Gov. Mark Sanford targeted state spending on lobbyists Tuesday, announcing a plan to end the long-time practice of state agencies hiring private agents in the Statehouse to promote their budgets and pitch bills in their favor.

The ramifications reach the Lowcountry, where the College of Charleston and the State Ports Authority are among the state bodies using contract lobbyists to help them in the Legislature.

The college currently has one staff and one contract lobbyist at its disposal, while the SPA is among the most frequent users of lobbyists in the state. Last year, it employed eight.

By executive order Tuesday, Sanford banned his 13 Cabinet level agencies from hiring contract lobbyists during his term, calling the practice a wasteful conflict of interest. Government should not solicit itself, he said.

To cover the rest of state government, Sanford will require that candidates for seats on state boards and commissions pledge not to hire contract lobbyists. He called it a "litmus test" for them getting approved. While the executive order doesn't immediately affect agencies such as the SPA, the appointment litmus test would.

Eventually, he hopes to enact an outright ban in the Legislature, and on Tuesday reiterated his endorsement of the efforts of state Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, who has pushed a bill to do away with taxpayer-supported lobbyists statewide.

"It's a cycle that fuels the growth of government, plain and simple, and I find that unacceptable, particularly given the level of crisis we're up against with the coming year's budget," Sanford said in Columbia. His office said state agencies spend up to $2 million of taxpayer money on lobbying each year.

The order immediately affects the departments of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services; Commerce; Corrections; Health and Human Services; Insurance; Juvenile Justice; Labor, Licensing and Regulation; Parks, Recreation and Tourism; Probation, Parole and Pardon Services; Revenue; Social Services; Public Safety; and the State Law Enforcement Division.

It does not include lobbyists who represent private-sector clients or lobbyists who are salaried state employees but have job descriptions that require them to dedicate some of their time to lobbying.

Merrill, now in his second term in the House, offered his reform bill early in his career, but it has been blocked by more senior lawmakers.

One difficulty in ending the process, Merrill said, is that lobbyists and some veteran lawmakers enjoy close relationships.

"It's so deeply ingrained in the system," he said. "When you make personal relationships, you don't want to do anything that will affect a friendship."

When the legislative session began in January, the state Ethics Commission reported more than 300 registered lobbyists in the state. Fewer than 10 percent listed a state agency, department or university as a client.

Reaction was mixed. Some government officials said the operations of colleges and agencies are so complex that only a designated lobbyist can get answers quickly when legislation starts to move.

Lobbyists are "a necessity," said Daniel Dukes, who is a lobbyist and a state employee at the College of Charleston. The school also hired one contract lobbyist, former state Rep. Robert Barber Jr., to represent the school's needs. Attempts to reach him Tuesday were unsuccessful.

Colleges and universities are among the biggest contractors of outside lobbyists in the state, records show. Francis Marion University near Florence, for instance, had five lobbyists listed at the start of the session, according to the state Ethics Commission.

The college's contract with those lobbyists was canceled Jan. 28, the day before Fred Carter took leave as Francis Marion's president to become Sanford's chief of staff, the school said.

State Ports Authority Board Chairman Whit Smith said Tuesday he wasn't surprised by Sanford's move and that the SPA recently considered trimming its list of lobbyists. "I think it could be a good thing, especially if it applies to all state agencies," he said.

Much of the SPA's recent lobbying has been aimed at persuading legislators to back a controversial plan for a new container terminal on Daniel Island. The General Assembly ultimately approved a new terminal across the Cooper River, on the former Charleston Naval Base.

Smith said the SPA has been paring down its lobbyists because state finances are tight and port expansion plans seem to be going smoothly.

State Ethics Commission records showed last year that the SPA had eight registered lobbyists, equaling the S.C. Association of Counties as having the most of any agency or interest group. The association is not a state agency.

At the Medical University of South Carolina, Sanford's move is not expected to have an immediate impact, said Bo Faulkner, the university's legislative liaison. MUSC doesn't use contract lobbyists, he said.

The biggest use of those lobbyists came in the late 1990s when the university was trying to push through the proposed lease of its facilities to Columbia/HCA.

The governor appoints two members to MUSC's 14-member Board of Trustees, Faulkner said. The Legislature appoints the rest.

If Sanford wants to phase out taxpayer-funded lobbyists by changing the line-up on boards and commissions it might take some additional lobbying on his part. For instance, on the College of Charleston Board of Trustees the governor controls only two of the 17 board appointments. On The Citadel Board of Visitors, the governor controls only two of its 14 members.

Ron Menchaca and Jonathan Maze contributed to this report.