In a live online chat with the USA Today Thursday morning, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said South Carolina will receive the $700 million in stimulus money despite Governor Mark Sanford declining the funding.

Speaker of the SC House Bobby Harrell thinks this is the year that the state finally raises its lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax from 7 cents a pack.

Gov. Mark Sanford hasn’t decided whether to request the federal stimulus money but says, “I think in some cases it’s going to come with such strings attached that we probably can’t accept some of the money.“

One of the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs commissioners that Gov. Mark Sanford asked to resign says the governor had no choice, after an audit that was critical of the agency.

A new law lengthens penalties for drivers who refuse to take a breath alcohol test. It also has a tiered system of penalties: the higher a driver’s blood alcohol level, the longer the penalties; and the more previous DUI convictions a driver has, the longer the penalties.

Gov. Mark Sanford is vehemently against the federal economic stimulus package. But if it does pass, he says he’ll have to decide whether to request the $3.2 billion allotted for South Carolina.

McKinley Washington, one of the state’s three Employment Security Commissioners, spoke to News Channel 7 to defend the agency’s handling of unemployment benefits, after the governor called the agency “out of control”.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford says Employment Security Commissioners have been grossly negligent in handling the state’s unemployment trust fund. He says if they don’t supply him with the figures he wants, he’ll fire them.

The standoff between South Carolina’s governor and state officials continues, with only two days before the state must stop printing unemployment checks for 77,000 people

Governor Mark Sanford says he will do everything he can to fight another round of bailouts, though he acknowledges he can’t do much.

Sanford’s request Monday sets the stage for reductions in January to the $6.5 billion budget. But the cuts could come in a couple of weeks when a financial oversight board discusses a shortfall of $103 million, or 2 percent.

Governor Mark Sanford issues

The governor wants an investigation into whether Greenville-based Carolina First Bank “gamed the system” by possibly moving up its CEO’s retirement date so he could get an $18 million golden parachute and the bank would qualify for federal bailout money.