email this
print this
reprint or license this.gif){kind=spacer}
Governor, GOP lawmakers meet over budget differences
JIM DAVENPORT
Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford met with House Republicans for breakfast Wednesday, armed with red and blue charts to make his points about what should and shouldn't be part of the state budget.
For almost a week, Sanford and legislators have been knocking each other black and blue over their differences in the $6.4 billion spending plan the Ways and Means Committee is discussing.
Sanford left the meeting saying the House budget plan remains on course to grow government spending too fast.
He didn't appear to be winning converts to his priorities as legislators left the meeting.
Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Piedmont, left the meeting after Sanford's briefing as Sanford started a question-and-answer period for Republican Caucus members. He wasn't persuaded of the need to change the budget.
"He's got charts, but, you know, I don't know how he derived the numbers," Cooper said. "Charts are always suspect - I like to see how they're calculated. A lot depends on how they are calculated," he said.
"I did take statistics."
Last Thursday, House Speaker Bobby Harrell and Cooper were shooting back at Sanford. A day earlier, the governor had sent out a news release criticizing the House for tentative spending plans that Sanford said did not do enough to curb government growth or repay trust funds raided during lean budget years from 2000 to 2004.
The Ways and Means Committee was meeting at the time, and Sanford did not share his criticism of their work with Cooper. Harrell said it "was a pretty sneaky way of doing a press release" and said the action lacked "common courtesy."
The episode put the budget committee off its stride to pass a budget last week and Cooper now says the budget will reach the House floor for debate at least a week later than planned.
On Wednesday, Harrell was a bit more conciliatory.
"I think it's always important for the governor and this caucus to have a dialogue, and that's what we did this morning," the Charleston Republican said. "I think there's a lot of give and take from both sides, and we'll have to see in due course what the result of the conversation is."
It's good to "talk face-to-face as opposed to through the media," House Majority Leader Jim Merrill, R-Charleston, said.
As for people being convinced to change their minds, "I don't think that was the intent," Merrill said.
"I think it was generally to say both sides have to look at where the other side is coming from and the support we can give and the damage we can do if we don't communicate," he said.
.gif){kind=spacer}
