Posted on Sun, May. 21, 2006

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THE BUZZ

“We’ve known this since the first caveman threw rocks at another caveman.”

— Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston, explaining that private property rights have been an issue for a long time

PLAY BALL

The House-Senate softball game is annual rite of spring, much like blooming azaleas, creeping humidity and Gov. Mark Sanford’s vetoes.

The Senate, thanks to the addition of some key staffers (read: people who can actually run), has dominated the series, winning eight of the previous 12 matchups.

This year was no different with the Senate, much as they do on budget spending, doubling up the House 24-12 last week.

LIKE A SIEVE

Throughout the game the House was hurt by a defense leakier than the H.L. Hunley, and two errors in the first gave the Senate an early three-run lead.

The House responded in kind, aided by a dubious call from an umpire who had obviously been promised a seat on Ways and Means.

In the second inning, Rep. Adam Taylor, R-Laurens, dove into first to complete a double play, and Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston, spread his wings to score from second on a single. The House held a 5-3 lead.

But the House defense buckled like their conference committees in the third, leading to an eight-run inning that put the Senate ahead for good.

The Senate added crooked numbers to the scoreboard in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings — scoring 12 runs total — to close out the game.

INSIDE SOFTBALL

The Buzz was glad to be an observer rather than a participant. And there was plenty to see while marching by the base paths:

• Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer threw out the game’s first pitch, but radar guns around the state let out a collective yawn. Likewise Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, failed to set the base paths on fire in his race against Blowie, the mascot of the Columbia Blowfish, the new summer league baseball team.

• Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, playing shortstop, showed he still had the arm of a Carolina quarterback, gunning down a handful of base runners quicker than you could say “critical analysis.”

• Taylor had an up-and-down game. In the third inning he smacked a ball deep to right field. But Taylor slowed up rounding third, and a great relay throw — almost as if Taylor was being targeted from out of state — cut him down at the plate. Taylor got revenge later in the game when he hit an in-the-park home run.

• Rep. Ted Vick, D-Chesterfield, was cruising into third base in the fourth inning when he tripped and fell about six feet short of the bag. The throw came in, and the Senate third baseman easily tagged Vick out, symbolizing House Democratic efforts this session.

• Senate “general manager” John Hazzard was ejected from the game for arguing with the umpire. The Buzz has learned the Diet Coke he was drinking at the time tested positive for “the clear.”

• AT THE STATE HOUSE

Some ways to influence lawmakers this week

MONDAY

• CONFERENCE COMMITTEES meet. At 10 a.m., 105 Gressette Building, property tax panel. At 2 p.m., 105 Gressette Building, state budget panel.

TUESDAY

• THE HOUSE convenes at noon. At 2:30 p.m., 516 Blatt Building, Judiciary Committee discusses penalties for sex offenders.

• THE SENATE convenes at noon.

WEDNESDAY

• THE HOUSE convenes at 10 a.m.

• THE SENATE convenes at 2 p.m.

THURSDAY

• THE HOUSE convenes at 10 a.m.

• • THE SENATE convenes at 11 a.m.

MORE MEETINGS

• Go to http://www.scstatehouse.net/ for a list of meetings.

LAST WEEK

STATE BUDGET: The Board of Economic Advisors officially added $180 million to its estimate of how much money will flow into state coffers in the current budget year plus next year, giving more dollars to legislators working out final compromises on the state’s $6.5 billion spending plan.

PROPERTY TAXES: A House-Senate conference committee will meet for the first time Monday to discuss statewide property tax reform. Lawmakers are aiming to find a compromise between a $1.2 billion House plan raising the state sales tax in exchange for a cut of about 85 percent in property taxes for owner-occupants and a Senate option that allows voters in each county to choose.

SEX OFFENDERS: House members shelved a potentially controversial plan to allow the death penalty for sex offenders convicted a second time of raping children younger than 11 in hopes of rescuing the bill and adding the proposal later.

POULTRY FARMS: A Senate-passed bill that takes away counties’ ability to restrict the location of poultry farms cleared the House. Roughly a dozen counties across South Carolina have or are working on tougher regulations.

CAMPAIGN FINANCES: A House subcommittee took no action on a bill closing a loophole in state ethics laws that allows groups to run campaign ads within 45 days of an election without disclosing where they get their money. The panel’s inaction most likely kills the proposal since only six legislative days remain before the June 1 adjournment.

TO LEARN MORE

• YGA Today, midday news from inside the State House, is updated several times each legislative day at http://www.thestate.com/.

WHAT THEY MAKE

• Go to http://www.thestate.com/ for an updated, searchable list of salaries for state employees earning more than $50,000 a year.