Issue Position: Taxes

Issue Position

I believe in low taxes and in tax simplification. As a history professor, I am convinced that much of the prosperity we enjoy today is due to the economic freedom we have experienced throughout our history as a nation. When people keep more of what they earn, they will save, spend, or invest those additional dollars, promoting freedom and responsibility, raising our standard of living, and benefiting the economy for us all.

Lowering taxes is not just a campaign slogan for me. In 2007, as Chairman of the Senate Finance and Tax Committee, I helped author the largest tax cut in Florida history: a comprehensive property tax reduction that will save taxpayers $31.6 billion over five years.

In addition to property tax reform, my record in the Legislature demonstrates a consistent commitment to lower taxes, including the following:

1. Abolition of the Intangibles Tax. In 2005, I sponsored a bill that Governor Bush signed into law to cut the intangibles tax rate in half. In the following year, the Governor signed a bill, which I supported, completely eliminating the intangibles tax. As a tax on the value stocks, bonds, and other savings and investments, this archaic and intrusive tax discouraged and punished economically beneficial conduct.

2. Limits on Taxes and Spending. I continue to promote two constitutional amendments to restrain government's appetite to tax and spend. One would make the enactment of a tax increase more difficult by requiring two-thirds of the Legislature, rather than a simple majority, to approve any increase. This rule would recognize the sanctity of your tax dollars and would require the Legislature to act carefully and deliberately before increasing the tax burden on the public. Currently, I am working on another big idea to make sure government spending is accountable to your needs. Along with Representatives Dean Cannon and Anitere Flores, I have introduced the Smart Cap, which would make sure that government spending never grows faster than a family's ability to pay for it. Under the Smart Cap, government spending at all levels would not be able to grow faster than population plus inflation unless people vote to allow it. This common sense proposal would offer Florida's families and businesses the predictability and flexibility they need to plan for the future. We must restrain government's spending problem to avoid future tax increases.

3. The Freedom Caucus.I am the co-founder of the Freedom Caucus -- a group of legislators dedicated to lower taxes and more freedom. I also work closely with Grover Norquist, chairman of Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), to promote tax reduction and to stop wasteful government spending, and was recently awarded ATR's Hero of the Taxpayer Award. I have repeatedly taken the ATR's Taxpayer Protection Pledge to oppose any effort to increase taxes, and I have never voted for a tax increase while in office.

4. Common Sense Tax Reductions. We must reduce the communications services tax. This tax, including its state and local components, taxes each cell phone bill at a rate of up to 18-19 percent. In our mobile and rapid society, cell phones are no longer a luxury, and our tax laws should not penalize Florida's families by imposing exorbitant taxes on their essential means of communication. I have also sponsored a bill to exempt educational materials such as textbooks used by students in our state's colleges and universities. I hope that in the future the Legislature embraces such measures, extending tax relief to activities that should receive every encouragement. These are some of the many steps we can take to keep Florida's economy running strong.

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