By Staff Report
The House passed a tax-cut bill Thursday aimed at saving money for campers, gun owners and drinkers of American-made beer.
The House voted 105-2 on the plan (HB 7031), which drew criticism for lifting sales taxes next fiscal year on firearm accessories such as holsters, magazines, muzzle devices, sights and suppressors.
Ways & Means Committee Chairman Rep. Wyman Duggan, R-Jacksonville, said the inclusion of gun accessories relates to a 2024 measure approved by voters that enshrined the right to hunt and fish in the state constitution.
“Obviously, those are activities that the citizens of our state engage in, and as a component of that in our sales tax holiday we wanted to include the accessories that go along with exercising that constitutional right,” Duggan said.
Parkland Democratic Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, who voted against the bill along with House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa, questioned the provision she said supports “the purchase of unlimited fire accessories, unlimited ammunition, unlimited guns.”
“We also have other rights that we have in this country, such as the right to petition,” Hunschofsky said. “I would suggest that maybe making it more accessible for Floridians to go and vote, more accessible for Floridians to have initiatives on the ballot and have their voices heard, would be better uses of tax dollars supporting people’s rights.”
The Senate approved its tax proposal (SB 7046) on Monday. While it contains some similar provisions, key differences between the two measures will have to be negotiated before the legislative session is scheduled to end March 13.
The House plan would revive the hunting, fishing and camping sales tax “holiday” created last year, running from Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. During that period, sales taxes would be lifted on select camping and fishing gear, including tents priced under $200 and fishing rods priced at $75 or less, along with firearms, ammunition, bows and crossbows.
The Senate version would run the holiday from Sept. 7 through the end of the year.
The House proposal also would shift the back-to-school sales tax holiday to July 20 through Aug. 20 instead of all of August, as set in state law last year.
The measure also would lift some taxes for the full fiscal year on American-made beer, exempt certain property leased for Space Florida projects and reduce both the pari-mutuel tax on cardrooms and the tax on slot machine revenue.
Orlando Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani supported a portion of the bill that avoids applying new federal corporate income tax changes tied to President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed last year.
“There’s always so much pressure for us to go along with some of these federal programs and initiatives,” Eskamani said. “But we have to choose our state. We have to choose the responsibility of the fiscal security of our state.”
Duggan said adopting the federal language could cost the state up to $3.5 billion a year in revenue and “hamstring” future lawmakers.
While the full fiscal impact of both chambers’ proposals has not been finalized, the House plan is projected to cut state and local revenue by $153.9 million in the next fiscal year. The Senate package is projected to reduce revenue by $55.7 million.
In addition to the hunting and fishing holiday, the Senate proposal would lift taxes for three years on tickets to Association of Tennis Professionals’ ATP Masters 1000 tournaments and Women’s Tennis Association WTA 1000 tournaments.
The Senate measure also would change how at least $50 million is provided annually to mostly rural “fiscally constrained” counties, shifting the funding from declining direct-to-home satellite taxes to state sales and use taxes.
It also would expand the number of charter schools eligible to share in revenue from a voter-approved school property tax levy, require real estate listings to include estimated property taxes and prevent reassessment of homestead property taxes when a home is bequeathed to a direct descendant.
AMBER PATINO 