Floridians could still get a reduction in their cable-TV and cell-phone bills as part of a new House tax-cut package, but the overall plan likely will fall short of the tax cuts sought by Gov. Rick Scott.
Also, Scott’s call to permanently lift the sales tax on the purchase of college textbooks may be altered, as the House is repackaging a tax-cut package (HB 7141) from the regular legislative session to help develop a budget that lawmakers say will include higher health-care costs.
A $400 million-plus tax cut plan is scheduled to be presented to the House Finance & Tax Committee today, the second day of a special legislative session. The proposal is expected to reach the House floor Thursday, said House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island.
During the regular session, the House proposed lopping $690 million in taxes and fees, with a reduction in the communications-services tax on cable-TV and cell-phone bills anticipated to account for $470.9 million of that amount.
The initial tax-cut package was larger than a $673 million plan Scott requested and touted in television ads.
However, as the House and the Senate use the special legislative session to negotiate a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1, a leaner House tax-cut approach is likely.
The changes are expected to shave overall savings from the communications-services tax to a little more than $200 million, said House Finance & Tax Chairman Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach.
The Senate is considering four bills that include features of the House tax-cut package, including a cut in the communications-services tax (SB 4-A).
The initial Senate proposal maintains the higher communications-services tax savings sought by Scott.
But the author of the bill, Senate Finance and Tax Chairwoman Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, said Monday that while she had not seen the House proposal or spoken recently with Gaetz, the lowered numbers appear to be “more realistic” in the current budget situation.
As part of the tax cuts, the House and Senate continue to look at reducing a sales tax on commercial real-estate leases, and Gaetz said the House may be able to make the cut deeper than initially planned.