A look at what went down at the State House:

GOVERNOR’S CABINET LANDS IN THE POKEY

It was a typical Cabinet meeting for Gov. Mark Sanford in many ways — he got a budget update and reports from several agency heads and shared an article he read in the Wall Street Journal.

But it was the surroundings — like the solid metal cell doors, stainless steel showers and triple bunks in the empty wing at Broad River Correctional Institution — that made the meeting so unusual Tuesday.

Sanford said he brought the agency heads behind bars because the Corrections Department is so easy to ignore, especially when money is being distributed.

BILL TO BOOST NUMBER OF BLACK JUDGES DELAYED

A bill that would remove the cap on the number of judicial candidates — with the goal of increasing the likelihood of electing more black judges — was referred Tuesday to a Senate Judiciary subcommittee.

The full committee tabled action after chairman Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said there were technical “draft problems” in the bill that had to be corrected before the full committee could consider it.

Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Richland, said he would push to have the subcommittee take up the bill Tuesday.

The bill, which has passed the House, would eliminate the current cap of three nominees for appellate, circuit, administrative law and family court seats. Nominees are selected by a 10-member screening committee, made up mostly of state lawmakers; elections are held in the General Assembly.

MINIBOTTLE BILL DELAYED IN HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Action on a constitutional amendment that would allow voters to decide the fate of minibottles was delayed at least until next week during a House Judiciary Committee meeting Tuesday.

The move leaves in doubt whether the bill, which has already passed the Senate, will have enough time to pass this session with just a few weeks remaining.

Minibottles, a fixture in South Carolina since 1974, contain 1.7-ounces of liquor. South Carolina is the only state that requires bars and restaurants to use the bottles when they serve alcoholic drinks.

DAUGHTER’S NAME WOULD BE ADDED TO STROM MONUMENT

The name of the late U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond’s eldest daughter is a step closer to being etched in a granite monument that honors the nation’s longest-serving senator. The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday approved adding Essie Mae Washington-Williams’ name to the monument to the names of Thurmond’s other children.

Washington-Williams came forward last year and announced she is the daughter of the senator and former governor who died last summer at 100. Washington-Williams’ mother was a black, 16-year-old housekeeper who worked in the Thurmond family home in Edgefield. Thurmond was 22 years old when Washington-Williams was born.

The bill has passed the Senate and now heads to the full House. A spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford said the governor would sign the bill if it is sent to him.

SENATE COMMITTEE OKS DEREGULATING “BUNDLING”

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Tuesday to reduce state oversight of complaints about phone service and potential market abuses by BellSouth, the state’s dominant phone company.

The full Senate next gets the bill, which would prevent the Public Service Commission from regulating any “bundle” of phone service — two services sold for one price, such as local service with call waiting. Forty percent of all phone services nationally are sold in bundles, according to the AARP, which opposes the bill.

Frank Knapp, president of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce, said the bill would let BellSouth charge artificially low rates to drive out competition, and to later raise rates.

BellSouth spokesman Hank Fisher said the bill would foster competition by reducing regulatory delays when his company wants to offer cheap service packages. He said he is unaware of state officials ever blocking such efforts.

From Staff and Wire Reports