COLUMBIA, S.C. - Two years of state budget deficits have brought an abundance of criticism from Gov. Mark Sanford's office and Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom for former Gov. Jim Hodges.

On Wednesday, Eckstrom and Sanford's office said Democrat Hodges swept the state's deficit problems "under the rug."

Now, a $22 million shortfall remains after emptying rainy day accounts this year on top of $155 million deficit from last year.

"We said throughout the campaign that budget problems in this state were consistently being swept under the rug," Sanford spokesman Will Folks said. "What we didn't know until recently was how far or how deep under the rug they were actually being swept."

Hodges says the deficit has "nothing to do with poor stewardship and has everything to do with a weak economy." All but two states around the nation are in similar financial straits, he said.

Republicans control the Statehouse, governor's office and the state Budget and Control Board and haven't dealt with the problem, either, Hodges said.

Sanford and Eckstrom, both Republicans, are calling for immediate budget cuts when the state Budget and Control Board meets Wednesday.

"I think that's what your going to see at this meeting Wednesday," Sanford spokesman Chris Drummond said. "The only way to remedy the situation is to implement budget cuts."

Sanford, on a vacation cruise with his family, was unavailable for comment.

During the gubernatorial campaign a year ago, news broke that the state finished the 2002 fiscal year with a deficit. Initially reported at $149 million, Eckstrom now says the old deficit was $155 million. Sanford, campaigning for governor last summer, criticized the Hodges' administration for the deficit.

Eckstrom, who took office in January, says "not only did the former administration produce unconstitutional deficits, but they failed to deal with them once they produced them."

"It's like they ignored the prohibition against deficits, incurred them anyway, and then left behind their big mess for the new team to clean up."

"This is just politics," Hodges said. "Otherwise he would be casting blame" on House and Senate budget writers, "which he is not doing," Hodges said.

South Carolina governors get to write spending plans and can veto items in the state budget, but the Legislature controls the flow of money. Since 2001, Republicans have controlled the South Carolina House and Senate.

Sanford spokesman Drummond said the Hodges' administration and a Democrat-heavy Budget and Control Board failed to cut the state's budget last year during the campaign.

Hodges said Thursday he didn't know the size of the 2002 deficit when he could veto items in last year's budget.

Using vetoes to deal with budget problems isn't easy, Hodges said. "You have to find a line item to cut. I think Gov. Sanford has found that it's a lot easier said than done," Hodges said.

Sanford didn't mention the $155 million deficit in June as he vetoed about $2.6 million in spending items in the $5.3 billion budget that took effect July 1. Sanford also vetoed about $5 million that lawmakers had earmarked for projects if the money became available.

Those vetoes amounted to "a gnat on an elephant's behind," Hodges said.

However, Drummond said, Sanford thought the old deficit had been taken care of while he was vetoing items in the 2003-2004 budget in June. If Sanford had known earlier, the deficit "could have been dealt with," Drummond said.