Scott was on the House floor last Thursday when the chamber unanimously approved his top election-year priority, a rollback in vehicle-registration fees authorized by the Republican-dominated Legislature in 2009, when Crist just happened to be at the helm. The bill, which will save motorists roughly $20 to $25 per vehicle, will go into effect Sept. 1, just before voters head to the polls to decide whether to give Scott four more years in the governor’s mansion.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz broke the code about the politics behind the measure (SB 156) during floor debate Thursday evening.
“We’re doing this because one governor wants to use this issue against a former governor in the election,” Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, said.
Scott wasted no time in making Moskowitz’s prediction a reality.
Scott quickly blamed the vehicle-fee hike, imposed as lawmakers were trying to close a billion-dollar budget gap caused by the state’s prolonged economic slump, on Crist, who’s trying to get his old job back as a Democrat and, right now, is Scott’s chief opponent in the race.
“This is a tax increase that Charlie Crist passed in 2009,” Scott said. “The right thing happened tonight, to reduce these taxes and putting more money back in Floridians’ hands. … I look forward to getting it on my desk and signing it to reduce the tax that Charlie Crist passed in 2009.”
Scott’s campaign used social media to crow about the rollback.
“Thanks to Gov Scott’s leadership, @CharlieCrist’s 2009 tax hikes on car reg fees repealed unanimously,” his campaign Twitter account messaged Friday morning.
Individual registration fees will be reduced by $20 to $25, depending on the size of the vehicle. The bill is expected to cost the state $309 million during the upcoming 2014-15 budget year, and about $395 million annually in future years.
Legislative budget writers have more than $1 billion extra to spend this year, and Scott wants $500 million of that to go toward tax and fee cuts.
But how they’ll carve up the remaining cuts remains to be seen.
The House Finance and Tax Committee on Thursday introduced a package that includes tax breaks for gym memberships, cement mixing drums and car seats. The House plan also features four sales-tax holidays, including the popular back-to-school tax cut. The House proposal would also give Scott his requested increase in the corporate-income tax exemption, bringing it from $50,000 to $75,000.
But the Senate isn’t sold, at least not yet.
Senate Finance and Tax Chairwoman Dorothy Hukill’s plan includes a school supplies and clothing tax holiday that is shorter than the House’s version, along with a reduction in a tax imposed on cable and phone services.
“There are lots of different ideas out there. We’re only in the third week. There’s a long way to go,” Hukill, R-Port Orange, said.
source: The News Service of Florida
