Florida: The Tax Holiday State

Savvy campaigner and Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) unveils 10 sales tax holidays on everything from school supplies to gasoline.

Photo by Joël de Vriend on Unsplash.

It’s a good time to shop Florida: The weather is nice, the scenery is unbeatable and there’s a huge sale on sales tax going on.

“Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 7071 which provides more than $1.2 billion of tax relief for Floridians,” began the $1.2 billion dollar campaign ad/announcement about the tax relief package. “The bill provides for ten sales tax holidays for a variety of items commonly purchased by Florida families, including fuel, diapers, disaster supplies and tools.”

Sure, it may be good governance, but what better campaign ad is there? It’s the incumbent’s classic advantage, the reason it’s often so difficult for a challenger to win against them. Incumbent governors get to do all kinds of official things, and be seen to be doing it.

“The legislation I signed today will provide Floridians more than $1.2 billion in tax relief on gas, diapers, school supplies, tools for skilled trades, event tickets and much more,” wrote Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Twitter. May 6, 2022. (photo: Gov. Ron DeSantis, Twitter.)

Then again, DeSantis gets the opportunity to do a little campaigning for the Republican Party at the same time, saying things like, “Florida’s economy has consistently outpaced the nation, but we are still fighting against inflationary policies imposed on us by the…