GREENVILLE - Top lawmakers in South Carolina use "leadership political action committees," similar to ones at the center of a current ethics scandal in Washington.

Such leadership PACs let legislators accept more money than is normally allowed, although it can't be spent directly on election campaigns. Some lawmakers see it as a way to improve their political profile. Others see it as a way around ethics guidelines.

State Ethics Commission reports say South Carolina PACs have taken in $1.2 million since 2001.

South Carolina's four leadership PACs are the products of House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston; Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Piedmont; Labor, Commerce and Industry Chairman Harry Cato, R-Travelers Rest; and Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison, R-Columbia.

Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith, R-Spartanburg, who lost the House Speaker's race to Harrell, said he stopped his leadership PAC. Harrison says he's shutting his down too.

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's indictment in Texas on charges of campaign finance irregularities involved money funneled into and out of his leadership PAC.

Retiring Rep. Dan Tripp, R-Mauldin, plans a bill to outlaw such leadership PACs in South Carolina.

Harrell says his Palmetto Leadership Council is more than a fundraising group.

"It's business people from all over the state who are trying to elect people to office who will focus on South Carolina's economy and long-term benefits. They keep up with legislators and talk to them constantly about these issues," he said.

John Crangle, executive director of the state chapter of Common Cause, calls the practice "a shakedown, a way people in leadership positions can put pressure on special interests to donate money."

Last year South Carolina's Senate voted to outlaw leadership PACs. The provision died in a compromise with the House.

Sen. Tommy Moore, D-Clearwater, who is running for governor this year, says senators will try again this spring.

PAC leaders like Harrell can't spend money on their own campaigns, but can give it out to political allies. The state's limit is $1,000 per election.

However, Crangle of Common Cause says PACs evade the limit because a donor can give $3,500 to a leadership PAC instead of being limited to $1,000 for the leader's campaign.

Tripp hopes his proposed legislation will close "the leadership PAC loophole that has been created surreptitiously, meticulously and craftily, and it's not going to be done away with by just a blanket law outlawing leadership PACs."

Tripp was the only Republican not to vote for Harrell as House Speaker. Tripp was also the only House Republican not to receive $1,000 from Harrell's PAC.

Tripp says his proposals aren't sour grapes. "I'm not running again. Why do I want a thousand dollars from a PAC?" he said.

Harrell understands how some could look skeptically at leadership PACs. He says his record shows "that what I'm personally about is to improve South Carolina in the long term, and this organization helps by getting business people to buy into that vision and participate."

Harrell began his Palmetto Leadership Council in 2002, raising $100,000 that year and $288,375 in 2004.

Ethics Commission reports say Harrell's group raised $295,550 in 2005 and spent $184,695. That included donating $1,000 to 57 House members.