| Sanford meets secretly on bill COLUMBIA - House Republicans told Gov. Mark Sanford in a secret meeting Wednesday to back off a threat to sue the Legislature over a massive economic development bill. Mr. Sanford called the House GOP Caucus into the closed-door meeting, where reporters were physically barred from the door by his spokesman. Only a handful of Republican senators met with the governor next. Democrats were not invited. "I wanted to get their unbridled thoughts on this matter," said Mr. Sanford, who has threatened to challenge the constitutionality of putting unrelated items into the bill. "I still haven't come to a final conclusion," said Mr. Sanford, though he added he has the support of his lawyers. Mr. Sanford was upset that the bill, which extends broader economic development incentives to pharmaceutical companies, also includes provisions to expand the University of South Carolina Sumter to a four-year school and to create a cooking program at Trident Technical College. The General Assembly easily overrode his veto two weeks ago. "We believe that there are no merits to the lawsuit," House Speaker David Wilkins said. "We should have met pre-veto," said Sen. Dave Thomas, R-Fountain Inn, who did not attend the meeting because it was held in secret. "A lot of us are very much mystified." Only Sens. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, and Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, briefly met with the governor after about 40 House Republicans spoke with him for nearly an hour. Mr. Sanford said he warned the General Assembly several times that he would veto the bill, called the Life Sciences Act, if it were loaded with unrelated amendments. Mr. Sanford said he would meet with Democrats today.
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