COLUMBIA--These days, soldiers aren't the only ones who have to hurry up and wait.

Every week, O'Neal Hamilton makes the 100-mile trip here from his Bennettsville home, gets a motel on his own dime and spends three days sitting in the most ornate waiting room he's ever seen.

He plants himself in the Statehouse lobby, halfway between the House and Senate chambers, a big nametag pinned to his chest, a weary but patient look on his face.

Welcome to the life of a 2002 Public Service Commission candidate.

"I had hoped it would have been worked out last year," Hamilton said recently. "I come because I'm interested in the job, and you need to be available to the members who elect you."

For more than a year, the General Assembly, which elects commission members, has been deadlocked over the issue of reforming the Public Service Commission's board and staff and the way the commission does business.

As a result of the stalemate, the elections that were scheduled to occur early in last year's legislative session have been continually delayed, and there's no guarantee they will happen this year. The candidates have been stuck campaigning for the past 15 months.

There are several issues at play. Among other things, senators believe members of the powerful regulatory agency's board, which oversees South Carolina's $9 billion utilities and telecommunications industries, should have at least a college degree and some expertise in business, law, accounting or the industries that they regulate.

The House rejected legislation mandating those requirements last year and this year sent its own version of PSC reform to the Senate. This week, the Senate may send the House the same bill it sent last year.

"I'm hopeful the Senate will eventually use the House version, add their amendments and we can work out our differences in a conference committee," House Speaker David Wilkins said. "We're certainly willing to meet them halfway."

The question is whether either side will ever bend enough to suit the other.

Most of the candidates involved in this marathon campaign are hesitant to talk publicly, not wanting to appear critical of people who might vote for or against them. Some grumble privately, however, about the Senate holding up the process.

Senate President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, has said repeatedly that he will not allow the elections to take place until there is meaningful reform in a system that he says has broken down.

Hamilton, chairman of the Marlboro County Council, is not afraid to speak because he's not critical of the process. Being a Public Service Commissioner is an important job, he said, and lawmakers need to be comfortable with how the commission operates.

That clearly isn't the case now. Many legislators, McConnell chief among them, are concerned about PSC members and industry officials having "ex parte communications," basically, conversations about a regulatory issue before the commission with only people on one side of the issue present.

A Legislative Audit Council report released earlier this year said there were some indications that commissioners and staff may have had communications that "give the appearance of impropriety." That's a major concern because often these conversations are about rate changes for telephone, water or electric companies.

To avoid even the appearance of wrongdoing, both the House and the Senate want to divide the PSC staff, half to work for the commissioners, the others to work with the industries and public. That is something that the PSC itself has been working on, officials there said, and they could move more quickly if only they weren't suffering from the state budget crisis.

The bigger issues at play here are nepotism and job qualifications.

The subjects have been touchy because the prize is one of the cushiest jobs in state government: Public Service Commissioners make $78,000 for a part-time job. With travel expenses added in, the average pay is $85,000. Last year, the chairman made more than $100,000 in salary, mileage payments and per diem.

The House and Senate are far apart on who qualifies for these lucrative jobs. The House version of PSC reform would require candidates to have a high school diploma. The Senate version would require a college education or background in a related industry, business, accounting or the law. The Senate version would ban any person with a relative in the Legislature from applying. The House would not.

Senators said the House is opposed to the nepotism clause because the husband of state Rep. Becky Meacham-Richardson, R-Fort Mill, is a candidate.

State Rep. Harry Cato, author of the House PSC reform bill, said it is unfair to bar nepotism only on the Public Service Commission.

"If they want to rule out nepotism throughout state government, that's fine," Cato, R-Travelers Rest, said. "If it's good for the PSC, it's good for the board of visitors at USC and everywhere else."

Another issue that has been raised recently is what to do about the current elections, which are a year overdue. Some reform proponents want to hold off on the elections until next year and hold candidates to the new qualifications. Others believe that the current candidates, who have already been through a screening process, should be allowed to run now. Some wouldn't meet the new requirements. Lawmakers are still debating whether sitting commissioners would be grandfathered in.

"I'm worried about people getting voted out after one cycle, but we wouldn't let reform not happen because of that," Cato said.

McConnell is insistent on the higher qualifications being a part of any PSC reform and said that to hold elections before new standards are set only perpetuates an outdated system.

"Why don't they want educated people overseeing a $9 billion industry?" McConnell said. "The PSC should not be a schoolhouse to learn the law and the industry. You ought to have some background. That's a major difference between us (the Senate and the House). I hope we can close the gap, but I think people will side with the Senate. These people decide what our electric rates and phone rates are going to be. We're on the high ground here."

Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee debated both versions of reform and, as it did last year, sent the Senate version to the full chamber. The bill could come up for a vote as early as this week.

Senators said they will likely stick with their version and try to get the House to come around, even though they are taking the blame for the overdue election. This is not an issue of party, but of chamber.

"Glenn is the most courageous person in South Carolina right now because he's trying to bring the state into the 21st century. He's doing his job," state Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, said. "You've got to do the right thing, even if it's not popular."

Most candidates are resigned to facing elections either under current requirements or adhering to the new requirements. Hamilton would meet the standards of the Senate's tougher job requirements: He has served on his county's utilities commission, forcing him to become well-versed in industry issues and to be responsive to the concerns of residents who have to pay higher rates when the commission approves them. He also has no relatives in the General Assembly.

"I think you need to be willing to spend the time to understand the issues," Hamilton said.

Contact Brian Hicks at (843) 937-5561 or bhicks@postandcourier.com.