| Sanford markets tax-cut agenda Governor says small shops will benefit NORTH AUGUSTA - Strolling through SMS SportsWorld on Monday, Gov. Mark Sanford picked up a baby's tennis shoe no larger than his palm, a symbolic gesture in light of the tiny gains his economic-stimulus and tax-reduction plan is making. The Republican governor wants to drop the income tax from 7 percent to 5.9 percent next year and add a 68-cent per pack tax to cigarettes and a 5 percent sales tax to lottery sales. Mr. Sanford, continuing a promotional tour for his plan on the same day President Bush was in Greer touting the economic benefits of the federal income tax cut, contends that lowering the income tax would put more money in consumers' pockets, allowing small businesses to hire more employees and open new stores. "Turning (the economy) around is simply rooted in small business," the governor told a crowd of reporters and visitors at the store. The governor's plan would also reform workers' compensation, curb rising health care costs, encourage banks to give more loans to small businesses and increase state government spending. Now, Mr. Sanford said, the state buys almost half its goods from out-of-state suppliers. Bobby Sheridan, the owner of SMS Sportsworld, employs eight people at his North Augusta store, which sells items ranging from uniforms to college pennants. He can't afford to provide heath insurance to his staff and said workers' compensation bills stifle his store's growth. "The governor's right. If you reduce the income tax, you'll take in more revenue," Mr. Sheridan said. "If his plan is as simple as he said, I don't see how anybody couldn't support it." However, legislators, including some from his own party, are skeptical about cutting back state revenue in light of a budget deficit of up to $400 million. "I don't know if we can afford to do this or not," Rep. Robert "Skipper" Perry, R-Aiken, said in a telephone interview. "I just think the timing isn't right." House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said last week that changes to the state's tax system won't come until Medicaid, which could be underfunded by more than $100 million, is reorganized. However, state Rep. Don Smith, R-North Augusta, who toured SMS with the governor Monday, questioned attaching such strings to the plan. Mr. Smith agreed that Medicaid needed reform, saying the system is unorganized and inefficient. But he also said talk about holding up the governor's plan until it was reformed comes at an "odd" time. "I think it's time we worked a little closer with him," Mr. Smith said. "If we bring in good business and industry, we're going to solve a lot of our problems with education and Medicaid." Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 279-6895 or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.
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