COLUMBIA - One week after completing vetoes to the state budget that takes effect in July, Gov. Mark Sanford began a series of hearings Tuesday to get input from agencies on the 2004-05 state budget.

Sanford, who took office in January, plans to meet with agency directors and staff throughout the summer before he begins work on his first executive budget.

By starting the budget process early, Sanford says he hopes to better understand the needs and priorities of agencies.

"Being a new governor ... you come into the process late," Sanford said. "What we want to do is start the process early. In fact, it hasn't been done by a governor before, actually holding budget hearings."

The budget process begins when the governor submits a proposal to the General Assembly in December. Lawmakers usually accept the proposal as a formality, but then set it aside to craft their own version.

Legislators spend months on the budget before finishing by the end of the session in June. The final document is sent to the governor to approve or to veto those parts he doesn't like.

"One of the reasons, historically, governors' budgets have been ignored in years past is there wasn't that level of detail that went into them," Sanford said. "So we wanted to put a lot of detail in there, really look hard at the numbers, and be able to hold our budget out there as a boilerplate for what we think we ought to do with state funding."

Sanford met Tuesday with officials from the departments of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services; Revenue; and Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

He applauded cost-cutting measures by the parks department, such as condensing two travel guides into one and sharing state vehicles. But Sanford said the agency needs to focus more on tourism.

"Tourism is ... an integral part of raising income levels in South Carolina," Sanford said.

One change the agency will review is again being the home of the Film Office, which was moved to the state Commerce Department in 1999. Agency officials said the office was more successful as part of the tourism agency.

Sanford said the drug abuse agency can expect changes because he has not seen that the agency does any good.

"We're going to look at creative ways of making sure we're impacting the outcome, because, if not, we're wasting taxpayer money," he said.

The budget hearings will continue today when Sanford meets with officials from the departments of Corrections; Probation, Parole and Pardon Services; and Juvenile Justice.

Sanford will meet with officials from the State Ports Authority and Santee Cooper on Monday in Charleston, said governor's spokesman Chris Drummond. More hearings are planned for next month.