Columbia, S.C. - April 13, 2005 - Gov. Mark Sanford used the occasion of former President Thomas Jefferson's birthday to announce he will sign into law a bill advancing one of their shared ideals of good government - a small business income tax cut that will help slow the growth of government and put more money into our state's economy. The governor will sign the small business income tax cut into law at a bill signing ceremony tomorrow in the Statehouse. He will be joined by House Speaker David Wilkins, several small business owners and other guests.

"If you look at where Thomas Jefferson was coming from - and where we're coming from as an administration here in South Carolina - it's all about freeing up the economy and keeping government focused on its core responsibilities," said Gov. Sanford. "I think it's particularly appropriate to announce on Thomas Jefferson's birthday

that we're signing a law to help us do just that."

Jefferson, who was born on April 13, 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia, was a staunch advocate of limited government and lower taxes. In his First Inaugural Address, delivered in Washington D.C. on March 4, 1801, Jefferson said: "A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government."

Tomorrow's bill signing ceremony will take place on the First Floor (Lower Lobby) of the South Carolina Statehouse in downtown Columbia at 11:30 a.m., or immediately upon adjournment of the House of Representatives, whichever time is later.