Top Stories	Monday, May 12, 2003
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Photos by Andy Burriss / The Herald Gov. Mark Sanford, left, listens as Bill Hall Jr., center, president of Hall Dielectric Machinery, explains how an air mattress is made in the Rock Hill factory. Company employee Nick Lerow is at right. Sanford was in Rock Hill as part of a publicity campaign to garner public support of his proposal to lower the state income tax.
Sanford talks taxes in Rock Hill Relief plan would benefit blue-collar workers, small-business owners, according to governor By Andrew Dys The Herald (Published April 16‚ 2003) Gov. Mark Sanford pitched his income-tax relief plan Tuesday in Rock Hill to the two groups he says would benefit the most -- small-business owners and the blue-collar men and women with names sewn on their shirts who work in those small businesses. Sanford wants to cut state income taxes from 7 percent to 5 percent, which he claims will spur economic growth. However, Sanford's ideas won't matter if the General Assembly doesn't act on them. As part of a multi-city, statewide tour hatched to elicit support, Sanford brought his ideas to Hall Dielectric Machinery, located near the Rock Hill/York County Airport. Company employees would stand to save about $75,000 yearly in income taxes under Sanford's proposal, said office manager Eve Hawthorne. Citing statistics from the American Legislative Exchange Council, Sanford said the 15 states that lowered income taxes in the past decade saw higher increases in both job growth and personal income than the 10 states that raised income taxes. Small business employs 97 percent of S.C. workers, Sanford said. "The backbone of job creation is small business," Sanford said. Sanford used the Rock Hill company as an example of small businesses that provide jobs and income, yet wants the tax burden lowered to make York County more competitive with nearby places like Charlotte. Hall Dielectric, which moved from New York 12 years ago to escape higher taxes, employs 23 people who make air mattresses and machines to seal plastic products. Company President Bill Hall Jr. said lowering the tax burden on businesses is crucial to small business success in the regional, national and even world markets. Cheap labor overseas caused Hall to scale back his work force from 35 people to 23 last year. "I just was on a trip to Myrtle Beach, and you can see along the road there and back building after building that is empty," Hall said. "We need to do something to keep work here." The state Senate Finance committee has passed Sanford's tax idea along to the full Senate, Sanford communications director Chris Drummond said, but the House has not taken up the issue. The tax-relief plan has a political catch, too: Sanford has told the General Assembly he will approve a proposed cigarette-tax increase that would pay for the state's Medicaid program shortfall if the two-percent income tax cut is phased in over 15 years. About $400 million in matching federal dollars for Medicaid hinges on state funding of Medicaid, Sanford said Tuesday. Contact Andrew Dys at 329-4065 or mailto:adys@heraldonline.com

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