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Discord deepens between House and governor
By JOHN O’CONNOR and AARON GOULD SHEININ
Staff Writers
House Republicans scrambled Thursday to patch an internal rift that threatened to derail their agenda, and at the same time, they drove a deeper wedge between them and the governor.
In dramatic fashion, the caucus held a two-hour, closed-door meeting to hash out differences over how much money to spend next year and whether the party should keep its promise to cap new allocations.
The session came after leaders canceled planned budget hearings. It ended with a statement of party unity and fresh questions about the influence of Republican Gov. Mark Sanford, whom House leaders blamed for the rift.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said the era of cooperation was over.
“I have been trying very hard to work with him,” Harrell said. “I am very disappointed that he would resort to an attack ... before they voted on the first dollar.”
Should the caucus break apart, the fast track of issues such as property tax reform could be slowed. With a stronger break with Sanford, gubernatorial initiatives, such as his push for tax rebates over spending, could fall by the wayside.
The GOP rift blew open Wednesday after Sanford’s office issued a statement criticizing a draft budget and quoting three House leaders.
Sanford’s spokesman said Thursday the dispute “is not about individual personalities or politics.”
“This is about whether the House is going to pass a budget this year that limits state spending and shows sympathy for the hardworking taxpayers of our state,” said spokesman Joel Sawyer.
Sanford, he said, stood with lawmakers earlier this year in support of property tax relief and again in support of a proposed constitutional amendment that would cap spending.
When it appeared House budget-writers were “considering spending every dime that came in, it’s fair to say we were a little bit confused,” Sawyer said.
“We’ve weighed in at the end of the budget process, we’ve weighed in at the middle of the budget process. We wanted to weigh in at the beginning.”
Many House members, however, were disappointed Sanford criticized them before the first budget vote was cast. A joint statement issued after the closed-door meeting called the governor’s push “an attack.”
Still, whether the break was healed is an open question.
Even before the public rift, some House members were dissatisfied with legislation advanced by leadership, such as a property tax reform plan some said was flawed. And while party members have toed the line, some might break ranks over the budget.
The dispute centers on a draft budget the House Ways and Means Committee began studying this week. Although the committee has yet to approve any spending, some House members and Sanford said the budget would ignore a cap that was part of this year’s Republican agenda.
House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Anderson, said the 2006-07 draft represents a 6.2 percent increase. That’s larger than Sanford’s proposed 5.6 percent increase, a function of inflation plus population growth.
To reach Sanford’s goal, Cooper said, $390 million would need to be cut, including new school buses and fuel, money for trauma centers, and programs such as Meals on Wheels.
While distancing himself from the governor’s broader statement, House Labor, Commerce and Industry Chairman Harry Cato, R-Greenville, said he went public to protect many rank-and-file members who worried about too much spending.
“I think a lot of them philosophically feel the same way,” Cato said. “I think some people have been wanting to say this.”
Tom Davis, the governor’s deputy chief of staff and his top liaison to the General Assembly, said he was responsible for the three House members appearing in the news release.
After a meeting with House leaders Wednesday morning, Davis said he and other aides called Cato, House Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison, R-Richland, and Speaker Pro Tem Doug Smith, R-Spartanburg, individually and asked if they would sign on to a joint statement.
Davis said the point was to try to get Ways and Means members’ support to hold the line on spending.
Republicans aired those complaints behind locked doors Thursday. Armed House security staff stood guard outside.
Members failed to reach a consensus on spending by the end of the meeting.
“I think we’ve come out somewhere between where the Ways and Means Committee is and where the governor is,” Cooper said.
Cooper said the committee will still need to figure out just how much people are willing to spend when it takes up the debate again next week.
Meanwhile, House Democrats were on the outside Thursday, with little to do as GOP members huddled.
House Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-Calhoun, was dismayed to learn Republicans used the House sergeant-at-arms to keep reporters out of the GOP’s meeting.
And Sanford’s actions are peculiar, Ott said, “especially at a time when he says he’s going to reach out and work with the House. And then he goes and throws gasoline on the fire.”
Ott declined to speculate about the future of Sanford’s relationship with the Republican majority in the House. But Ott couldn’t deny getting some pleasure out of watching the Republicans turn on themselves — again.
“Today hasn’t been a bad day for me. You know, it has not been a bad day.”
Reach O’Connor at (803) 771-8358. Reach Sheinin at (803) 771-8658 or asheinin@thestate.com.
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