Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed support during a Thursday press conference for Senate President Ben Albritton’s plan to permanently exempt sales taxes on all clothing worth $75 or less.
Both legislative leaders and DeSantis have pushed for tax cuts in different forms, with neither the Albritton nor House Speaker Daniel Perez taking up the governor’s idea of a $1,000 rebate for homeowners with homestead exemptions.
However, DeSantis said he agreed with a narrower sales tax cut over Perez’s plan to permanently cut sales taxes by .75%, which is estimated to lower tax collections by $5 billion.
“If you’re going to do sales tax, I think I agree with the president of the Senate, Albritton,” DeSantis said in the City of Sweetwater Community Center, where he also knocked the House’s condo bill. “If you’re going to do sales tax, target it to things that are going to benefit Floridians.”
The governor has been slamming Perez’s sales tax plan, announced on March 26, for weeks, saying it would help tourists more than the average Floridian.
However, with only a few weeks left in the legislative session and with lawmakers entering budget negotiations, Albritton announced Wednesday his own plan, which the chamber is expected to vote on next week. It comes at a lower price tag than the lower chamber’s, reducing tax collections by $750 million.
“These are necessities too, now, right? … We’re not talking about you know, folks that are tourists that may come in and go buy, you know, a $300 dollar jacket or things like that,” Albritton said Wednesday. “We have aligned this, we believe, at the $75 to where it can help the most number of Floridians.”
Perez didn’t comment directly on the Senate plan on Wednesday, but expressed optimism that the chambers would figure out the $4.4 billion gap between their budgets as speculation grows over whether lawmakers can settle their budget differences in time to adjourn on time on May 2.
–Jackie Llanos, Florida Phoenix
