(The Center Square) — Florida lawmakers returned to Tallahassee to pass a resolution to extend the legislative session on Tuesday, but before returning home, House Speaker Daniel Perez unleashed another broadside at his counterparts in the upper chamber.
The Miami Republican has clashed with Gov. Ron DeSantis since his ascension to the speakership, but now, his biggest beef is with Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, and the Senate leadership. He says they lied to him by breaking a budget agreement.
The agreement would’ve included $2.5 billion in tax relief, about half of what the House originally sought in its proposal to slice the state’s sales tax rate from 6% to 5.25%.
DeSantis said that any sales tax reduction proposal, what he termed “Florida last,” would be “dead on arrival” at his desk.
“I have very strong feelings about the Senate President’s actions. As presiding officers, as elected officials – our word is our bond,” Perez said in his speech. “Breaking our word… breaking a deal… is breaking faith not only with one another but also with our institutions. However, I will not allow these actions to deter us from fulfilling our constitutional obligations.”
“From my designation speech through today, I have time and again returned to one basic overriding principle for this term: State government has too much money, and that excess cash has led us to spend recklessly.”
Perez also issued a warning to the upper chamber.
“If the Senate’s plan is to wait us out, then they will find us unmoved,” Perez said. “We will not be intimidated, and we will not be bullied.”
Albritton told the Senate that DeSantis’ promise to veto any sales tax cut forced the upper chamber to pull out of the deal.
“I know many of you share concerns with both the number and the policy of that framework and instead favor targeted tax relief that benefits growing families and seniors aging with dignity,” Albritton said.
The Senate president also said his membership was concerned about a recurring $2.5 billion tax cut in light of both budgetary issues in future years and eliminating the ability for lawmakers to enact property tax cuts that DeSantis supports.
The House has convened a select committee to investigate property tax reform.
Perez also said in his speech that the House offered to pass a “lean, critical needs budget with minimal spending and no tax cuts” that would put any extra revenue into the state’s reserves and push any tax relief discussion into next session.
He also offered the elimination of the business rent tax, the communications services tax and the state’s gross receipts tax, along with an increase in exemption levels for the corporate income tax.
“We remain at the negotiating table because we owe it to the people of Florida to put their interests ahead of our disputes,” Perez said. “We remain open to different means even while we remain committed to our end goal: To reduce the growth of state government spending.”
