State Rep. John Graham Altman III, R-Charleston, said the House and governor's office have been working for some time on details of the plan, expected to be rolled out Tuesday during a news conference at the Statehouse. "Both sides have worked on this a lot," Altman said. "And clearly this has been a big issue for the governor."

Altman was not able to give details of the plan, and both the governor's office and Wilkins, R-Greenville, declined to comment.

According to state Reps. Bill Cotty, R-Columbia, and Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, the tax cuts will be tied to growth in the budget. "As I understand the proposal, if growth exceeds 2 percent, income taxes will be rolled back proportionately," Cotty said.

Sanford unveiled an aggressive economic stimulus package in November that suggested cutting the state income tax by 15 percent and replacing the lost revenues with higher taxes on cigarettes and lottery tickets.

South Carolina has the highest income tax rate in the Southeast for the average taxpayer and the fifth-highest rate in the nation. The state's 7-cent tax on cigarettes is the fourth-lowest in the nation.

The governor said the plan would provide about $222 million in immediate income tax relief, would lower the state's top income tax rate from 7 percent to 5.9 percent and would make the state competitive in attracting jobs and capital investments.

Revenues lost by the cut would be made up by a 61-cents-per-pack tax increase on cigarettes and by applying the state's 5 percent state sales tax to lottery tickets.

Merrill said cigarette taxes play no role in the current proposal.

Altman, who is one of many in the House beating the drum for property tax reform, called the plan a major development.

"I think we'll get it through the House and into the Senate pretty easily," he said. "And maybe that will be the icebreaker for us to start working on property taxes."

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