The House approved the same document Tuesday, meaning the budget now heads to Gov. Mark Sanford's desk for approval.

Sanford is not pleased with the state's $16.7 billion budget, $5.5 billion of which is state-controlled money. He has threatened to veto "all or substantial portions of the budget." He has five days from receiving the budget, excluding Sunday, to use his veto authority.

That means legislators should have their answer by Wednesday of next week.

On Monday, Sanford sent a letter to lawmakers, calling on them to use the $253 million in projected surpluses this year and next to pay back the state's $155 million deficit, address looming shortfalls at the Corrections Department, supplant non-recurring dollars dedicated to programs such as K-12 education and Medicaid and begin the process of restoring money to state trust funds.

Legislators said most of those demands had been taken care of by the conference committee; others it was too late to deal with. Sanford has made it clear that he feels government growth needs to be scaled back, and the budget passed Wednesday falls short of his expectations.

The budget sets aside $380,000 a year for 15 years for the Palmetto Bowl college football game proposed for The Citadel. The money would go for stadium expansion.

The budget also gives state employees an across-the-board 3 percent raise, allocates $119 million more in K-12 spending, provides $39 million in tax relief by doing away with the marriage penalty and pays back the entire $155 million deficit. The budget increases per-pupil spending to $1,852, up from $1,777, and gives $200 million in new money to Health and Human Services.

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