Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis recommended Florida eliminate more than 1,000 state jobs in a spending proposal released Tuesday that cuts the current budget by more $4.6 billion while maintaining popular sales tax holidays.

DeSantis is calling for a $114.4 billion budget. Unlike most years, the presidential candidate announced his budget far from the state Capitol in a news conference held at a charter school on Marco Island in southwest Florida.

Instead of detailing what jobs he wants cut, DeSantis spent more time highlighting past achievements and lamenting the decision to exclude the undefeated Florida State University Seminoles from the college football championship playoff.

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    fedilink
    111 year ago

    Believe it or not, no. The sales tax holidays are actually targeted on certain categories rather than across the board. Sales taxes (including Florida’s) are regressive, but in this case the tourism situation actually makes it slightly less regressive.

    So many tourism dollars flow through that with a 6% sales tax they get by with no income tax at all. Groceries are exempt from the sales tax, as are rentals of 6 months or longer - two major expense categories for lower incomes.

    Unsurprisingly, the sales tax holiday dates come outside the November-April tourist season - with the exception of one of the back-to-school weeks.