For months now, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has been at the forefront of a campaign to crack down on earmarks. He has used the issue to keep fiscal conservatives happy and keep himself in the national dialogue.

“It’s time to change the culture of corruption in Washington and it begins by eliminating earmarks,” he recently wrote in a guest post on the popular blog Captain’s Quarters. “But I can’t do it alone. It’s time to take the fight to the ground.”

The success of DeMint’s call to action reverberated with Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.), who this week began his own crusade against wasteful spending.

“The economy is the number one issue and how we deal with the budget process has been a concern of mine since going to Washington,” Barrett told the Anderson Independent Mail Tuesday. “I do not believe all earmarks are bad, I do believe that the system as it exists is broken and out of control.”

And now it appears the state legislature is paying attention. On Wednesday, House Speaker Bobby Harrell and the House Republican Caucus approved a rules change that will end the practice of hidden earmark spending in South Carolina’s budget.

Harrell elaborated:

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The House Rule will require legislators to attach their name and a description of the spending project to any non-agency request included for consideration in the state budget. This separate document will be made available to the public throughout the budget process.

Also under the new rule, anonymous spending earmarks from the Senate will take a two-thirds vote from the House to be considered in the final state budget.