed away from those statements hours later, saying he wasn't taking the overrides personally.

News that pigs were in the Statehouse whirled through the legislature.

Senators, who took up Sanford's vetoes Thursday, joked about what the governor would do once they were done deliberating.

"Maybe he was sending us a message," said Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg. "If we rush through these vetoes, he'll bring four pigs up here."

"Pork won and taxpayers lost" with the budget vetoes, Gov. Mark Sanford said Thursday. "I find it unbelievable to think there's not one additional dollar in savings that could go to pay down that unconstitutional

$16 million debt." Sanford brought two piglets into the Statehouse to protest the fast action by House members in overriding all but one of his 106 budget vetoes.