Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez announces a series of proposals to tackle property insurance, and President Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Venezuela.
Perez outlines Florida House proposals to end property taxes
As Republican leaders in Tallahassee continue to push for major reform of property taxes in Florida, House Speaker Daniel Perez shared his plans on the subject with House members Thursday.
Perez sent a memo to his chamber announcing that 7 House joint resolutions and one House bill have formally been filed for the 2026 session.
The included proposals are a product of a 37-member bipartisan select committee that Perez convened earlier this year to lay out a path forward.
Perez said the ultimate decision should be left to voters. That suggestion seems to mean that some, all, or none of the eight proposals filed Thursday could eventually be placed on the 2026 ballot.
“If we have faith in the voters to elect us, we should not be afraid to let them be a part of the conversation about the taxes they pay,” Perez wrote in the announcement letter.
State Rep. Toby Overdorf was the co-chair of the House committee that worked on the proposals, and said he was pleased that the Legislature has the opportunity to present different paths forward to the voters.
He also specifically highlighted the bill sponsors, who he says represent a wide range of Floridians.
“The members that you have that are presenting these bills are coming from all different parts of the state of Florida,” Overdorf said. “And that’s exactly what this committee is, is representing all different parts of the state of Florida. So, by having that, and having that conversation, we’re really representing the entire state and not just one metropolis over another, or a rural area over another.”
All eight proposals, Perez noted, share two main features.
Their language will prohibit local governments from reducing funding for law enforcement. Some local governments have suggested that if they lose the revenue from property taxes, spending on public safety could become complicated.
And the proposals all exempt school taxes.
Currently, Perez reported that property taxes make up 46% of public school funding.
The proposals fall into three distinct categories.
Three plans involve “categorical elimination” of non-school homestead property taxes.
HJR 201 would eliminate all those taxes entirely.
HJR 203 would phase out all non-school homestead property over 10 years, with homeowners getting an additional $100,000 exemption each year until the complete elimination takes effect.
And HJR 205 would exempt all Florida residents over the age of 65 from having to pay those non-school homestead property taxes.
Two other resolutions would provide “additional exemptions.”
HJR 207 would create a new homestead exemption, equal to 25% of the assessed value of the house.
And HJR 209 would grant a $100,000 exemption for homestead property owners who have property insurance.
Three other proposals focus on specific reforms:
HJR 211 would allow homeowners to transfer their accumulated “Save Our Homes” benefit to a new home, even if the new home has a lesser value.
HJR 213 would limit the growth of assessed value to 3% over three years for homesteaded property, and 15% over three years for non-homesteaded property. Currently, those limits are 3% per year and 10% per year, respectively.
And finally, HB 215 would enact multiple reforms, including requiring a 2/3 vote for any local government to increase its millage rate.
Perez said in his memo that the House should not limit itself to presenting one path forward on property tax reform. He also said that decisions on how to implement any of the plans would be made after the Legislature learns what proposals have been approved by voters.
For months, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia have pushed for major reforms to Florida’s property tax laws, suggesting that they are the best way to offer financial relief to Florida residents.
During the 2025 session, Perez and the House had voiced their preference to pursue sales tax relief, which the governor suggested would disproportionately benefit visitors to the state.
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump said U.S. strikes against boats off Venezuela could be expanded to include operations inside the country itself.
“We are certainly looking at land now,” he said.
The president also said he would authorized the CIA to operate in Venezuela following reports from The New York Times and other outlets.
A series of recent U.S. strikes have sunk vessels that the White House claimed were carrying drugs from Venezuela. Asked if such attacks may eventually target mainland Venezuela, Trump said, “I don’t want to tell you, exactly.”
Human rights groups have raised concerns that the strikes flout international law and are extrajudicial killings.
But Trump suggested on Wednesday that land attacks were an option “because we’ve got the sea well under control.”
Asked if the CIA could “take out” Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Trump was noncommittal, saying it was “a ridiculous question” for him to answer.
Asked during an event in the Oval Office on Wednesday why he had authorized the CIA to take action in Venezuela, Trump affirmed he had made the move.
“I authorized for two reasons, really,” Trump replied. “No. 1, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America. And the other thing, the drugs, we have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea.”
Trump made the unusual acknowledgement of a CIA operation shortly after The New York Times published that the CIA had been authorized to carry out covert action in Venezuela.
On Tuesday, Trump said that the U.S. struck another small boat in the waters off Venezuela, which borders the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The strike was at least the fifth one carried out by the U.S. military on separate boats in the Caribbean to date. At least 27 people have been killed in the strikes, according to information posted by members of the administration.
Those who died in the strike were aboard the vessel, and no U.S. forces were harmed, the president said in a social media post. Trump’s administration has asserted it is treating alleged drug traffickers as unlawful combatants who must be met with military force.