Katrina Shealy Mulls “Major” Income Tax Cut

The lone female member of the South Carolina Senate is poised to become the only lawmaker in Columbia proposing anything resembling substantive tax relief.

Or so we’re told …

Katrina Shealy – an independent petition candidate who knocked off one of the State Senate’s top fiscal liberals in 2012 – is preparing what sources describe as a “major” income tax relief proposal. And while Shealy wouldn’t discuss specifics of the plan with us – or even acknowledge she was filing a tax bill – her response to an inquiry from FITS’ founding editor Will Folks (a.k.a. Sic Willie) was revealing.

“I haven’t filed anything yet but when I do I will let you know,” Shealy said.

Everybody catch the “yet” and “when” in there?

According to our sources, Shealy’s contemplated legislation will propose “major reductions” in the state’s income tax – which is one of the highest in the nation. In fact in addition to being punitively high, South Carolina’s top marginal rate kicks in at $14,000 – meaning virtually all income earners are stuck paying that high rate.

That’s obviously a recipe for disaster for a state with the fifth-lowest income levels in America. It’s also a disaster for South Carolina’s real “business community,” the vast majority of which is comprised of small businesses and partnerships which pay the individual levy.

So, how much is Shealy going to cut? And how fast? And more importantly, is she going to fall victim to the doctrine of “revenue neutrality,” which rejects the stimulative economic benefit of tax cuts and insists any income reduction must be “paid for” with a tax hike elsewhere in government?

We’ll have to wait and see, but a Senate staffer familiar with the details of Shealy’s proposal swears it will be right up our alley.

“You’re going to love it,” our source said, referring to this website’s longstanding support for eliminating the individual income tax.

We’ll see …

This website endorsed Shealy last November (well actually our founding editor’s adorable daughter did the honors). Our hope? That she would aggressively champion pro-taxpayer, pro-free market legislation. Obviously we’re eager to see what she rolls out.

“Republicans” at the S.C. State House have proposed laughable income tax cuts so far this year. S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley proposed a ridiculously inconsequential $29 cut for the average filer in her FY 2013-14 budget (assuming there was a surplus), while S.C. Rep. Tommy Stringer (RINO-Greenville) has proposed a similarly weak $86 cut for the average filer.

Pathetic … in fact Stringer has since proposed a 30 percent increase in the state’s gasoline tax, along with a plan to impose annual increases in future years based on inflation.

And these politicians call themselves “Republicans?”

Hopefully Shealy will propose a real tax cut, not more of this same nonsense. Either way, we’ll be sure to let you know what she proposes as soon as we get our hands on the legislation.

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