Democrats in the South Carolina Senate are trying to block a plan that Gov. Sanford says would cut your taxes and create new jobs. The Democrats say the plan would actually cripple the state for years.

The House has already passed the governor's income tax cut plan. It would lower the state's top income tax rate from 7 percent to 4.75 percent over ten years. But the cuts would come only in years with at least 3 percent growth, so there would be no cuts to existing budgets, just less new money.

Gov. Sanford says, "We lost 51,000 manufacturing jobs in South Carolina since 2001. You know, this is a real problem. And I think we can sit back and do nothing. That's certainly one alternative. But I don't think that's an acceptable alternative to somebody who's without a job right now in South Carolina." 

He says the income tax cut would help small businesses, which would then be able to hire more workers.

The plan is now in the state Senate, where Democrats vow to filibuster to kill it. That would also block action on the other major bills that need to be dealt with before lawmakers adjourn for the year June 3rd.

Clarendon County Sen. John Land says the plan would be disastrous. "The state of South Carolina is going to be damaged beyond any belief that any one of you may have," he said on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon.

That's because the state wouldn't be able to spend any more on education, which is already under-funded, or on health care.

He says the 3 percent growth needed to trigger the tax cut would mean $150 million in new money. He says $80 million of that would be eaten by Medicaid, just by inflation and growth in the system. Another $50 million would be taken by education just to maintain the system where it is right now. That wouldn't leave enough to hire more state troopers, give state employees raises or spend more on education to improve schools.

Gov. Sanford says, "At some point you've got to say, 'When's enough?' I mean, when do the taxpayers get some of their own money back to their pocket to build the businesses that they're working on, to pay for all the things that go with raising a family?" 

When asked, "When's enough?", Sen. Land answered, "I have been in this General Assembly for 30 years. Not one person has ever complained to me about the rate of state income taxes." 

He says most of the tax cut would go to the wealthy, at the expense of school children and sick people.