BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford laid out his priorities for the upcoming legislative session Thursday, re-emphasizing his plans to reduce income taxes and restructure state government.

"If you boil it all down, we have a jobs problem, an income problem, a growth problem in South Carolina. Three real big problems," Sanford said during a Rotary Club meeting. Lowering income taxes could help all three woes, he said.

Last year, Sanford's plan to lower the state's top 7 percent income tax rate to 4.75 over several years was marooned in the Legislature and died with adjournment in June. Legislators criticized the concept because it would directly benefit only those in the top half of the state's income groups.

The governor said lower tax rates are critical with international trade cutting into U.S. jobs and lower income taxes are key to improving the bottom lines of small businesses, which account for 97 percent of the jobs in the state.

Sanford also said the state government structure is convoluted. "We have a system where nobody is accountable," he said.

For instance, he said, South Carolina is the only state with a Budget and Control Board. Steered by members of the legislative and executive branches, the board is responsible for overseeing much of the day-to-day operations of government. While the agency controls state property and buildings, Sanford says it has not been able to provide an accounting of property the state owns and leases.

Sanford will renew his plan to align health-related agencies and trim the number of statewide elected offices. He wants governors and lieutenant governors to run on a single ticket and wants to give future governors the power to appoint what are now elected offices, including education superintendent, agriculture commissioner, adjutant general and secretary of state.

Sanford's restructuring push earlier this year failed to reach the Senate floor despite help from Senate Judiciary Chairman Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston.

Lawsuit reform and school choice are other top issues, Sanford said, but he spent little time discussing them Thursday.

But "none of it is possible without a change in the Senate rules," he said. "We have near dysfunction with regard to the way the Senate works."

For instance, Senate rules allow for on-again, off-again filibusters that can stretch into weeks. Another rule lets senators walk out of the chambers to block debate on bills they don't like.

The state's budget continues to be a problem, Sanford said. When the books closed on the fiscal year in June, the state had its first surplus in three years, but Sanford says a $321 million headache remains because this year's budget is balanced using money that can't be counted on annually. It includes budget and lottery surpluses as well as other one-time money, such as tougher tax law enforcement.

Because of that, a 2 percent increase in state spending would require tax collections to grow 8 percent next year, Sanford said. At the same time, the state needs to restore money stripped from trust funds during the past few years to balance the budget, he said.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Sanford said.