COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina's poor economic outlook and current budget problems haven't stopped several lawmakers from talking tax cuts.

"We have to cut spending," Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston, said. "The way you do that is by cutting off the supply of money to government."

Circumstances have done a good job of that already. A state shortfall of about $340 million has forced all agencies to cut their budgets by 5 percent. Some projections have South Carolina starting next year by as much as $800 million in the hole.

Still, there are proposals in the House and the Senate to cut everything from property taxes to sales taxes to income taxes.

Altman says he hasn't filed such a bill, but supports those who have.

Gov. Mark Sanford has pledged not to raise any new taxes. However, he said last week in his State of the State speech he would support a cigarette tax if there were a corresponding tax reduction elsewhere.

However, Rep. Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said this may not be the best year to cut any taxes. Harrell, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee and part of the powerful State Budget and Control Board, said he would back passing tax cuts now that take effect later.

"It may be possible to talk about a long-range phase-in of some of these ideas, but cutting taxes this year will be hard," he said.

Harrell's Ways and Means panel will see all House tax-cut bills. The committee will likely first pass a draft state budget before considering those proposals, meaning it could be several weeks before their fate is known.

The House proposals include one by Rep. Ralph Davenport, R-Boiling Springs, to remove the state's 5 percent corporate tax in favor of a sliding scale from 1.5 percent to 5 percent. He also wants to lower all personal income tax rates from between 2.5-to-7 percent to 1.5 percent-to-6 percent.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, wants to extend the homestead exemption from property taxes to mobile homes owned by those age 62 or older instead of the current starting age of 65.

Rep. Herb Kirsh, D-Clover, wants to reduce the state's 5 percent tax on food by 1 percent for five years until it's eliminated.

Kirsch agrees with Altman that the time for tax cuts is now.

"My theory is that the more money you give government, the bigger government is," Kirsh said. "I don't want too big a government."

There are similar bills in the Senate, including one by Charleston Republican Sen. John Kuhn to limit home property taxes levied by local governments to a maximum 1 percent of the home's assessed value.

Information from: The State