TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Lawmakers in Tallahassee remain divided on how to address rising costs for residents, though Florida Democrats on Monday unveiled a three-part plan aimed at improving affordability.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
The legislative session is about a month away, and lawmakers remain split on how to ease financial pressures for Floridians
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Democrats rolled out a three-part affordability plan focused on insurance reform, accountability in state spending, and housing costs
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Republican leaders are concentrating on property tax cuts<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time for Tallahassee to stop ignoring the problem and instead it\u2019s time to act,\u201d said House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskel, D-Hillsborough County.<\/p>\n
The proposal includes creating a national insurance compact that would form a multi-state risk pool for property insurance. Supporters say the idea could stabilize the market and help bring down premiums.<\/p>\n
\u201cStorms don\u2019t check party registration; rising premiums hurt every family, every business, every community,\u201d said State Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Palm Beach County.<\/p>\n
Democrats are also calling for a full audit of state government, arguing that any wasteful spending uncovered should be redirected to residents through a tax rebate.<\/p>\n
\u201cFloridians shouldn\u2019t be paying taxes to fund political stunts, sweetheart deals, and high-paying jobs for politically connected friends,\u201d said State Sen. Lori Berman.<\/p>\n
The final piece of the proposal would eliminate the state\u2019s documentary stamp tax, which is charged on deeds, mortgages and promissory notes.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Tracie Davis, D-Duval County, said the move is intended to make homeownership more attainable for first-time buyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor first-time homebuyers, we want to make that moment when someone finally gets the keys to their first home a little more reachable,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Republican leaders are focusing their efforts on reducing property taxes, though they acknowledge the challenge of finding ways to compensate local governments for lost revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m optimistic that it\u2019ll yield a good result for Floridians. But it\u2019s not simple. It really isn\u2019t simple,\u201d said Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Bartow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014\u00a0Lawmakers in Tallahassee remain divided on how to address rising costs for residents, though Florida Democrats…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3140,274,6074,28,30,29,2203,115,139,99,135,278,835],"class_list":["post-76493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-app-top-stories","tag-capital-connection","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-jason-delgado","tag-news","tag-orlando","tag-politics","tag-tampa","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76493","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=76493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}