COLUMBIA--Gov. Mark Sanford hasn't given up his fight to kill a measure that is bringing some $80 million to the Charleston area.
The day after the Legislature easily overrode his veto of the Life Sciences Act, Sanford said he might take his quest to the state Supreme Court.
"In the same way, quite clearly, that this bill trampled on the interests of taxpayers, it may well have trampled on the constitution," Sanford said.
Most legislators calmly disagreed.
Sanford said he vetoed the bill, which had grown to include more than 20 pieces of loosely connected legislation, because of its "politically driven, pork-barrel spending."
The governor said Thursday he would seek a legislative remedy to "bobtailing" bills and also may ask the Supreme Court to decide whether the Life Sciences Act violates the state constitution. Bobtailing is the practice of tacking unrelated amendments onto a bill.
Sanford gave no timeline for going to court, saying only it would be "short term, rather than long term."
The state constitution stipulates that every act or resolution that carries the weight of law must relate to only one subject. Sanford wants legislation to clarify and strengthen that section of the constitution.
House Ways and Means Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said he understood the governor's frustration but believed the bill would withstand any constitutional challenge.
"We did what was allowed within the law," Harrell said. "But I would say I agree with the governor that the law needs to be changed."
Legislators are famous for connecting seemingly dissimilar issues in pieces of legislation.
The Life Sciences Act originally was designed to provide research opportunities and economic development in biotechnology and related fields. Part of the proposal provided $250 million in funding for the state's research universities, a third of that for the Medical University of South Carolina.
During the bill's progress from the House to the Senate to conference committee, it became so laden with amendments that it was dubbed "the kitchen sink bill."
Among the measures added were an international convention center in Myrtle Beach, new residency criteria for LIFE scholarships, a culinary program at Trident Technical College and conversion of USC-Sumter into a four-year school.
The bill also contained the Venture Capital Investment Act, which allows the Commerce Department to borrow up to $50 million at low rates from banks and insurance companies to invest with professionally managed venture capital companies.
Supporters said the bill's individual parts were connected by the theme of economic development. Sanford said that with such a broad definition, nearly anything could have been attached to the bill.
Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, one of the few legislators to support Sanford's veto, immediately lauded the governor's announcement. On three occasions, Ryberg took the Senate floor to rail against the bill.
"This is the worst case of bobtailing I have seen in my 12 years in the Senate," he said. "Enough is enough. Thank God we have a governor who will stand up to it."
Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, said Sanford was being too rigid in his philosophical approach to governing. Leventis was the author of the USC-Sumter proposal that first attracted the governor's ire.
Sanford used the USC-Sumter proposal as an example of how he believes the state's higher education system is too large. In his executive budget, the governor suggested cutting USC-Sumter's funding by $111,310 to provide incentive for resource sharing with nearby Central Carolina Technical College.
Leventis said Thursday his proposal would result in more four-year degrees in the state, a good thing for people and the economy. He said the governor, in his zeal, is forgetting that.
"He is much too consumed with process and not consumed enough with progress," Leventis said.
It is a common complaint about the governor around the Statehouse. In two years, Sanford has struggled to get any meaningful legislation passed.
His income tax reduction plan is still alive, having easily passed the House the same day his veto was overridden. It is an election year, and most legislators are on board with the plan.
Sanford still is stinging from the defeat of the cornerstone of his legislative agenda, restructuring state government.
The governor has admitted that some of his ideas, such as restructuring, are hard for people to grasp. On Thursday he said that the benefits of restructuring are not as immediately apparent as the benefits of a four-year culinary arts program at Trident Tech.
"But part of where I come from is not how much can you add to government, but frankly where can you limit it," Sanford said. "That's what we've been focused on. That's where I want to be held accountable."
He applied this approach to his Cabinet, where he has instituted several cost-saving measures, such as requiring agency employees to double up in hotel rooms during business trips.
Sanford and his staff lowered the governor's office mileage and hotel expenses by 84 percent. During that same time, the Governor's Office of Policy and Programs had a 73 percent drop in those expenses, and the governor's law enforcement detail fell by 21 percent.
Another area of success for the governor has been the state's Department of Motor Vehicles. Improving the DMV was a priority for Sanford. The governor saw the agency's problems as indicative of the state's problems and used it to aid in his push for government restructuring.
Last June, he signed the DMV reform bill, which separated the agency from the Department of Public Safety, making it a stand-alone member of his cabinet.
Also in June, the governor announced a number of initiatives meant to improve services at the DMV, including customer service training for employees, implementation of Saturday office hours and greater use of online services to reduce wait times.
But when it comes to Sanford's dealings with the Legislature, the truce between the two branches of government has been tenuous at best. While Republicans tap-danced into Columbia for this session in control of the governor's mansion and both houses of the General Assembly, Sanford has routinely struggled to get legislation passed. More often than not, he is tagged as a person with good, but unrealistic ideas.
Leventis said he has served through three other governors, and all of them were better at developing specific programs and seeing them through the legislative process.
"He means well, but at the end of the game, all that matters is the score," Leventis said. "And the game is the well-being of South Carolinians."
