Florida’s state Senate voted unanimously to repeal a car tax increase signed into law by former Gov. Charlie Crist in 2009.
Gov. Rick Scott made the legislation a top priority for the current legislative session. It passed by a vote of 40-0
According to Americans for Tax Reform, Crist’s tax was raising costs on Floridian drivers by more than 50 percent.
Democrat Charlie Crist's 54 percent increase in automobile registration fees raised the cost of annual vehicle registration from $46 to $71 back in 2009. In undoing this tax hike, Republicans will save Sunshine State motorists an average of $25 per vehicle per year.
The legislature sought $500 million in tax cuts this year.
Lawmakers who had set a goal of more than $500 million in tax cuts this year got even more welcome news recently when state economists predicted that Florida would take in about $150 million more over the next 16 months than current estimates called for. Republican House Speaker Will Weatherford immediately declared what would be done with most of that money: "Obviously ... tax cuts."
Under Governor Scott's leadership and Republican control of the legislature, the state has gone from an inherited $3.6 billion deficit to more than a billion dollar surplus without higher taxes. The state's astounding economic growth has happened as a direct result of rolling back high taxes and sustained fiscal restraint, leading to massive new investments in the state by businesses and an influx new taxpayers from high tax states like New York and Illinois.