News and Press Releases for June 2007

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6/21/2007

Governor Issues Statement on Tax Relief Plan

Governor Thanks Legislature for Heeding Call for Significant Dividend Being Returned to Taxpayers

Columbia, S.C. - Governor Mark Sanford today issued the following statement on the General Assembly's approval of more than $220 million in tax cuts for the people of South Carolina:

"We've said consistently that with $1.5 billion in new money coming into Columbia this year, there was no reason in the world that we couldn't cut both income taxes and grocery taxes, and we're pleased to see that the General Assembly ultimately agreed," Gov. Sanford said. "It's particularly worth noting that this tax relief is almost ten times what the Senate was contemplating just a few weeks ago, and that through our efforts and the efforts of conservatives in the House, the Senate ultimately agreed to the idea of a far more substantial cut -- one of the largest in state history. Make no mistake, we continue to believe that cutting income taxes via the top marginal rate is a better way to stimulate the economy, and that in fact cutting taxes this other way is inherently bad public policy for the way it narrows rather than broadens the tax base and for the way it does not incentivize the very economic activity we should be rewarding.

"That being said, the fact that a significant, broad-based income tax cut - an idea that we've been pushing for six years - was passed for the first time in state history is incredibly significant. I'd give real credit to the House for standing with us on the idea of substantive tax relief, and I'd thank the Senate for ultimately agreeing with us on that front."