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SC Gov Will Plug Nose And Support Tax Break For Amazon

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says she opposes a sales tax break for online retailer Amazon, but won't stand in the way of it. She says her hands are tied because previous Governor Mark Sanford signed a deal with Amazon promising to make the online retailer exempt from sales taxes if it opened a distribution center in South Carolina. The distribution center would bring more than a thousand jobs to Lexington County, but Amazon has hinted it will not open the center without the tax exemption. Haley doesn't like it, but says she won't "let South Carolina be the state that doesn't keep its promises." "If the bill comes to my desk, it will become law," said Haley at a press conference in Columbia Wednesday. "Having said that, it is bad policy anytime you change the tax code and pick one business over another." South Carolina lawmakers have yet to debate a measure that would grant Amazon a sales tax exemption. Turning away as many as 3,000 new Amazon jobs would be difficult for state officials with South Carolina's unemployment rate at 10.2 percent.