{"id":55397,"date":"2025-11-21T12:03:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/55397\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T12:03:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T12:03:27","slug":"ron-desantis-property-tax-plans-laying-ground-for-2028-florida-republican","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/55397\/","title":{"rendered":"Ron DeSantis\u2019 Property Tax Plans Laying Ground for 2028: Florida Republican"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Florida Governor Ron DeSantis\u2019 push for eliminating property taxes in the state is a \u201cbumper sticker\u201d aimed at propping up a potential bid for the presidency in 2028, former state senator and founder and president of the Florida Policy Project<br \/>Jeff Brandes, a Republican, has told Newsweek.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cIf you\u2019re running for president in 2028, you want to be able to say, \u2018I argued to cut taxes in Florida. I wanted to cut all homestead property taxes,\u2019\u201d Brandes said in Tampa on November 13, after the &#8220;Debate-a-Bull&#8221; forum hosted by the University of South Florida (USF) Institute for Public Policy &amp; Leadership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cBut again, you\u2019re not talking about the other side of the equation. You\u2019re on one side. This is why it\u2019s a bumper sticker. It&#8217;s not a real policy proposal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>What Has DeSantis Said About Property Tax Reform?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">In February, DeSantis said he would have backed any attempt to eliminate, reform or lower property taxes in the state, describing \u201ctaxing land\/property\u201d as <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GovRonDeSantis\/status\/1890183522037461393\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u201cthe more oppressive and ineffective form of taxation.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">While acknowledging that abolishing the taxes in Florida would require a constitutional amendment backed by 60 percent of the voters, DeSantis <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GovRonDeSantis\/status\/1906767606192754977\" rel=\"nofollow\">said in March<\/a> that Floridians needed relief even before that could be achieved.<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GovRonDeSantis\/status\/1906767606192754977\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">On the same day, he called on the legislature to pass a measure offering an average of $1,000 in rebate checks for each homestead \u201cas a discount on their property taxes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"11071250\" alt=\"\" caption=\"Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at Florida International University on September 25, 2025, in Miami, Florida.\" captionoverride=\"Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference at Florida International University on September 25, 2025, in Miami. (GIORGIO VIERA\/AFP via Getty Images)\" credit=\"\" sourcealt=\"\" sources=\"[]\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"3801\" height=\"2532\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2236955070_83b587.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Since then, he has repeatedly criticized Florida lawmakers for not acting with the same urgency he thinks is needed to provide relief to homeowners struggling with higher property taxes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cTruly owning private property should not mean perpetually paying rent to the government. I\u2019m committed to reducing\u2014and ultimately eliminating\u2014property taxes for homeowners in Florida,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GovRonDeSantis\/status\/1920149047421042979\" rel=\"nofollow\">he wrote in a post on X in May. <\/a>\u201cWhile Florida ranks at or near the top in so many categories, the state is only ranked #21 when it comes to property taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What Are Florida Lawmakers Doing About It?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Last month, the Florida House of Representatives pushed forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/florida-property-tax-eliminated-seniors-new-proposal-10894395\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">as many as eight potential solutions<\/a> to combat higher property taxes in the state, including eliminating them for non-school homesteads.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">All bills\u2014seven out of which are set to appear on the 2026 general election ballot\u2014exclude school-related property taxes and include language stating that local governments cannot cut funding to law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">The 47-year-old governor has<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/florida-property-tax-desantis-vote-10925283\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> harshly criticized lawmakers<\/a> for coming out with a multitude of solutions. \u201cPlacing more than one property tax measure on the ballot represents an attempt to kill anything on property taxes,\u201d DeSantis said in a post on X last month. \u201cIt\u2019s a political game, not a serious attempt to get it done for the people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">House Speaker Daniel Perez, who has justified the multitude of bills as a way of letting voters decide what they want, has hit back at DeSantis, saying in a statement reported by several news media that \u201cthe governor has not produced a plan on property taxes. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">He added: \u201cIt\u2019s unclear what he wants to do. I\u2019ve personally reached out to share with him the House\u2019s proposals and he has, so far, not wanted to engage in a conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Brandes is also somewhat skeptical of the eight bills, saying that he does not expect any of them to pass.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cI think there will be some combination of the eight or some modification to all of these proposals,\u201d he told Newsweek. \u201cThe Senate is not going to take any\u2014I don\u2019t think\u2014of the House proposals at face value and support it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img id=\"11071565\" alt=\"\" caption=\"\" captionoverride=\"Jeff Brandes at the University of South Florida Institute for Public Policy &amp; Leadership on November 13, 2025. (Giulia Carbonaro\/Newsweek).\" credit=\"\" sourcealt=\"\" sources=\"[]\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2387\" height=\"1343\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Jeff-Brandes.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">But he is even more skeptical of the governor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cHe\u2019s got a bumper sticker. It\u2019s not a real proposal. He\u2019s vetoed the study on this. He&#8217;s had a year now to come up with a plan, and he&#8217;s refused to come up with a plan,\u201d he told Newsweek.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cAnd they\u2019re either going to come up with some last-minute plan that people don&#8217;t have time to study and review, or he&#8217;s just not going to come up with a plan, which I think is likely to be what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Is DeSantis Likely To Run in 2028?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">There are mostly rumors so far about who is going to run in the 2028 presidential race, whether that is for the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">DeSantis already made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2024, taking part in the Republican primary eventually won by President Donald Trump. A spokesperson for the governor responded to Newsweek\u2019s request for comment on property tax reforms, but did not address our question about a potential run in the 2028 presidential race.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">On Sunday, DeSantis brushed aside a question from CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper about a potential bid, saying: \u201cI\u2019m not thinking about anything because I think we have a president now who has not even been in for a year. We\u2019ve got a lot that we\u2019ve got to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">But polls are giving the Florida governor little optimism for another possible run. <a href=\"https:\/\/emersoncollegepolling.com\/november-2025-national-poll\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The latest Emerson College survey <\/a>gives him only 2 percent of the vote in a hypothetical Republican primary, with a majority of voters (54 percent) backing Vice President JD Vance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida Governor Ron DeSantis\u2019 push for eliminating property taxes in the state is a \u201cbumper sticker\u201d aimed at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55398,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2459,28,30,29,14135,1644,8191,34527,412,8527],"class_list":["post-55397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-2459","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-gop","tag-housing","tag-property-tax","tag-republican-party","tag-ron-desantis","tag-taxes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}