"This is what drives me crazy about the House of Representatives, this election-year garbage," said House Minority Leader James Smith, D-Columbia. "This plan has nothing to do with why we are here. It doesn't address needs in education, health care or the environment. It's just an election-year ruse."

All House seats are up for election this year.

Kept under wraps by House Republican leadership and the governor's office in the past few weeks, the plan calls for lowering the state's highest income tax bracket from 7 percent to 4.75 percent over a 10-year period. Reductions would be gradual and would come only in years the state's revenue grows by 2 percent or more.

Supporters say the key to energizing the state's moribund economy lies with putting money back in taxpayer's hands, a philosophy Gov. Mark Sanford has openly embraced. Opponents say reducing taxes in such a manner is risky at best and could plunge the state into deeper economic woes.

When Sanford floated an earlier income-tax reduction plan, House Democrats commissioned a study that showed lowering the tax couldmillion, which they termed a dangerous proposition for a state already $350 million in the hole.

It could also, according to the study, increase South Carolinians' federal tax payments by as much as $111 million because a smaller amount of state taxes could be written off.

"In the abstract, who doesn't like the idea of decreasing income taxes," Smith said. "But how do we pay for the things this state needs when you do something like this?"

Both the governor and Speaker of the House David Wilkins, R-Greenville, said they would not comment on the plan until today's press conference.

State Rep. Bill Cotty, R-Columbia, says, for Sanford, the idea has nothing to do with politics.

"This is what he ran on," Cotty said. "This is his philosophy, it's what he believes in. We've known this about him since day one."

The plan is similar to two other proposals presented by the governor, one last session and the other in November.

The November plan called for cutting the state income tax by 15 percent and replacing the lost revenues with higher taxes on cigarettes and lottery tickets. At the time, Sanford said the plan would provide about $222 million in immediate income tax reductions and make the state competitive in attracting jobs and capital investment.

Cigarettes, a political stumbling block, seem to play no part in the new proposal.

The state's highest tax rate is 7 percent for people who earned more than $12,300 in taxable income. The average South Carolinian pays $1,667 in income taxes every year under the current system.

The state has a total budget of about $15 billion, $5 billion of which is money controlled by the General Assembly. Of that, about $2 billion comes from income taxes.

Over the years, the state has addressed the income tax issue by allowing numerous deductions, which lower the base amount of taxable income a person has to claim. While most states have similar deductions, South Carolina's are substantially larger than those allowed by its neighbors.

According to the state Board of Economic Advisers, these deductions help lower the actual amount of income taxes paid in the state to about 5.5 percent. Several economists in the state estimate the amount paid is closer to 3 percent.

A study released by the U.S. Tax Foundation ranked South Carolina as the 37th out of 50 states in terms of total state and local taxes as a percent of total income, number 1 being the heaviest taxed state.

For this reason, many members of the House have ignored the income tax issue and instead pursued property tax reform, strengthening the sense that Sanford would have a hard time getting his agenda items addressed by the General Assembly.

According to state Rep. Wallace Scarborough, R-Charleston, there were so many property tax proposals in the House that no consensus could be reached.

"Property tax reform is probably not going to happen this year," he said. "I think the leadership felt we needed to give people some kind of relief, and the governor's plan seemed to fit that need."

State Rep. Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, said he still holds out hope for property tax cut but agreed the governor's plan seemed to "fill a void."

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