Sanford seeks job cure from drug makers

Governor Mark Sanford visits Eccosafe, a wood treatment facility at Donaldson Center. Governor Sanford and Cameron Bagwell, 10, tested a piece of wood that had been treated with a fire retardent. Staff/Ken Osburn e-mail this story to a friend

Sanford's remarks came during a stop in Greenville County to promote his new economic stimulus plan. Its centerpiece is an income tax cut, but it also includes support for the Life Sciences Act, designed to lure life science firms.

Asked why he included the bill, Sanford said he wanted to "attract a couple of great pharmaceutical companies to this part of South Carolina, pure and simple."

He said the legislation is "aimed at very specific companies that would come to this part of South Carolina."

Asked whether he meant Greenville or the Upstate, the governor replied, "Upstate. More Greenville than the Upstate, but I'll just say generically, Upstate."

Sanford didn't identify the pharmaceutical companies during his appearance at Ecosafe Wood Treaters, a small lumber-treatment company in Donaldson Center Industrial Air Park south of Greenville.

The Life Sciences Act would provide financial incentives to companies investing at least $100 million and creating at least 200 jobs paying at least 150 percent more than the state's average per capita income. It was adopted in the South Carolina House earlier this year before dying in the Senate because of a June 5 filibuster by freshman Republican John Kuhn of Charleston.

The bill had been merged with another measure that would have allocated millions of dollars to the state's three research universities, and Kuhn wanted smaller colleges included.

Thursday, Sanford expressed confidence that lawmakers will pass the legislation during the General Assembly session that begins in January.

"I've had conversations with senior members of the leadership on both sides of the aisle. No problems in the House. The problem was last year in the Senate. I think that problem has been straightened out," Sanford said.

His appearance in Greenville County was part of a three-day, twelve-city swing across the state to promote his plan for creating jobs and small businesses.

It would lower South Carolina's top income tax rate from 7 percent to 5.9 percent and make up the lost tax revenue by raising the cigarette tax to the national average and applying the sales tax to lottery tickets.

Sanford's plan also calls for a new loan program for small businesses and measures to stem the rising costs of health and workers' compensation insurance.

Wearing a denim shirt, Sanford mingled with about 40 people at Ecosafe Wood Treaters.

Walking on a concrete floor amid piles of stacked lumber, he was shown how the company treats lumber in large tanks. He accepted an invitation to apply a blowtorch to treated lumber to show its fire-retardant properties.

During a pitch for his plan, Sanford pointed to a chart showing how South Carolina has lost jobs and small businesses even as surrounding states have added them.