A Beaufort County legislator and the governor agree in principle that the state's annexation law needs attention during this legislative session. They differ on the details.

Annexations by Beaufort and Port Royal usurped most of the political discussion in 2006, and similar debates could top the list in 2007.

Anyone who has monitored the annexation debates knows that municipalities claim that they must expand or die. That has been the mantra since 1998 when landowners started "zoning shopping" to avoid Beaufort County's comprehensive plan, which was the state's first and strictest.

But no "silver bullets" or quick fixes for this situation exist.

Gov. Mark Sanford disagrees with Rep. Bill Herbkersman, R-Bluffton, that legislation is needed to prevent zoning shopping. The governor thinks a better approach would be legislation approved by the House last session but not the Senate. The Priority Investment Act requires municipalities and counties to communicate with each other to lessen sprawl before infrastructure commitments are made.

Herbkersman's proposed legislation is similar to a plan introduced last year. It would require a five-year waiting period after annexation before property density could be increased. That certainly would inform a county government about potential growth so that schools and roads could be planned.

Priority investment would force local governments to discuss annexations and to plan for infrastructure, but former Gov. Jim Hodges signed legislation to encourage discussion, too. It didn't stop the secretiveness that surrounds annexations. Beaufort's annexation plans last year showed that governments can negotiate a plan in public and discuss a contravening one behind closed doors.

Many think that Beaufort officials were similar to an unfaithful spouse during the recent annexation discussions. They thought the same thing eight years ago during an annexation forum designed to provide leadership for the benefit of taxpayers.

The 1999 forum could be described as a marriage counseling session for local governments. While wed to the same geographic area, it doesn't make day-to-day life any better.

Among recommendations at the forum was open communication: hold more meetings; go to lunch together; talk on the telephone -- but get the annexation issues out in the open for discussion. Those are things the governor's plan seems to propose.

But Sanford's and Herbkersman's plans should be springboards to better legislation that would benefit South Carolina, not just Beaufort County.

Lawmakers must pass legislation requiring that the economic effects of potential annexations be spelled out in great detail. The plans should be financed and completed by a third party -- the state, for instance -- assigning the cost to the municipality and county. In neighboring Georgia, along with an impact statement that details economic effects of a potential annexation for voters, a municipality also must tell other governments when a potential annexation is being discussed.

This issue has been argued for more than a decade, and the legislature must develop a sensible plan this year that is beneficial to taxpayers (read voters).