COLUMBIA - Legislators are waiting to see what Gov. Mark Sanford will veto in the state's $5.5 billion budget after giving the inch-and-a-half thick spending plan final approval Wednesday.

Sanford has five days to make up his mind on items in the budget that he doesn't like. Then the House and Senate would have to muster two-thirds votes to override his veto.

With pay raises for state workers and teachers and more money for public schools and Medicaid, "we've got a good budget," said Senate Finance Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence.

Leatherman didn't want to speculate on vetoes. "I want to give the governor all the flexibility he has to veto," Leatherman said. Still, Leatherman said he'll defend the budget against any vetoes.

Sanford should veto nothing, said Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston.

"Everybody's happy in the General Assembly," Ford said. "I don't think he should mess with that."

House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, wants the governor to keep some items, notably a reduction in the marriage penalty and estate taxes.

"Those things I would be very concerned about," Harrell said. "My sense is he wants to veto a lot of things. I'm just not sure of what those things are."

Mike Fields, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said the estate tax cut should avoid Sanford's veto. "We call it the death tax," Fields said. "We don't need to be meeting the undertaker and the IRS on the same day."

Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, said he has been talking to Sanford to try to make sure $5 million for beach renourishment at Hunting Island State Park stays in the budget. "I think he supports that," Richardson said.

"The governor's going to look at this budget in great detail once it reaches his desk," Sanford spokesman Will Folks said. "I can't comment specifically on what he may or may not be inclined to veto."

Sanford outlined the things that concern him most in a letter he sent legislators last week, Folks said.

Sanford wants more money for paying off a $155 million deficit left over from the 2002 fiscal year, but the budget relies partly on sales of cars and property to do that. He also wanted:

• More reliable funding sources for education and Medicaid programs.

• The legislature to begin restoring some of the nearly $430 million raided from reserve and trust fund accounts during the past three years.

• Less reliance on estimated collections from tougher enforcement of the state's tax laws. Sanford's Revenue Department director said the state could expect $90 million from that, but Sanford said legislators should expect just $50 million. Counting on that money will hurt state agencies if the money does not come through, he said.