South Carolina lawmakers approve formal rebuke for governor

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina lawmakers voted Wednesday to formally rebuke Gov. Mark Sanford, again sparing him from impeachment over secret trips to see his Argentine mistress and his use of state planes.

The House Judiciary Committee unanimously agreed to censure the governor for bringing "ridicule, dishonor, disgrace and shame" to the state. Though scathing, the rebuke has no practical effect on Sanford's ability to govern for the 13 months that remain in his term.

Members agreed with a subcommittee decision a week earlier that Sanford's missteps did not warrant his removal from office. Despite pleas from some members to let the full House consider impeachment, the Judiciary Committee voted it down 18-6.

"A vote for censure is not an endorsement for the governor's conduct," said state Rep. James Smith, D-Columbia, who argued an impeachment trial would be a distraction when the state has more important things to worry about. "It's quite the contrary."

One of Sanford's visits to his mistress was in 2008 during a taxpayer-funded trip to South America that was supposed to be an economic development mission. The other was in June, when Sanford disappeared from the state and left no one in charge.

The rebuke still requires majority votes in the House and Senate. Those likely won't happen till next year.

In a statement minutes after the vote, Sanford thanked committee members for voting no on impeachment and said he is ready to focus on the next legislative session, which starts in January.

"As we've consistently said, this administration has tried to be a stalwart ally of the taxpayer, and will remain so for the next 13 months," said Sanford, whose wife filed for divorce last week, citing adultery. His second and final term ends in January 2011.

The governor has been under scrutiny since June, when he returned from a secret trip to Argentina and tearfully revealed his affair with a woman named Maria Belen Chapur. His staff had told reporters he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Probes of his travel and campaign spending led to more than three dozen ethics charges and the potential for $74,000 in fines. Lawmakers considered a handful of those charges in reaching their censure decision, saying the governor violated the public's trust in part by using state planes for personal and political trips.

Sanford is the first South Carolina governor to face censure. Only eight U.S. governors have been removed by impeachment, and the only two removed in the last 80 years each faced criminal charges.