COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Gov. Mark Sanford blasted South Carolina's state senators Wednesday for what he called irresponsible spending, as lawmakers continued to debate a $7 billion state budget.

The budget debate has centered on how much money lawmakers should return to taxpayers, and on which tax to cut. The Republican governor has repeatedly chastised the GOP-led Senate over the past week for not returning more of the $1 billion of new money the state expects to collect.

While the Senate increased its tax relief plan -- reducing the sales tax on groceries by 2 cents on the dollar, rather than one -- Sanford criticized the funding method. The Senate would pay for the extra penny cut largely by taking $25 million out of a Department of Health and Human Services savings account, cutting the Medicaid reserve in half.

"Just when you thought the Senate budget couldn't get any worse, it's gone from bad to flat-out irresponsible," Sanford said. "Even worse, this is happening under the direction of senators who claim to be Republicans."

Sanford said he was glad to see senators respond to pressure for more relief, but they did so recklessly. Taking the money out of a reserve for the state's neediest residents could create a funding problem in an economic downturn, he said.

"If we spend all the money that comes in the good times, it will mean draconian cuts in the bad times," said Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, a close Sanford ally. "We haven't learned the lessons of the past recession."

But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, said removing the money from the agency's surplus account won't reduce any benefits. "There's enough money in there to keep all the programs in place and still have a little bit of cushion," he said.

Under the revised Senate plan, grocery taxes would be cut to 1 percent starting Nov. 1, saving residents an estimated $90 million in the coming year. The tax would be eliminated in future years through half-cent increments. The House plan passed last month cut state income taxes by $81 million.

Sanford has said legislators can afford to cut both grocery and income taxes this year, but he prefers the latter.

Some senators tried unsuccessfully to insert an income tax cut into the Senate plan. Efforts to take out $950,000 on the National Bean Market Museum in rural Lake City also failed. Sanford has railed against the item as the epitome of pork.

"We've maintained the pork and bean budget," said Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken. "We've shown that if taxpayers send the money, we will spend the money and spend it shamelessly."

But Leatherman said promoting the museum will attract tourists and money to the rural Florence County city. "Tourism is the economic engine running our economy today," he said.