DeSantis now plans multiple special sessions; confusion reigns among Florida legislators
News and commentary for informed Floridians and other Americans
By Mitch Perry
Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously indicated that he’s holding back on offering his own proposal to reduce taxes on homestead properties until the moment is “ripe” — and it doesn’t appear that’ll be anytime soon.
A special legislative session is now scheduled to take place in the last week of April to deal with congressional redistricting, artificial intelligence, and vaccine mandates.
Yet to be addressed is another special session to approve a balanced budget, which the Legislature is required to send to the governor by June 30.
“We don’t even know where it stands, and that’s a sad commentary for the legislators not to know what’s about to happen,” Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart-Lowman of Tampa lamented Wednesday night when asked about the property tax question during a town hall meeting.
“We really don’t know where we are on property taxes, but I’m looking forward to talking about it because I really need our communities to understand what it’s all about.”
Some Republicans have already indicated that whatever property tax proposal comes before them may not be as substantial as they would like. Rep. Ryan Chamberlin, R-Belleview, has said that his pessimism prompted him to attempt a citizen initiative removing all property taxes on the 2028 ballot.
Other Republicans, like Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, insist property tax relief must be passed this year.
“We did our job in the House in the regular session by passing a measure that would make that a reality,” he told the Phoenix. “It’s now time for everyone to come to the table so we can finalize a relief measure that we can send to the voters this year.”
The strategy
Speaking at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s LeMieux Center for Public Policy on March 25, DeSantis said, “Why would I produce something that is not ripe in terms of when we’re actually going to put in front of the Legislature?”
He added: “There’s obviously a strategy involved.”
DeSantis has previously mused that he’d like to wait as long as possible before having lawmakers discuss a proposed constitutional amendment. Last fall, he suggested legislators could “potentially have a special session on property taxes right in the middle of the Republican primary season in July or August,” although he was quick to add, “I’m not saying we’re going to wait that long.”
Former Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes argues the governor is intentionally keeping mum. “I think the strategy is not to give people a chance to evaluate this,” he said.
In his remarks in Palm Beach County, DeSantis said his proposal would be phased in to allow municipalities and counties to absorb their reductions in revenue. “We would likely start at the bottom and then phase it in where you’re raising the exclusion until you get to elimination,” he said.
The governor has also said that he’s willing to fund grants to local governments to ease the transition. Critics note that while he put additional funding in his proposed 2026-2027 fiscal year budget in December for that purpose, there’s no guarantee a future governor would continue to do that. DeSantis leaves office in January.
On Wednesday night, Tampa Bay area Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner said that property owners in Florida would likely get a tax cut or benefit if a measure is approved by the voters in the fall but that the question of how to replace those revenues for infrastructure, parks, and libraries has yet to be addressed.
“That cost has to go to someone else,” she said. “It has to go to renters. It’s going to go to businesses. It’s going to go to everyday Floridians. And everyone already knows that Florida is already unaffordable to live here, so I would just like to know where they think they’re going to come up with the money. And when I asked that question on the House floor, [Republicans] told me that they’d figure it out.”
Brandes hopes whatever proposal that the governor and the GOP-controlled Legislature decide upon, it has a sunset date attached. “It can be two years, three years, four years, so that we can evaluate how it’s actually working and maybe change course.”
Earlier this week, GOP gubernatorial candidate Paul Renner released a plan that included a new $1 million homestead exemption that he said would eliminate property taxes for nearly 95% of Florida homeowners. He also would provide a $750,000 exemption for non-housing properties (which he says would relieve 70% of small businesses from paying property taxes) and a $250,000 per-unit exemption for rental housing to give renters a break.
For the Legislature to be put its own constitutional amendment on the November ballot, a joint resolution would need three-fifths support in both the House and Senate. It would then need to win approval by 60% of the voters to become law.
Recent polls have shown such a proposal winning more than 50% support —short of the 60% required for passage. However, that’s without the public knowing any specific details of such a plan.
The Phoenix reached out to the Florida Division of Elections office to learn what the deadline would be for the Legislature to approve a joint resolution to qualify for the November ballot, but it did not provide an immediate response.
Mitch Perry has covered politics and government in Florida for more than two decades. Most recently he is the former politics reporter for Bay News 9. He has also worked at Florida Politics, Creative Loafing and WMNF Radio in Tampa. He was also part of the original staff when the Florida Phoenix was created in 2018.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. This story is republished with their permission. To support Florida Phoenix, click here:
Note to readers
Just a note to mention that I am on the road this week. I’m helping my son with a cross-country move. Because of this, you will likely see fewer of my original posts for the next few days and more sharing of articles by other contributors, such as today’s story by Mitch Perry. Thanks for reading.
J.C. Bruce
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