COLUMBIA - The school starting date issue threaded its way through the entire legislative session, weaving a fabric of extreme bitterness and ending only because the state superintendent took action.

Horry County lawmakers didn't get exactly what they wanted out of the debate, but they got part of the loaf with a later date for the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test. They also think they have started getting their point across about the county's role in the state's economy.

"The delegation's demonstrated it's not a pushover," said Rep. Tom Keegan, R-Surfside Beach.

Tourism interests have sought a later school start date to allow students who are employees at tourism-related businesses to work longer, and to allow families extra time for vacations before the first day of school.

In other action, progress was made to end the minibottle requirement for serving mixed drinks and in getting an interstate highway connector for the Grand Strand.

But if area voters are looking for what they got out of the session, the answer is nothing tangible. There was no money for projects, unlike in past years, when there was money for college buildings, beach renourishment, parks and other facilities.

"This was not a year when there were a lot of tourism or coastal or Horry County issues bubbling to the surface," said Rep. Tracy Edge, R-North Myrtle Beach.

"Rather than us being in control of an agenda, the fiscal constraint was the steering wheel," said Sen. Luke Rankin, D-Myrtle Beach.

Tourism interests have wanted schools to start opening around Labor Day, as before.

Earlier openings, many the first week in August, have taken away almost a month of vacation time and the revenue it brings in to businesses and the state Treasury.

When the state Board of Education passed a rule in December that all schools must start near Labor Day, several Upstate legislators declared war, and the battle continued on several fronts throughout the six-month session.

One of those was an attempt to abolish the state board.

Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum's action moves the critical PACT into the second week of May starting in 2005. School districts said they were starting earlier to allow more time to prepare for the tests.

Local legislators say it isn't what they want and they'll keep trying. But they do not see the outcome as a failure on their part, and neither does the business community.

"I don't think it has any bearing on the clout of the delegation," Edge said.

"I think we made enormous headway," Keegan said. "I am not pleased with the end result, but I think the progress we made was significant."

"I don't think that we would be in that position today. ... If the pressure had not been put on the legislature and the S.C. Department of Education by deft use of rules by our House and Senate members," said Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach.

Rankin started the ball rolling last year by inserting into the budget a requirement for the state board to study the starting date issue and act on its findings. That is what authorized the rule that was adopted in December.

Rankin said Tenenbaum's action is a result of the delegation's efforts and the public discussion that ensued.

"I see it as a positive that we build on down the road," he said.

Dennis Wade, chairman of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, said his members didn't expect the uniform starting date would hold and they don't blame the legislative delegation for that.

Rather, they are happy with the result that Wade attributes to "skillful and crafty maneuvering" of local lawmakers.

"I think that our local delegation did a wonderful job," Wade said. "Even picking up a week helps."

But in addition to that, the Chamber is pleased with progress on minibottle legislation and the interstate highway connector, Wade said.

A free-pour bill passed the House, and votes seem assured there for a companion bill calling for a referendum on the issue.

The same bills also lie near passage in the Senate.

"Certainly, without the influence of Horry County, that issue would not have gotten where it did," Edge said.

Keegan said the best thing for voters is that they don't get a general tax increase, and it looked earlier in the session as if that was going to happen.

Rankin said he was glad the proposed 2 percent sales tax increase to cover budget shortfalls was held off. Much of the money raised in Horry County would have gone elsewhere because of the way the tax law is structured. The increase might also have hurt tourism, Rankin said.

"We didn't need to jeopardize the tourism," he said.

Another tax issue that went nowhere was Rep. Thad Viers' proposal to require any Horry County Schools tax increases to be approved by voters. He could not get a majority of his colleagues to go along.

Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, said he still believes in the proposal but is satisfied that the school board is promising to limit increases.

As for what comes next year, the delegation is positioned even better for the second part of the two-year session, some said.

"We will have an important place in the tax reform debates" that are expected to come up next year, Edge said.

He and Keegan are on the Ways and Means Committee, where the measures will start. And with Horry County's contribution to sales tax revenue, it should have an influential voice in what happens.

The ill feelings stirred up by the school starting date are already calming down and should be almost forgotten when the session begins again in January, Edge and others said.

They say they are finally being heard about how much the county contributes, and Wade agrees.

"I think we're making some strides there," he said. "We just gotta continue to do that."