After years of partisan lock-down, filibustered legislation and time-hogging stalling tactics, the state Senate in 2005 was, by comparison, as slick and as quick as a greased pig.

But whether the formerly swampy Senate turned efficient is a matter of perspective.

Republicans, who control the Senate by 26-20, are nearly unanimous that rules changes enacted at the beginning of the session dropped barriers to progress.

Democrats are not as sure.

“You saw it, absolutely,” outgoing Senate Majority Leader Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, said of the new rules’ impact. “We would not have had the tremendous legislative year we’ve had.”

“As far as the actual workings of the Senate, I don’t think (the rules) really had an impact,” said Senate Minority Leader John Land, D-Clarendon. “We just haven’t had the controversial issues this session that we normally have.”

In the 2005 session’s opening hours in January, the Republican majority used its dominance to alter the body’s rules.

The new rules lowered the number of votes it took to force a senator to stop talking, or filibustering. They limited senators’ ability to unilaterally block legislation by objecting indefinitely.

And the new rules gave the chairman of the Rules Committee, Larry Martin, R-Pickens, great power to set the Senate’s agenda.

The new rules were designed to prevent the kind of logjams that in the past have seen the Senate whittle away weeks at a time over legislative impasse after legislative impasse.

Not all the impasses were caused by Democrats.

Democrats decried the end of an era but were generally powerless to stop the change — a change GOP senators, Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, the S.C. Chamber of Commerce and others sought.

So, six months later, a few things are clear:

• The Senate rarely had the meltdowns that plagued past sessions. There were fewer filibusters and fewer bills that took weeks of work on the floor.

• No senator was forced to end a filibuster, despite the rules change.

• Two major issues are good examples of how things were different.

Last year, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston — proving that Democrats were not the only ones to use the old rules to block bills — managed to kill a stronger seat belt bill by filibustering.

This year, McConnell, perhaps the Senate’s most powerful member, did not stand in the way, and today that bill is on Gov. Mark Sanford’s desk.

The other example is the package of bills limiting lawsuits, jury verdicts and business’ liability. Last year, Leatherman said, “tort reform locked us down.” But this year, those bills became law.

On that issue, senators refused to stop a filibuster, even though the rules were designed to allow it. That proves, Martin said, that Republicans did not “run over anybody” with the new rules.

But the message was clear, he said: Eventually, they’d get the votes to end it.

Both Democrats and Republicans acknowledge there was less partisanship in the chamber than in past years, despite the fact the Republicans took away Democrats’ last vestige of power — the ability to appoint a member to conference committees.

Martin said that as Rules Committee chairman, he can move legislation along despite objections. It would move slowly, but it would move nonetheless.

“But that doesn’t build the kind of consensus you need,” he said. “You still have to have consensus. We didn’t roll over anybody. But we did resolve ourselves to getting the job done, and we did it.”

Sen. Nikki Setzler, D-Lexington, said the difference is less the rules than a change in atmosphere.

“You’ve had an atmosphere of people working together. Every member in there has a role in the process and are entitled to represent their people. Everybody came here ready to work.”

But Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Darlington, said the Republicans have realized they need the Democrats.

“There are factions within the majority party,” Malloy said. “They can’t often get unanimity, which is good for everyone.”

While the Republicans hold 26 of the 46 Senate seats, if they are split, the Democrats have great power to influence outcomes.

Leatherman said the two sides have come together more often than they’ve been apart this year.

“You can see it all across the session. We got things done.”

Reach Gould Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com