COLUMBIA -- Gov. Mark Sanford released his proposed budget for the coming year in Columbia Wednesday morning.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman of Florence said the plan includes about $7 million for the governor's plan to reduce state income taxes.

Leatherman said the plan would increase education funding by about $400 per student next year. The $2,200 per student that Sanford proposes is still less than the more than $2,300 per student that a state formula says is needed.

Leatherman said it will take time to analyze Sanford's proposal.

Greenville Sen. Mike Fair said the plan includes $7 million to hire more prison guards. Fair says increasing the number of guards is the single most important need for the state's prisons.

The 346-page budget also calls for the state to spend $7 million over six years to lower income taxes from 7 percent to just under 5 percent.

Overall, Sanford's plan would save the state an estimated $162 million.

Other parts of the proposed budget include:

Phasing out the University of South Carolina branch campus in Union over the next three years

Reducing administration at the state's universities and technical colleges

Instituting federal guidelines for state employee travel reimbursement

Reducing the commission lottery ticket sellers receive from 7 percent to 6 percent

Adding $20 million to aid failing schools

Increasing funding for Medicaid by $47 million

"I think this budget is about four things -- putting our state's fiscal house in order, limiting the future growth of government, setting funding priorities and not raising taxes," Sanford said in a press release.

Gov. Mark Sanford's Executive Budget Proposal

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