RIDGELAND -- Jasper County Sen. Clementa Pinckney used the Senate floor Wednesday to voice his opposition to how the S.C. State Ports Authority is handling plans to build a port on the Jasper side of the Savannah River.

Jasper has spent more than a decade trying to bring a $450 million shipping terminal to 1,863 Georgia-owned acres and recently partnered with private port developer SSA Marine to see the project through.

"How many people from South Carolina does it take to cash a half-billion-dollar check?" Pinckney, D-Ridgeland, asked after he spoke to the Senate. "We're probably the laughing stock of the business community."

Jasper's port plans have been met head-on by the Ports Authority, which recently sent out three-dozen queries looking for a private firm to help develop a state-run port.

In January, the Ports Authority filed a lawsuit against Jasper in the state Supreme Court challenging the county's ability to build the shipping terminal, a move Pinckney said sheds a negative light on the state's economic development plans.

"We work real hard to attract business to our state," he said. "We have a company that wants to spend a half a billion dollars and, while the county wants to move this forward, we have a state agency saying, 'No, we're going to develop this.'"

But Ports Authority officials say their recent moves shouldn't have come as a surprise.

"We don't want to attack or fight with anyone," Ports Authority spokesman Byron Miller said Wednesday. "It's been said publicly numerous times that we are seeking private support."

Also in the Senate on Wednesday, Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, extended an invitation to Jasper County officials to present their case for a port to the Ports Authority subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee.

"We will be there," George Hood, chairman of the Jasper County Council, said Wednesday afternoon. "I'll be looking forward to it."

The group will meet Thursday in Columbia.

Last week, Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, introduced a bill in the Senate to bring the South Carolina and Georgia ports authorities together to try to find a joint solution in bringing a marine terminal to Jasper.

Also Wednesday, a representative for Gov. Mark Sanford's office contacted Hood and said she would try to schedule a meeting between Jasper County and the governor next week, according to County Administrator Andrew Fulghum.

Sanford's office received a letter from Hood on Tuesday calling for a meeting with the governor.

"It's a response in the right direction," Hood said Wednesday.