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Florida lawmakers take their heads out of sand

After years of refusing to tackle tax reform, some legislators finally are willing to stick their necks out. A Senate committee approved a bill this week to eliminate the state sales tax exemption for ostrich feed.

Bills closing tax loopholes are rare birds, indeed. The Legislature approved the break for ostrich feed way back in 1992. An influential Panhandle lawmaker at the time, Big Sam Mitchell, wanted it for one of his pals who was in the ostrich farm business. Back then, ostrich meat was going to be the next big thing.

But the appetite for ostrich in Florida never took off. Senators say it is time to repeal the tax break because it is no longer needed. A more pragmatic reason is that the ostrich has become the poster bird for indefensible special-interest tax breaks, and there was no need to put up with the ridicule if nobody would miss it.

So it turns out tax reform is alive and well in Tallahassee. If they kill the ostrich feed tax break, there's no telling which of hundreds of tax breaks lawmakers may bravely eliminate next. Maybe the one for fill dirt.

[Last modified January 28, 2005, 00:21:17]