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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Gov. Mark Sanford bought more time Friday to decide whether to request federal stimulus money for South Carolina's impoverished schools, a move that guarantees he'll spend at least a few more weeks dealing with citizen protests, yard signs urging his impeachment and nasty statements from fellow Republicans. . . . . . Sanford is the only governor not seeking the mostly education-related money. . . . . . Sanford faced a Friday deadline to request the $700 million, but he bought the state some more time by filing paperwork to request the larger pool of money...

Gov. Mark Sanford said today he would accept the $700 million in federal stimulus money but would not release it unless the General Assembly agrees to pay down debt with state tax dollars. He said he was accepting the money to stop other states from claiming the funds. Sanford has come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats, as well as from the public, for his stance against accepting the money. He had until midnight today to accept the funds.

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COLUMBIA — South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford said he would not be submitting requests for federal stimulus funds today. Sanford made the announcement at a news conference in the Governor’s Office at the South Carolina statehouse “We don’t think April 3 is the real deadline, but we’re not going to be submitting anything,” Joel Sawyer, spokesman for the Governor’s Office said. “We think there is significantly more time if need be.” Sawyer said the governor had legal opinions that Friday was not the final date to request the money and that there was time to work with the Legislature to...

It is easy to criticize those who challenge the status quo. Actually changing things is often quite difficult. While I respect Jack Bass, I must respond to his column unfairly criticizing Gov. Mark Sanford. While some focus on conflicts with the Legislature, the truth is that there have been countless successes under Sanford. The list includes improvements in services (often with less funding) at agencies like Juvenile Justice, Motor Vehicles and Transportation, increased transparency and accountability, lowered taxes, record land conservation and hundreds of millions of additional resources for functions such as K-12 education and health care. Bass says Sanford...

COLUMBIA — Political hyperbole in the Statehouse skyrocketed Tuesday as Attorney General Henry McMaster issued an opinion that the Legislature cannot bypass the governor to accept $700 million in federal stimulus money. Legislators, in response to the news, predicted dire consequences if they have to write a budget without the money, such as mass teacher layoffs, while the governor's press secretary essentially accused lawmakers of telling tall tales. Congress intended the cash to be used to help bridge the state's shortfall in tax collections over the next two years while the economy recovers. It is a portion of the $8...

Sanford might accept the federal funds if lawmakers agree to deal with debt. BY JOHN O'CONNOR GREENVILLE — Gov. Mark Sanford has proposed a compromise with state lawmakers over accepting $700 million in federal stimulus money — one that would require diverting state funds to pay off debt and accepting Sanford’s suggested budget savings. Speaking to a group of Furman University students Monday, Sanford said for the first time that he might accept the rest of the federal stimulus money due to South Carolina if lawmakers use an equivalent amount of state money to pay down debt the next two...

Governor says Legislature responsible for budget woes. BY YVONNE WENGER COLUMBIA — Gov. Mark Sanford is not going to bend to criticism that he has put political aspirations above the needs of a desperate state by changing his mind about rejecting $700 million in federal stimulus cash. The two-term Republican governor is standing firm in the face of mounting pressure that includes a New York Times editorial published Sunday that called Sanford's actions reckless. The governor's controversial stance, which has won him kudos from the country's conservatives, is not the first decision that is not popular with the "left-leaning media"...

Mark Sanford was elected South Carolina’s governor in 2002 and won a second term in 2006, becoming only the third two-term governor in modern state history. In 2008, Gov ernor Sanford was also named chairman of the Republican Governors Association. Prior to his election as governor in 2002, Governor Sanford served six years in the U.S. House. For his consistent efforts to lower taxes and limit government growth, he was ranked number one in the entire Congress by Citizens Against Government Waste. He was rated similarly by the National Taxpayers’ Union, and Taxpayers for Common Sense inducted him into the...

Some South Carolina lawmakers are voicing support for Governor Mark Sanford's battle with the White House over ways the state can use some of the federal stimulus money. A group of state representatives and senators met in downtown Spartanburg Monday, declaring the problem with the $700 million in stimulus money is that it comes with 700 million strings attached. The legislators say South Carolina should be able to create its own fiscally-responsible budget. "It's time to roll up all our sleeves jointly and say no to the out of control spending in Washington. We will not in South Carolina, we...

Gov. Mark Sanford on Monday assured the U.S. Department of Energy that South Carolina will consider improving efficiency-related building codes and utility policies, in a letter that opened the door to $50.5 million in energy-related stimulus funds for the state. In order to receive a share of State Energy Program stimulus money, governors were required to provide written assurances by Monday that they would consider such policies. In South Carolina, a House bill already has been introduced to bring the state's energy-related building codes, which date to the 1990s, up to the modern standards used in North Carolina and Georgia....

In the ongoing debate over the economic stimulus package, South Carolina Republican Gov. Mark Sanford has made all the right enemies. The White House has brushed aside Sanford’s threat to turn down $700 million allotted for his state. Republicans in Sanford’s own state have hinted that they’ll override any attempt to veto the cash. Moderate California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has gently mocked Sanford’s position. “I’ll take it,” Schwarzenegger told George Stephanopolous last month. “I’m more than happy to take his money or any other governor in this country that doesn’t want to take this money.” Sanford’s public battle with...

Senator Hugh Leatherman of Florence has issued a statement regarding Governor Mark Sanford's rejection of the federal stimulus money. Leatherman says in a release,"The governor's decision not to accept the $700 million is irresponsible and threatens to throw into chaos public education and other core state responsibilities."

Columbia, S.C.America's states are laboratories of democracy. They are both affected by, and relevant to, the larger national debate. What we've found in our own corner of the country is that carrying a substantial debt load limits our options when it comes to running government. A recent report by the American Legislative Exchange Council ranked us 47th worst in the nation for annual debt service as a percentage of tax revenue. Our state dedicates nearly 11% of its annual tax revenue to paying debt. On top of that, South Carolina has another $20 billion in unfunded, long-term political promises for...

Gov. Mark Sanford has added more specifics in his newest request to the Obama administration to allow South Carolina to direct more than $700 million federal stimulus funds to pay off debt. The governor wants to spend $577 million in education stimulus money intended to keep schools from laying off teachers and going to four-day school weeks to pay off a near identical amount South Carolina schools and colleges owe to pay of construction debt. The governor said his plan would save the state millions in interest payments and would free up money spent today paying debt addressing other revenue...

Obama rejects request to use cash to pay down debt; Dems launch attack ad. BY YVONNE WENGER COLUMBIA — Gov. Mark Sanford will try again today to get President Barack Obama to give him money to pay down the state's debt, rather than allow $700 million in federal stimulus cash to pay for education, public safety and other government services over the next two years. But Democrats said the two-term Republican governor already is getting what he's after: publicity. A television advertisement by the Democratic National Committee that accuses Sanford of "playing politics" began airing on cable channels in the...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The Obama administration has rejected South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford's request to use $700 million in federal stimulus cash to pay down state debt. White House Budget Director Peter Orszag (OHR'-zag) said in a letter to the Republican on Monday that the federal stimulus law doesn't allow President Barack Obama to make an exception for that cash. Sanford sought a waiver last week, asking to pay off debt rather than use the money to create jobs and avoid deep program cuts. . . . Sanford has criticized the $787 billion stimulus plan, saying it will lead to...

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford sees a strong future for the Republican Party, provided it's rebuilt in what he sees as the right way: on the local level, far from the halls of Congress and the GOP's national headquarters. Republican ideals haven't changed, he said last week, but he thinks the ways the party engages new people will have to. NEWSWEEK's Daniel Stone asked Sanford who's responsible to lead the party from here and what he thinks about the party's national leadership. Excerpts: NEWSWEEK: In devising a new strategy for the party, where do you go from here?SANFORD: There is...

Governor Mark Sanford (R) of South Carolina has been a vocal critic of President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan and in the process has become one of the most prominent fiscal conservatives in the country. Recently, he made national news when he announced his plan to accept the stimulus funds but sought a waiver from the President to use 25 percent of it to pay down state debt rather than spend it on suggested programs (the other 75 percent is determined by formulas). If Obama doesn’t grant the waiver, Sanford has said he will reject it. Before Sanford was governor, Sanford...

Small-government conservatives have found their champion. BY REIHAN SALAM As governor of South Carolina, Mark Sanford has made a mark not by creating any new social programs or by slashing taxes or making some other dramatic gesture. He's done it by doggedly opposing new spending at every opportunity, to the point where he's struck many critics as a monomaniacal economic Luddite. Sanford's opposition to President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and in particular his insistence on using up to a fourth of his state's stimulus funds to pay down debt or refusing it outright, has fast made him a...