House Ways and Means chairman Brian White filed a bill Thursday to cut income taxes for the average S.C. taxpayer by $48 a year.

The move, designed to appeal to Gov. Nikki Haley, comes as S.C. House members plan next week to start debating competing road-repair plans, including one pushed by Haley.

But the proposed tax cut may not be enough for Haley, who has said she wants to see a “massive” cut in exchange for raising gas taxes to pay for road repairs.

House members defended White’s smaller tax-cut proposal as affordable.

White, R-Anderson, said that if his tax-cut proposal can be married with a House committee’s roads bill, it could help pass the roads bill, sponsored by state Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York.

White’s proposal would adjust the state’s tax brackets over two years, resulting in a $51 million income tax cut for taxpayers.

White’s proposal would apply the state’s top-end 7 percent income tax on taxable income of more than $16,350 a year, once phased-in. Now, the 7 percent tax rate kicks in at $14,700.

The average taxpayer would get a $48 tax break under White’s proposal.

Haley has proposed cutting the state’s 7 percent tax rate by 2 percentage points. In exchange, she proposed a 10-cent-a-gallon increase to the state’s gas tax, adding she would veto any tax hike that was not offset by a “massive” tax cut.