COLUMBIA - Gov. Mark Sanford wants South Carolinians, their economy and the government to trim some fat and get healthy.

In his annual State of the State address Wednesday evening, Sanford pledged to bicycle 300 miles across the state with his family and urged state legislators to pare down the state's income tax rate.

"I passionately believe that cutting the income tax will stimulate job growth in this state," Sanford said to lawmakers, who filled the House chamber, and to statewide radio and TV audiences.

"We need jobs, and we need to improve our economy, and I don't think we can afford to delay. This is my No. 1 priority, and I strongly ask for your help."

The governor's speech was a typical Sanford affair: direct, structured in numbered sections and peppered with statistics and theory.

The governor praised lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, for such things as supporting changes in campaign finance laws and fighting for tax reform.

And in a nod to the often-antagonistic relationship he has had with fellow Republicans in the House and Senate, Sanford asked for their help and acknowledged his interest in change.

"I'm not so foolish as to believe everyone will want to take my road map to getting there or that there isn't great value to debating how we get there. I just know we have to change to prosper," he said.

Much of Sanford's second address to the General Assembly focused on improving the state economy, which has suffered through 3,600 small-business closings since 1998 and a net employment drop of 2 percent.

Sanford has proposed lowering the state's highest income tax rate from 7 percent to 5.9 percent for everyone who makes more than $12,000 a year.

Doing so, he said, will attract jobs, improve the economy and build personal wealth.

But along with improving the state's fiscal health, Sanford said, the state's residents also need to get in shape.

"I'd like to issue a personal challenge tonight to every South Carolinian," he said. "In this year's list of New Year's resolutions, commit to being just a bit more active."

He lauded programs across the state that aim to get people in better health.

"Bottom line is that we eat the wrong things and don't get enough exercise in South Caro-lina," he said, so the state leads the nation in stroke deaths and ranks in the top 10 in obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

It does no good, Sanford said, to fully fund Medicaid and restructure the state's health care system if individuals don't take better care of themselves.

Much of Sanford's speech urged support for proposals he laid out in his executive budget proposal, released earlier this month.

In addition to his income tax plan, he reiterated support for:

His plans for public education. Sanford stuck to his familiar themes of not trying to solve the problems with more money.

The state has raised funding for public schools by 130 percent in the past 30 years, Sanford said, yet in August it was learned that the state's SAT scores once again ranked next-to-last in the nation - the third consecutive decade that it's ranked either last or next-to-last.

Sanford wants to restructure the education system, streamline funding for schools and cut state administrative costs.

Despite the $350 million revenue shortfall facing the state, he said, his budget proposal still added $30 million for K-12.

His massive government restructuring effort, which would close two University of South Carolina branch campuses and shutter or merge 15 state agencies.

"The structure of government matters," Sanford said.

Several changes would require constitutional amend-ments.

Getting those questions before the voters requires a two-thirds vote of both houses.

Sanford urged legislators to let the voters decide, whether they personally supported the idea or not.

Giving an income tax credit to families who earn less than $75,000 a year to send their children to private schools.

Create a new entity to oversee the state's public colleges and universities, similar to the board of regents system used in North Carolina.

Sanford also advocated a few new initiatives.

He wants to add $2.5 million for education programs for prisoners in the state Department of Corrections. At 29 of the state's prisons, the education budget has been cut in half, from $5.6 million to $2.7 million.

Sanford wants prisons to add tutors who could follow up on lessons. However, he did not allocate that money in the budget he released two weeks ago.