Fla. Senate supports DeSantis tax-cut idea

TALLAHASSEE — Amid signs that Republican supermajorities in the state House and Senate could be cooling on Gov. Ron DeSantis, a top ally unveiled a tax-cut plan that gives new life to one of the governor's priorities.

Senate Finance and Tax chair Blaise Ingoglia, a former Florida GOP chair, proposed a tax-reduction package Monday that embraces DeSantis' call for imposing a one-year exemption on property insurance tax and fees for policyholders with homes valued up to $750,000.

House Republican leadership had shunned this DeSantis idea, clouding its prospects for the legislative session, which is set to end in three weeks. Instead, the House centered its $698.3 million of reductions on cutting the state's business rent tax.

But the House Appropriations Committee added its own version Tuesday of DeSantis' property insurance break, following up on the Senate plan. The House proposal would cover all homesteaded property in Florida, and add as much as $350 million to the size of the tax-break package.

Other than this tussle over which big-ticket tax to cut, the House and Senate largely agree on a cluster of consumer-oriented, sales-tax holidays to round out this year's package of reductions.

DeSantis avoids legislative snub

But for the governor, the Senate putting the property insurance provision in play avoids what could have been an embarrassing snub by fellow Republicans in the Legislature.

Since DeSantis ended his lagging run for the Republican presidential nomination last month, his hold over lawmakers appears more tenuous now than at virtually any time in his six years as governor.

But the move by Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, helps blunt that perception – at least while tax and budget negotiations fill the legislative session's closing weeks. The Senate tax cut was approved Tuesday by the Finance and Tax Committee.

"I believe every little bit helps and reducing the taxes associated with flood insurance and property insurance premiums is important for families who are trying to make ends meet as our insurance market strengthens," Ingoglia said.

The Senate, in its $901 million tax cut plan, also includes a one-year elimination of a 1.75% tax on flood insurance premiums, modeled on another DeSantis proposal. The House had sidestepped that as well.

Democrats have been attacking DeSantis over property insurance

Democrats have repeatedly blistered DeSantis over the cost of homeowners' insurance in Florida, where the $6,000 annual average is the nation's highest.

The proposals outlined by DeSantis and now the Senate represent some savings – about $231 on the average homeowners' policy and just over $17 on flood insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

But Mark Friedlander, a spokesman for the industry-supported organization, Monday said those reductions are certain to be less than annual increases already facing most Florida homeowners and businesses.

"It's minimal," Friedlander said of the impact of the proposed tax break. "But any reduction is good."

Legislative Republicans have turned thrifty on the governor. Their tax-cutting plans this year are shaping up much smaller than $1.1 billion sought by the governor, who rolled out his proposal in December when his presidential campaign still had gas in the tank.

In his state budget and tax-cut recommendations, DeSantis borrowed themes from his campaign, casting Florida as a financial beacon compared to states like California and New York, both led by Democratic governors.

DeSantis also ridiculed President Biden and the federal government by drawing contrasts with how his administration had reduced Florida's debt.

Now, instead of reaching for more lofty goals at a national level, DeSantis may have to settle for twisting arms in Tallahassee to get his tax-cut goal across the finish line.

"The tax package is a little smaller. We're still negotiating a lot of that stuff between us and the governor's office," said Rep. Stan McClain, R-Ocala, chair of the House's Ways and Means Committee.

Belt-tightening is on minds of GOP leaders in Legislature

House and Senate leaders say their belt-tightening stems from economic forecasts that show incoming state revenue slowing in coming years. Federal COVID aid, which helped fuel state spending the past three years, is disappearing.

Also taking a hit, though, may be DeSantis' star power, which drove much of his success with the Legislature.

The governor pulled lawmakers into special sessions to limit COVID-19 restrictions, craft huge financial aid packages for the insurance industry, and strip Walt Disney World of its self-governing status in advance of his presidential kick-off last year.

Even during his campaign, lawmakers gathered last November for a special session to enact DeSantis-backed state sanctions on Iran in the wake of Hamas' invasion of Israel.

But since ending his presidential campaign after a distant, second-place finish behind former President Donald Trump in Iowa, in which he did not win a single county, DeSantis' hold over the Legislature seems less compelling.

No go on casino a sign of distance from DeSantis

The first sign of that may have come earlier this month, when House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, shot down the governor's advances aimed at revisiting state gambling laws, to let Jeffrey Soffer, developer of Miami Beach's Fontainebleau Hotel resort, relocate a pari-mutuel license to open a casino there.

Soffer has poured money into the political committees of Florida Republicans and also flew DeSantis on his jet. But Renner was a no-sale on changing existing law on how pari-mutuel licenses can be moved, fearing it could disrupt the state's gambling compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

"My priority, and I think we're all kind of on the same page, is that we get the Seminole (gambling) compact up and running, get it functioning well, and not stub our toe on something that would breach that – and there are some bills out there that I think would breach that," Renner said, referring to the state's 2021 agreement with the tribe.

The state is expected to draw $500 million annually from the tribe, in exchange for giving it exclusive control of sports betting in Florida.

Iowa kept DeSantis away from session lead-up

DeSantis had been relatively quiet on Florida issues heading into the 2024 session. He was campaigning in Iowa leading up to the legislative session's Jan. 9 start, just six days before the nation's first presidential nominating contest put an end to his White House hopes.

Since quitting the race Jan. 21, DeSantis has weighed in by demanding more restrictions on the homeless in cities across the state and for further refining of last year's law that allows for removal of inappropriate material from classrooms.

The measure has led to charges that the state is banning books and criticism of school officials who've pulled literary classics from bookshelves.

Both efforts look like they may gain support from lawmakers.

But Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, also last week declared dead some top priorities of the Florida Republican Party, including bans on the government display of Pride flags and removing Confederate monuments.

DeSantis' 'war on woke' gets wake-up call

Passidomo's cease-fire in the war on woke seems to go directly at the politics that DeSantis had made central to his brand. The session's final weeks could be a test of how much political vigor the governor carries.

"He still has that veto pen and he still has leverage about what will move forward in the budget," said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa.

"The governor is not looming as large (as) the figure ... he was the last two legislative sessions, when he was at the height of his power and national popularity," she added. "Now that he's no longer a player on the national stage, we are certainly feeling that impact in Florida."

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network's Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter at @JKennedyReport.