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As governor mark sanford tries to get The White House to allow South Carolina to use reinvestment and recovery act money to pay down education bonds, while refusing most other money, Senator Lindsey Graham is trying to find out if state lawmakers actually have the power to sidestep the governor and accept all of the money anyway.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money is already flowing from Washington, D.C. South Carolina is entitled to about 8-billion dollars. Governor Mark Sanford doesn't want most of it but the legislation allows state lawmakers to accept the help even if the governor does not.

But Senator Llindsey Graham isn't so sure. During a conference call with reporters, Graham said, "right now, there's an ambiguity in the law. Can the legislature request funds from the stimulus package for education or does it have to be the governor who makes the application to the department of education?"

Congressman and House Majority Whip James Clyburn responded in a statement saying, "the intent of the law is clear and unambiguous and i find nothing in the congressional research service report which question that intent."

In the meantime... Mayor Bob Coble of Columbia says the capital city doesn't have to wait for any clarifications. City officials met again on Wednesday to keep the stimulus process moving forward.

"We know we have 22 and a half million (dollars), we know that we can apply for competitive grants," said Coble.  "We're working hard to make the best use of those monies that we possibly can."