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Article published Feb 2, 2005
House braces for tax battle
ROBERT W.
DALTON
Staff Writer
The state House will take up Gov. Mark
Sanford's income tax reduction proposal today, and the Democratic minority plans
to put the squeeze on.Sanford's plan calls for reducing the tax from 7 percent
to 4.75 percent, using growth to pay for the lost revenue. Reductions would
occur only when the Board of Economic Advisors predicts growth of 2
percent.House Minority Leader Harry Ott, D-Matthews, said there are several
amendments on the table that center on the 2 percent trigger."Two percent growth
is not sufficient to meet pay for the reduction in the state income tax," Ott
said. "A 4 percent trigger would take care of inflation and population
growth."But two other amendments would not allow for the reduction even with a 4
percent trigger unless other obligations were met, Ott said.The first would
require the Legislature to fully fund the property tax relief act it passed in
1993, and the second would require fully funding the Education Finance Act -- a
formula that determines the amount of state money that should be spent per
pupil.Because of lean times, the General Assembly has not provided the full
amount required by the EFA in several years.Asking to fully fund the property
tax relief is a reversal of course for the Democrats. Saying it would provide an
additional $249 million, they made an unsuccessful bid to eliminate it during
House budget negotiations last year."We need to meet the commitments we've
already voted to put in place before we make another commitment that we can't
pay for," Ott said.Sanford has pitched reducing the state income tax as a way to
create jobs and attract wealthy retirees to the state.Will Folks, a Sanford
spokesman,said the 2 percent growth trigger is more than adequate."This debate
boils down to divergent philosophies," Folks said. "One is, 'let's grow the
government,' the other is 'let's not grow the government and focus on our
economy instead.' The second group is where the governor has been throughout his
public life."There are some folks, Rep. Ott included, who believe that
government has all the answers and that more money will do in a pinch if it
doesn't have the answer. We believe differently," Folks said.State Rep. Scott
Talley, R-Spartanburg, said the Democrats were trying to force Republicans to
vote against programs they traditionally have supported."It's an end-around and
an attempt to steal issues that Republicans have traditionally addressed and are
more than willing to address this year," Talley said. "What will come out
(today) is you'll see a lot of people who are for fully funding property tax
relief who never did it when they had the chance before."House Majority Leader
Jim Merrill, R-Daniel Island, said the Democrats could be surprised by the
Republicans' reaction."They might want to watch out, because they might get
exactly what they're hoping for and find the whole train coming down the track
at them," Merrill said.Robert W. Dalton can be reached at 562-7274 or
bob.dalton@shj.com.