Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested on Wednesday that he would veto House Speaker Danny Perez's plan to cut sales taxes, accusing the Speaker of supporting a "Florida last" tax package.
DeSantis's comments at a Tampa roundtable event centered on his desire for a sweeping property tax cut—a plan that he says would be stymied by Perez's dueling proposal to cut sales taxes instead. The tax battle between the GOP leaders marks the latest example of conservative infighting, and heralds what's likely to be a highly contentious continuation of the legislative session.
The Session, which will go into overtime starting next week, will include Perez's plan to permanently reduce the sales tax from 6% to 5.25% and will involve a 37-person committee to debate the best way to cut property taxes. It will not include DeSantis's ask that every homesteaded Floridian receive a $1,000 rebate from the state.
"We need to have a Florida-first tax policy, and that means standing up for our own people before we're standing up for the tourists and the foreigners," DeSantis said Wednesday. "I look forward to working with the Senate and relevant House members to have a good Florida-first tax package.
"Any Florida last tax package is gonna be dead on arrival," he added.
Perez and DeSantis have had a rocky relationship since the new Speaker took office late last year. Since January, he's led the charge to squash DeSantis's call for a special session, overrode multiple vetoes, supported lawmakers' investigation into First Lady Casey DeSantis's charity, and prioritized a sales tax cut over DeSantis's property tax pleas.
In a bitter response to DeSantis's biting remarks, Perez accused the governor of deploying "bizarre" attacks and endorsing a Gavin Newsom-style method of "free" money giveaways.
"The House has negotiated a tax package that will put $30 billion back into the economy over the next ten years. If the Governor wants to veto that, he's welcome to explain to the voters why he thinks they do not deserve actual and meaningful tax relief," Perez wrote.
"Maybe the truth is he just wants to spend all of it and be the only one who decides how," he added.
Florida lawmakers will take up two of Perez's sales tax cut ideas in the extended session, which was called because the two chambers couldn't agree on a budget for the upcoming fiscal year. DeSantis has repeatedly lambasted the sales tax cut as a gift to tourists and non-residents, noting that 20% of Florida's sales tax revenue comes from out-of-state visitors.
"It's a shifting of the burden away from the tourist and toward more Florida residents," he said, juxtaposing how property tax cuts would exclusively benefit homesteaded Floridians.
A serious property tax cut would have to be approved through a constitutional amendment, which DeSantis has advocated for since before the legislative session began. In the interim, he's suggested a $1,000 rebate for any Floridian with a homestead.
