CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia would gradually erase its tax on food and hand its public employees a permanent raise if lawmakers can find a way to enhance a pair of proposals from acting Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin.

Tomblin's agenda this session includes bills that would pay employees a one-time sum and reduce the sales tax on groceries from 3 cents per dollar spent to 2 cents. The measures are among 26 items proposed by Tomblin, and most had seen some traction as the session enters its final half.

But the House Finance Committee is crunching the numbers in the hope to take the tax and pay measures further, Chairman Harry Keith White said Friday.

The state would need to have enough annual revenue for a permanent pay raise. Leftover surplus provides the $47.5 million needed for the one-time pay boost proposed by Tomblin. Teachers would receive a payment of $800. Other school workers would get $500, while state workers would receive at least that much through a boost equal to 2 percent of their pay.

Tomblin's tax cut, meanwhile, would reduce general revenues by around $26 million annually. Ending it entirely would save taxpayers around $75 million a year, administration officials estimate. Tomblin has questioned the wisdom of such a cut at time when the state's budget picture, while stable, continues to brace for future budget deficits.

The latest six-year forecast projects a $122.9 million gap between revenues and spending for the 2012-13 budget year. Its projected shortfalls grow to $226.9 million by the 2015-16 budget year. Increasing spending further through pay raises while reducing general revenues would require budget officials to recalculate that forecast.

But White, D-Mingo, believes the state could afford gradually ending the food tax. Within the past five years, it has gradually reduced the rate from 6 percent. The state could also refuse future cuts unless certain financial conditions are met, White said.

The state has scheduled cuts to its corporate net income tax rate, for instance, that depend on the size of its emergency reserves. White said he's looking at surplus levels as the possible trigger, to ensure the state can afford the cuts.

Among Tomblin's other agenda proposals, at least 20 have cleared at least one legislative committee. Two have passed, both relating to this year's court-ordered special election for governor.

Last week, the House passed a bill that would require yearly evaluations for educators.

Also last week, the House Education Committee endorsed its version of Tomblin's measure on school dropouts. The committee amended that bill to make this anti-dropout effort part of the state's innovation zone program. Administration officials also believe the committee amendment increases the role of the state Board of Education at the expense of community-based organizations.

Some of Tomblin's proposals appear to have stalled, however: Bills addressing low-performing schools and alternatives for certifying teachers, and a proposal to use a reverse-auction process for bulk state purchases.

Committees have begun advancing various Tomblin agenda proposals, including a measure that would extend a program that offers tax credits to encourage private sector contributions to nonprofit community programs.

A Tomblin bill that would give the private sector a greater voice on state tourism matters has received initial committee approval. So has his bid to elevate the Division of Veterans' Affairs to the cabinet-level Department of Veteran's Assistance. The Senate version has been amended to speed up the change while denying the agency's top post a pay raise, however.

Lawmakers are scheduled to vote this week on two other measures from Tomblin's list. One would give Marshall and West Virginia universities more time to find funding for the "Bucks for Brains'' research endowment programs. The other would boost the federally funded portion of the current state budget by $247 million, mostly for the Medicaid program.