South Carolina Governor: Don’t Let Opportunities for Tax Cuts, Other Reforms Pass By

South Carolina Governor Calls For General Assembly To Act Quickly On Tax Relief, Dot Reform, Workers’ Comp Reform

Columbia, S.C. – May 22, 2007 – With time running out to pass a number of substantive reforms in the 2007 legislative session, Governor Mark Sanford today called on the General Assembly to not spend all of the recent $240 million windfall and to finish work on income tax relief, Department of Transportation reform and workers’ compensation reform in the next nine working days.

So far this session, both the House and Senate have passed versions of DOT reform and workers’ compensation reform, but time is running out for differences in those bills to be ironed out before the legislative session ends. As well, the House has dedicated far more money to tax relief – a net $81 million compared to only a net $23 million in the Senate – from the $1.5 billion in new money coming into Columbia this year.

Today, the governor said it was critical for the General Assembly to pass both pieces of reform legislation, and to return more dollars to South Carolina’s hardworking taxpayers.

“The ideas of spending restraint, DOT reform, workers’ compensation reform and significant tax relief are too important for them not to be dealt with in the next three weeks,” Gov. Sanford said. “What history shows, though, is that once a budget is passed, the session is essentially over, and the chance for any other meaningful reforms is slim. It’s also unfortunate that time after time this year, progress on each of these fronts has slowed to a crawl in the Senate, and that’s something the people of South Carolina just can’t afford this close to the end of the legislative session. I appreciate the House’s willingness so far to stand firm on these issues, and I’d urge the Senate to do the same.”