Florida Gas Stimulus - On Thursday, March 10, 2022, a 7-Eleven gas station on the corner of W Linebaugh Avenue and Countryway Avenue in Tampa displayed gas prices of more than $4.30 a gallon. [Ariel Bader | Times Special]
TALAHASEE - Florida lawmakers plan to suspend the state's gasoline tax in October, saving drivers about 27 cents per gallon of fuel they buy.
Florida Gas Stimulus
The decision was made on Wednesday, the final days of this year's legislative session. The state will fill a projected $200 million revenue shortfall with federal coronavirus stimulus funds.
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The proposal was announced as lawmakers put the finishing touches on the state budget, which is to be finalized and submitted to Gov. Ron DeSantis next week.
People in the state have the option to wait until October, one of the least touristy months in the state, despite record gasoline prices, they said.
"Our goal is to make sure as many Floridians as possible get access to the $200 million in relief," House Budget Speaker Jay Trumbull, a Republican from Panama City, said Wednesday.
This is also the month Floridians will begin voting for the November general election, when DeSantis and Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Trilby) will be on the ballot. Simpson is serving as the state's agriculture commissioner.
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DeSantis asked lawmakers to use $1 billion in federal funds this year to exempt gas taxes for about six months, but Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprouls (R-Palm Harbor) were lukewarm on the idea, at note that this will benefit tourists.
Senator Kelli Stargel, who oversees the Senate budget, argued that lowering the gas tax was not the governor's idea.
"Some people came to me about tax cuts," she said. "Just because it came up first or the House or Senate came up first doesn't mean it doesn't have a monopoly on the idea. We've all heard the same thing from people all over Florida."
The national average gasoline price was $4.25 on Wednesday, matching last week's record, and prices are expected to rise, according to AAA.
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In Congress, Republicans opposed the cut of the federal gas tax, saying it was an election-year stunt for Democrats who could be underdogs in the fall midterms.
"It is a desperate cry for help. I think (Democrats) realize that they were on the wrong side of energy and were on the wrong side of inflation.
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Florida lawmakers agreed to a plan to provide gas tax breaks to drivers using $200 million in federal stimulus money. However, this will not provide any immediate relief.
TALLAHASEE - Negotiators in the House and Senate agreed Wednesday night to use $200 million in federal stimulus money to meet Gov. Ron DeSantis' request for some gas tax relief while wrapping up more budget surpluses, which would put the annual legislative session.
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House Appropriations Chairman Jay Trumbull (of Panama City) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Kelli Stargel (of Lakeland) approved broad uses of $3.46 billion in stimulus funding. That includes funding for the gas tax cut, which will take place in October, just before the November election. In addition, they negotiated over $450 million in additional tax breaks, much of which was included in the House bill (HB 7071).
A budget of more than $100 billion is expected to be finalized Thursday, as Trumbull and Stargel continue to iron out differences on so-called "compliance" bills, including the controversial environmental package (SB 2508) .
The state got a lot of money from stimulus money and higher than expected tax revenue. But House and Senate leaders were unable to meet a Tuesday deadline to finalize the budgets, meaning lawmakers may have to return to Tallahassee on Monday to vote on spending plans for the fiscal year that begins 1 July.
"People always think it's harder not to have money. I would say it's harder to try to figure out how to properly fund things in an efficient and effective way," Stargel said.
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Stargel and Trumbull said there was still some uncertainty about how the state would distribute the so-called "school identification fund" with negotiators. The $200 million in funding will reward school districts that did not require students to wear masks last year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally, the House wanted to divert $200 million from 12 districts that made masks mandatory. But it was amended on Tuesday to create a "recognition" fund.
Stargel told reporters Wednesday that the Senate did not agree to a House proposal that would make 12 districts ineligible for endorsement funding. She said the proposal is a budget detail called "conditional" language. She said this would be addressed in the budget "enforcement" bill, which would help enforce the budget.
"We don't accept that string. But that will be in the works, and there will be parameters to distribute the money to all the different counties," Stargel said.
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The 12 districts are located in Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Indian River, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, Sarasota and Volusia counties.
"I think one of the things that is difficult when you have so much money is that we are trying to prioritize money over government and development projects that are needed," Stargel said. "Because of the bad economy, our teachers are underfunded. So we're spending money on good teachers who want to stay good."
Lawmakers also plan to raise the minimum wage for all school employees to at least $15 an hour.
"We put money in the BSA [Basic Student Allocation] to make sure cafeteria workers and everybody get paid $15 an hour an hour," Stargel said, noting that voters approved a minimum wage on statewide raised to $15 an hour by 2026. We're trying to make sure that... get ahead of that with the funds we have. "
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Negotiators also released details on how federal stimulus money will be allocated, including $1.5 billion for education construction projects.
Of the $1.5 billion, $400 million will go to state university maintenance programs and $443.7 million will go to state university maintenance programs. About $558 million was spent on construction projects in higher education institutions.
Another proposal in the House (HB 5011) calls for a $2 billion hedge against rising government costs due to inflation and making a political statement against the federal government. That amount was set at $1 billion in negotiations.
DeSantis is pushing to suspend the state's 25-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax for five months beginning July 1, the start of the next fiscal year. Gas taxes help pay for transportation projects, and DeSantis suggested using the stimulus money to make up for lost revenue over the five-month period.
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But legislative leaders questioned the proposal because tourists would greatly benefit from the suspended gas tax. Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Trilby) said Wednesday that May and October are typically the lowest tourism months for the state.
"The budget won't go into effect until July," Simpson said. "So the only other month we can do is October. I think that's a good opportunity. We don't know if gas is going to be $4.50 a gallon or $8 a gallon, but we're sure that most Florentines would agree that is to say. small."
Lawmakers will also provide $50 million in federal funding for the Job Growth Grant Fund, which governors can spend on infrastructure and job training programs; $300 million for land conservation in the Rural and Family Lands Conservation Program; $100 million for storage and aquifer recovery wells on the north side of Lake Okeechobee; $200 million in grants to help local communities combat rising sea levels, and $400 million to expand broadband.
The Senate revised parts of the House tax package, but key parts remain. These include a 14-day tax "holiday" during the back-to-school period in late July and early August
Florida Gas Prices Predicted To Rise This Week
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