RIDGELAND -- A bill that would privatize state port operations and create a $1.5 billion infrastructure bank from the sale of port assets is expected to be introduced in Columbia on Thursday.

Rep. Herb Kirsh, D-York, said he was sponsoring the bill set to go before the state House of Representatives because Jasper County is "getting the shaft" in its plans to build a deep-water port on the Savannah River.

"The State Ports Authority is trying to take advantage of (Jasper), and I say get rid of them, sell them," Kirsh said Tuesday.

Kirsh's proposal comes as state and local officials wait for the state Supreme Court to decide whether the Ports Authority has the sole authority to develop a port in South Carolina.

The Ports Authority runs ports in Charleston, Georgetown and Port Royal, with a 2004 operating revenue of $116 million, according to the authority's financial reports. Members of the Ports Authority would not comment on the proposal Tuesday.

The Ports Authority sued Jasper County in January when the county and SSA Marine, one of the world's largest private port developers, struck a $450 million deal to develop a port on 1,863 acres on the Savannah River. The property is owned by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

State Rep. Thayer Rivers, D-Ridgeland, said the Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs estimated the value of the three state ports and the Ports Authority's land holdings at $1.5 billion.

The agency's land is not taxed and if the sites are replaced with tax-paying private enterprise, "it would result in a 10 percent tax cut for all residents of Charleston County," Rivers told the Jasper County Council on Tuesday.

Robert Becker, director of the institute, helped draft the infrastructure bank plan that would accompany Kirsh's legislation, Rivers said.

No specific use for the money has been determined. The newly created infrastructure bank would be separate from the existing Infrastructure Bank, which has paid for major road projects in the state. Becker could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The proposal comes a month after Gov. Mark Sanford hired a private banking firm to evaluate Santee Cooper, a state-run utility.

"The governor hires a Wall Street firm to see what (Santee Cooper) is worth," Rivers said. "Well, OK. I'll see you one and raise you one."

Thursday's bill has little likelihood of getting through the House before the session ends June 2.

Any bill introduced in the House after May 1 requires a two-thirds vote before it can move to the Senate.

"If they take it up, they'd surprise me," Kirsh said of the House. "(State Ports Authority officials) are well connected politically. They have too much salary and too much power."

The York legislator said he was introducing the bill this week to start discussions rather than gain support.

Jake Coakley, SSA Marine's regional vice president in Savannah, said, "Obviously, we think that's the way to go. It's a big opportunity and would mean a lot of work for many, many companies. I've heard (about privatization) before so let's wait and see what happens."