As Florida’s legislative session nears its halfway mark, I
wanted to take a moment to review what I think are some of the most important (and
interesting) bills of the 2013 session:
1) Internet Cafes: In response to the resignation of
Lt. Governor Carroll, the Legislature has been moving swiftly to
outlaw the operations of Internet cafes. Both the House and Senate versions of
the bill would ban what have been called “adult versions of Chuck-E-Cheese” in
the hopes of reducing gambling. In a 108-6 vote, the House version of the bill,
HB 155, was passed on Friday, March 22nd, while the fate of the
Senate version, SB 1030,
is yet to be determined.
2) Vehicle Registration Fees: Sen. Negron, a
Republican from Stuart, proposed SB 7132, a bill that
would eliminate the $220 million in tax breaks insurance companies receive
while simultaneously lowering the fees that car owners pay for registration.
The bill would reverse the 2009 decision to increase fees in order to raise revenues.
Currently the bill is on sitting on the desk of Sen. Gaetz,
who will determine which committee will hear it next.
3) Pension Plans: A top priority for Speaker
Weatherford this session is reforming the state pension plan. The Senate and
House have gone back and forth revising the plan, but there’s still a
compromise to be made. As it stands, the current proposal is "a measure that would retain the traditional pension plan but offer incentives to new workers to opt for the 401(k)-type retirement coverage.(1)"
4) Internet Sales Tax: If everything with SB 316 proceeds as
planned, online-only businesses will no longer be able to avoid charging a
sales tax for online purchases. Sen. Detert proposed offsetting the increase in
taxes with a decrease in the tax rate applied to the sale of communications
services (i.e., cable and phone bills). Currently,
the bill has only been heard by the Commerce and Tourism Committee and has
a long way to go until it could potentially become law.
5) Property Insurance – Massive property insurance reforms
are making their way through the Senate with the state-run Citizens Property
Insurance Corp. serving as a target. The intended goal is to shrink the
government’s role in insurance. For more information, click here.
6) SM 78:
In this Senate Memorial, the FL Senate urges the U.S. Congress to repeal the
income tax and enact a national retail sales tax. This is likely just a
symbolic move, as a national sales tax is far from making its way into law
at the Federal level.
7) Gun and Ammunition Taxes for School Safety: Both
the House
and Senate version of
the bill would require the taxes paid on guns and ammunition to go towards a
school-safety trust fund. The NRA-ILA (National Rifle Association – Institute
for Legislative Affairs) has listed
the bill as one of the “worst senate bills.”
[1] http://politics.heraldtribune.com/2013/03/30/at-legislative-sessions-midpoint-full-agenda-of-life-issues-remains/
No comments:
Post a Comment