Florida lawmakers, amid budget discussions, agreed to include $200 million in federal stimulus money to grant Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ (R) request for a state gas tax break. House Appropriations Chairman and State Representative Jay Trumbull (R-Panama City) and Senate Appropriations Chairwoman and State Senator Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) made the agreement late Wednesday night.
The gas tax break would be during the month of October 2022 and comes as the country is enduring the highest gas prices in history as a result of President Joe Biden’s administration shutting down numerous pipelines and banning Russian imports of oil. Florida’s average price is approximately $4.32, and the national average is $4.35, according to AAA.
Back in November, DeSantis made the call for the legislature to take action in providing relief to Floridians.
“Gas prices have been rising due to inflationary pressures from bad federal policies, so we here in Florida need to step up and provide relief to our citizens,” said DeSantis.
However, DeSantis’ initial request would total Floridians’ savings at over $1 billion, which would equate to $200 per family. The proposal agreed upon by the Legislature is $800 million short of DeSantis’ mark.
Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson (R-Trilby) said lawmakers were hesitant about DeSantis’ proposal because he would have suspended the gas tax during the months of May and October. Those happen to be the months with the fewest visitors.
“The budget will not go into effect until July,” Simpson said. “So the only other month that we could do that in was October. I think it’s a great opportunity. We don’t know if gas will be at $4.50 a gallon or $8 a gallon by them, but it’s certainly something that we believe that most Floridians would agree with.”
Last month, it was reported that Florida’s domestic tourism numbers were at an all-time high during 2021, totaling 118 million domestic visitors.
According to data from VISIT FLORIDA, 29 million domestic visitors came to Florida in the fourth quarter of 2021, which is a 57 percent increase from 2020. Florida’s hotel and hospitality industry generated $17.3 billion in revenue in 2021, which is the highest ever.
Biden recently said that he “can’t do much” about gas prices and deflected blame to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the cause of the price hike.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at The Florida Capital Star and The Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Jay Trumbull” by Jay Trumbull.
