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Florida Legislature 2005 (click for ongoing coverage)

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House votes for return of sales tax holiday

Today is Day 30 of the 60-day session of the Florida Legislature.

The popular sales tax holiday on school supplies and clothes would return for nine days this summer under a measure approved nearly unanimously Tuesday by the House.

The bill (HB 101) would provide a break from the 6 percent sales tax on books, clothing, wallets and certain other products with a sale price of less than $50. School supplies that cost $10 or less would also be tax-free during July 23-31 period, to give parents a small break on back-to-school items.

The state would lose out on an estimated $31.3-million in revenue on those items, but proponents of the measure point to revenue figures that show sales tax collections actually go up when the holiday is held - because people end up shopping more and buying items that aren't tax free.

There was no debate on the measure Tuesday, and it passed 112-1. A similar bill is under consideration in the Senate.

The tax holiday was popular from 1998 to 2001, but didn't happen in 2002 or 2003 because of budget constraints. It returned last year.

The House is expected to vote this week on a measure that would require a 2.0 grade point average for students to be able to participate in all extracurricular activities, instead of just sports as the law now says.

The bill (HB 149) was debated Tuesday and supporters beat back efforts to weaken the requirement by lawmakers who said extracurricular activities motivate many students to go to school, and anything that keeps them interested should be encouraged, not limited.

"The one thing we don't want to do is put more students out on the street," said Rep. Terry Fields, D-Jacksonville, a schoolteacher.

"My intent here is that students should be studying and trying to raise their grade point average rather than participating," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Pat Patterson, R-DeLand.

The House's final vote could come Thursday.

The Ethics Commission would be able to initiate investigations if all nine members agree under a bill unanimously approved by the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee.

Right now, the commission can only investigate suspected ethics violations committed by politicians and government employees if it receives a formal complaint.

Ethics Commission vice chairman John Grant said it is often called about suspected ethics violations, but can't do anything about it because the people don't want their name attached to a complaint.

"Somebody will call up and say, "I work in the purchasing department in the city of XYZ and I know the purchasing manager is taking kickbacks and I have information and I'd like to send it to you,' " Grant said. But told their name will become public if the committee agrees a violation has likely occurred, the callers often back off.

"They say, "Well I'm not willing to put my job on the line.' "

The language is in a bill (CS SB 1944) that clarifies language in the state's ethics code.

A bill that would double limits on bingo prizes passed the Senate Regulated Industries Committee on a unanimous vote.

The legislation (SB 2148) would let charitable groups that run bingo games offer jackpots of $500 and limits all other games to $100. The current limits are $250 and $50.

A companion House bill (HB 1473) has not been heard in committee.

[Last modified April 6, 2005, 01:06:15]