Gov. Mark Sanford urged the Senate on Monday to pump any money from an expected state surplus into repaying a $155 million deficit left from the 2002 budget year.

The Senate will begin debating the state’s $5.3 billion spending plan today. The Finance Committee’s budget includes a $110 million projected budget surplus based on tax collections rising faster than expected this year.

Rating agencies have put the state’s ability to repay debt on watch lists, raising concerns that South Carolina would have to pay more to borrow money, Sanford said. Those concerns had been addressed previously when Sanford and the House and Senate budget leaders embraced plans to repay the deficit in $50 million chunks during the next three years.

But, Sanford asked, “What do we do ... if it turns out we do run a surplus?” When financial leaders discussed proposals to deal with an unconstitutional deficit, he said, no one expected a surplus.

Meanwhile, the deficit repayment measure hasn’t reached Sanford’s desk. Reporting companies “are going to be looking closely at what we do,” he said.

Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom says the surplus is no sure thing. The Board of Economic Advisors “has been unwilling to take a stand that money will materialize,” he said.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, used a Board of Economic Advisors report to include the projected surplus in the Senate’s budget. The BEA, which said last month that revenues were running ahead of expectations, could revise its official projections when it meets in two weeks.

“There are a lot of uncertainties,” Sanford said. “Bad news can come in surprisingly short form these days.”

Leatherman had to hunt for cash because his committee dumped parts of Sanford’s and the House’s revenue plans, including the governor’s proposal to balance the budget partly by selling surplus cars.

Leatherman has said dealing with the deficit is a lower priority than avoiding reductions in school and health care spending.