COLUMBIA - A bill that revises how Santee Cooper's board is structured will be debated on the Senate floor this week after it was pulled from its committee and set for special priority.

Besides stripping the governor's power to remove board members from the utility without cause, it would require that members have relevant background or experience and that they be approved by a screening committee.

The measure and a similar one in the House were prompted by Gov. Mark Sanford's firing in December of the utility's board chairman, his demands for money for the state general fund from the utility and what some said were hints that he wanted to sell it.

Sanford has denied discussing whether to sell the state-owned utility, although he has requested a study of its value.

After hearings from the public on Santee Cooper issues in Conway, Litchfield and Moncks Corner, a Senate subcommittee approved the bill Wednesday.

Later that day, it was pulled from the Judiciary Committee's jurisdiction. On Thursday, the bill was given special priority by a 38-5 vote.

Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-
Charleston, said the rush is necessary to give the bill a chance this year. Both houses now are facing the May 1 deadline to send a bill to each other, and the Senate has budget debate next week.

"Santee Cooper, we have worked and worked and worked to try to do something," McConnell said. If the bill doesn't get priority status now, it won't have a chance this year, he said.

Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, was angry that the bill was getting priority status.

"I have a real, real problem if you put this bill on special order," Ryberg said. "I think this is abuse, I think this is pushing things, this is not the deliberative process."

"Are you for this bill?" asked Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach. Rankin has been a supporter of the bill and led the subcommittee that worked on it.

"I'm for accountability, but I'm not for this dam opening," Ryberg said. Moving the bill up so quickly sets a bad precedent, he said.

McConnell said Ryberg "is no cheerleader for anything he sees as restrictive of the governor's appointing authority."

The substance of the bill was discussed last year and most people are familiar with it, McConnell said.

Sen. Ray Cleary, R-Murrells Inlet, moved to adjourn. Sen. Larry Martin, who seldom raises his voice, yelled "No!"

The motion to adjourn failed, then the special-status motion passed 38-5, with McCleary among those opposed.

He said later that he was surprised because the bill was bumped from its subcommittee and he did not know its details.

"I expected to hear this at the committee level," Cleary said.

He said he is in favor of the bill but wanted time to discuss the provisions with local people such as former Santee Cooper board members.

"I'm going to vote to take the politics out of Santee Cooper," Cleary said. He also would vote against any moves to privatize the utility, he said.

Rankin said later that, if the bill had not been prioritized, "this bill would likely be dead."

It's important to remove the board from politics so it can act without fear of removal by a governor who disagrees with certain actions, he said. Santee Cooper, which has an excellent credit rating, received a negative outlook from one of the three rating firms after the turnover last winter.

"We will put this rancor and the rumors and the innuendoes to bed," Rankin said.

Smoking ban

Reps. Thad Viers, R-Myrtle Beach, Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway, Liston Barfield, R-Aynor, and Ralph Davenport, R-Boiling Springs, introduced a bill Wednesday that would forbid cities from adopting ordinances to ban smoking in restaurants.

A competing bill allows cities and counties to ban smoking in restaurants or other public places. Neither has advanced yet.

Next week

President George Bush is coming to a joint session Monday to talk about his Social Security reform plan.

Legislators changed their usual Tuesday through Thursday schedule to accommodate the president and will hold session Monday through Wednesday.

The House is expected to debate its version of the free-pour bill Tuesday.

On Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee takes up the Put Parents in Charge bill, which offers tax credits to parents for private school or home-schooling.

The committee is expected to vote the bill up or down.

On Tuesday, an issue that has lain dormant so far this year will be in a Senate subcommittee for hearings and first review. It is the school-start-date bill sponsored by Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Myrtle Beach.

Tourism interests say schools start too early and shorten the vacation season, and now that North Carolina has passed a law moving schools' opening closer to the traditional Labor Day, South Carolina should follow suit for competitive reasons.

The issue dominated the legislative session two years ago, with the result that education accountability tests were ordered to be held later. That was expected to encourage schools to start later but has not had much effect.

The subcommittee meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Room 207 of the Gressette Senate Office Building.