Jacob Ogles
Tax relief proposals from Senate President Ben Albritton didn’t include a rebate on property taxes proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. But the Senate leader says he isn’t rejecting the idea completely.
In an extended interview with CBS Miami’s Jim DeFede, the Wauchula Republican said he feels the idea needs further analysis.
“We’re going to study this. We’re going to look at it this summer,” Albritton told DeFede. “We’re going to dig into it, and we’re going to try to figure out what’s the best mechanism to provide relief where it needs to happen.”
Albritton has leaned into a proposal to eliminate sales tax completely on clothing and shoes priced at or under $75. While the current Senate proposal would end the levy on those goods for a year, the chamber will explore the possibility of the cuts being recurring.
He said there was significant intention in putting the exemptions only on lower-priced goods.
“We were looking at — call them necessities, right?” Albritton said. “That really is it. So, at 75 bucks … pajamas, T-shirts, underwear. You know, it’s not a $300 jacket or something like that, right? It’s the things that everybody has to utilize.”
The approach differs from Speaker Daniel Perez’s plans for sales tax reform. The House leader has proposed cutting the state sales tax across the board from 6% to 5.25%. But Albritton said that may be too much for appropriators to swallow.
“Is it going to be hard to do a $5 billion tax reduction recurring with sales tax? That’s going to be hard because that’s going to impact the budget pretty substantially,” Albritton said.
He told the news outlet that Florida doesn’t have significant waste that needs to be cut from state spending.
“You know, Florida is not Washington, right? They are DOGE-ing Washington, and I’m thankful they are, because the spending up there has been out of control. We’ve done a very good job in Florida,” he said.
“The Governor’s recommendations, the House budget and the Senate budget are all, per capita, less than we spent last year. We’re a growing state, so when we make these decisions, there is a minimum threshold of what the state budget needs to be to make sure that the garbage is being picked up, you know? That the power is being delivered. All the things that state government is required to do, right? I don’t know where that sweet spot is.”
