The Florida House passed a tax cut package crafted by the Florida Senate Monday morning, aiming to save Floridians nearly $430 million in a variety of areas, ranging from cellphone taxes to yacht repairs.
Earlier in the day, the Senate also approved the tax cut package with a 34-2 vote. The Senate then sent the package over to the House where it passed with overwhelming support by a 91-2 vote.
Among the provisions provided for in the package is a 10-day back-to-school holiday. The 10-day period is an increase from the House’s original proposal of a three-day holiday where shoppers wouldn’t have to pay sales tax on items like clothing less than $100 and school supplies less than $15.
The tax holiday would start Aug. 7 and would be one of the longest back-to-school tax periods since the concept was introduced in 1998.
Another school-related proposal includes a slash of of taxes on college textbooks. The House initially proposed only having the tax-free time during the beginning of each semester, but the Senate proposed extending the tax cuts all year long.
The biggest proposal is a communications-related tax cut totaling $207 million. Cuts would extend to cable, phone and satellite services and should save Floridians with $100 monthly cable bills around $20 over a 12-month period. That cut could start as early as July 1.
The House also approved a tax cut for boat owners -- boat and yacht repairs would be tax-free under the new package.
Other proposals weren’t so lucky, however -- the House’s “Small Business Saturdays” proposal to give shoppers a tax break when shopping at locally-owned businesses didn’t make the final cut in this year’s tax package.
House Speaker Steve Crisafulli called the package a “true collaboration” between the Senate and the House, praising House Finance and Tax Chairman Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, for his work on the cuts.
“Rep. [Matt] Gaetz worked hard with [the] Senate partners,” he said. “We came out of the gate with [the proposal] early ... we compromised and took resources available during the special session.”
HB 33A will now head to Gov. Rick Scott, who is expected to approve the measure, despite it falling short of his original $673 million tax cut plan.
Still, Scott approved of the Legislature’s efforts to extend tax cuts to Floridians, calling it “the best thing we can do” to keep Florida’s economy growing.
“Florida’s budget had an over $1 billion budget surplus this year because of the hard work of Floridians, and this tax cut package will send more than $400 million back to the people who earned it,” Scott said in a statement.
Speaker Crisafulli also indicated budget negotiations were going well with the Senate and explained to House members he expected to return for a vote on the state budget Friday.
Special Session A is scheduled to officially convene Saturday, June 20.
Reach Tampa-based reporter Allison Nielsen at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen
