COLUMBIA, S.C. - After facing criticism last year for not doing a good job of communicating his agenda to state lawmakers, Gov. Mark Sanford seems to be starting the new legislative session on a different note.

Lawmakers praised Sanford last week for having early discussions with legislative leadership and for creating an executive spending plan that can be used as a starting point for House budget writers when they return to the Statehouse on Tuesday.

The executive budgets of former Gov. Jim Hodges, a Democrat, largely were dismissed by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman said the last executive budget completed by Hodges was $500 million out of balance, "promised everything to everybody and made the General Assembly the bad guys" when cuts had to be made.

But the Florence Republican praised Sanford for his realistic proposal, released Thursday.

House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, noted that Sanford met this week with legislative staff and GOP leadership to discuss the budget.

"I think he's trying very hard to start off on the right foot," Harrell said.

The relationship between Sanford and the General Assembly has been rocky from the beginning.

Sanford, a former congressman and businessman, is new to state government. When he took office, the governor told lawmakers he would deal with them directly and without surprises.

Still, the governor annoyed some legislators when he vetoed local issue bills that his predecessors had routinely allowed to become law. Sanford said the bills were illegal special legislation.

Sanford also told lawmakers that if they didn't go along with his plans to raise the cigarette tax and lower the income tax, he would go to their districts to pressure them to change their minds.

He also riled some legislators with a public opinion poll commissioned on Oct. 9 that asked whether the governor is more popular than the General Assembly and some of its leaders.

Sanford said the improved communication is the result of a conscious effort.

"Being governor is a learning process. I'm new to the system, and I'm learning," Sanford said. "We're doing a better job communicating with lawmakers."

Tom DeLoach, chief executive officer of the South Carolina Business and Industry Political Education Committee, also has noticed a change in the air at the Statehouse.

BIPEC worked recently with staff from the governor's office as well as House and Senate leaders. The governor's office has made "significant strides and gone beyond the call of duty to strengthen communications," DeLoach said.

Sanford must cooperate with the General Assembly if he expects to advance key pieces of his agenda - including his restructuring plan and income tax proposal. The governor's first year passed without major pieces of his agenda being approved.

But Sanford is making progress, said Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon.

"In many ways he's kind of growing into the job and realizing how you have to proceed to get things done," Huffmon said.