Sen. Jones: Ok on gaming, not on tax initiative

State Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Treasure Island, who doesn't buy the talk that former Gov. Jeb Bush fended off expanded gambling in Florida: "Under Jeb Bush we went from 5,000 to 13,000 lottery terminals, the largest expansion of gaming in the history of this state," Jones said in a Political Connections interview airing today on Bay News 9.

Jones also said that he'll vote against the tax reform ballot initiative on Jan. 29, and that he expects this will be an especially tough election cycle for Republicans.

"We are the majority party in Florida. ... Some people will say we didn't do enough for insurance in January, they don't think we did enough during the regular session, they didn't think we did enough for the property tax session," said Jones in the interview that airs at 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. and any time on Channel 342 (Bay News 9 on demand). More here.

Comments

Will the Republican Party of Florida send out a mail piece denouncing Sen. Jones for "saying NO to Florida homeowners" for voting against this stupid amendment like they did with some Democratic legislators?

Hypocrites

[Ronnie]

He is right, the legislature did nothing on taxes or insurance. I am voting out all incumbents. It is time for a fresh start.

Jones is not a Republican. He has always been for expanded gambling. He's been on several junkets to Las Vegas and to Hard Rock in south Florida. He opposed Jeb Bush on every conservative initiative the Governor tried to pass. Now he hides behind Jeb Bush on expanded gambling? Give me a break. Jeb vetoed every single expansion of gambling that Dennis Jones fought for. now with Charlie Crist, the path is cleared for Jones and the like to bring full table top gambling to Florida. Jones is in his glory right now.

8:25: no, they won't because a good number of Republicans have said they won't vote for it. Jones isn't the first to voice this... Lisa Carlton came out the other day saying she was going to vote against it, and she is the Senate's budget chair!!

all of these posts are right on.

Jones needs to get back to Seminole quickly as he's the reason that we have term limits (which i now oppose, but the end-term won't come fast enough for this dinosaur).

Nice job throwing Jeb under the bus. I forgot that the expansion of the lottery terminals came from an executive order, not by the actions of the legislature....news to me.

Say What?

Sen. Jones says not enough was done by the legislature to reduce property taxes, yet he says he will vote no in January on the super homestead amendment, which offers further tax cuts.

10:47- that's because the amendment is riddled with problems. It only benefits homestead owners who bought their homes in the last few years. And even so, the relief is only temporary because it does away with Save Our Homes.

Oh, yeah, and these pathetic gains are made on the backs of school children, who will lose 7 billion dollars of funding over the next five years.

Hate to say it, but Jones is right.

[Paul D. Harvill]

FYI: Property Tax Political Committees & contributions to....

http://forum.tallahassee.com/viewtopic.php?t=29462

Posted by: Ronnie | August 26, 2007 at 08:40 AM:

Will not happen.

10:25 - Is it true that the expansion of the lottery (gambling) came by executive order? If so, then Jeb is a huge hypocrite.

Even if the lottery (gambling) was expanded by the Republican-controlled Legislature, those bills were approved by Jeb Bush.

Either way, Jeb can't escape his responsibility. He oversaw the largest expansion of gambling in Florida's history.

Um...the expansion of lottery did not happen by executive order. Can you say sarcasm?

The expansion came because the legislature buried the expansion in the budget in a way the governor could not line item veto it. Lest we forget, Jeb Bush vetoed just about every effort to expand gambling. The lottery was created by voters, and thus the Governor respected the voters' right to have the lottery. But he opposed the expansion of it every step of the way. Jones is a liar, plain and simple.

Jones is correct the GOP screwed the taxpayers and gave a love offering to its main base the insurance industry..I guess stoppin these abortions is more important than lowering taxes and insurance.In S florida and most urban centers of our state the RE industry has been smashed by T and I.Who can afford a home??The average tax bill for a new home owner in Palm Beach Co is $7500 (yes the ave home is $358k) and insurance is $4000.
Thats a $1000 per mo payment before a MORTGAGE.dAMN RIGHT THE gop IS IN trouble the whoples have figured out that the legislature led by Rubio is lleno De Toro..For those in N florida..Full of bull..Gonna get real interesting with a HUGE REAL ESTATE RECESSION AND the Dems wiping up in 08..Crist better make something drop like Iraq or hes toast!

Kick the bums out. They didn't fix the property insurance crisis.

They didn't fix the property tax crisis.

They did give themselves a raise.

They did spend about over $200,000 a day for three special sessions.

They did travel to Boston for a conference while agencies can't send investigators to investigate or prosecutors to prosecute.

They fiddle while Rome burns.

They are not public servants - but seek only to plunder and make those connections for the lucrative after-termed-out jobs.

Kick the bums out - all of them - and don't re-elect anyone until the parties get the message. Public service should be that - not a winning lottery ticket.

12:16 you have not read the Constitutional Amendment. It does not do away with with Save our Homes. It gives homeowners the option to keep Save Our Homes. The amendment helps all homeowners who may want to sell their homes someday and buy another. Economically it will immediately increase the value of every home because buyers will not be penalized. Furthermore the amendment gives a $25,000 exemption for tangible personal property. That is a big tax cut and paperwork reduction for small business owners and landlords and a huge paperwork reduction for the Property Appraisers and Tax Collectors. Right now anyone that has a computer, furniture or any other tangible asset used in business must file a tangible property tax return and pay a small tax. In combination with the recent tax cut legislation that forces counties and cities to reduce their millages and then limits future tax revenue growth, the amendment is very powerful for all tapayers. Property tax revenues nearly doubled in the past six years. Local governments have too much money. Schools are next.

So the GOP wants to save taxpayers big time by sponsoring the amendment - but they wont let the lost revenues be ofset by gambling.

It could be a win-win for everyone.

Gotta love Jones - he takes from the Republican Party to help keep his political hopes and dreams alive, and then turns around and kicks them in the shins every chance he gets.

With friends like these . . .

Jones is a better representative of the Republican party than those Republicans offering $20 to give BJs in public bathrooms like fellow GOP legislator Bob Allen or stealing money from charity like GOP legislative candidate Angelo Cappelli.

Yep, Dennis Jones--- defender of the gambling and insurance industries. The insurance companies will now give him free trips to Vegas for life!

Lisa and Dennis protecting the insurance company's that over charge the citizens of Florida?? I am shocked!(ha)

6:54-

The amendment phases out SOH. And eliminates it for all future home owners.

[Gene Smith]

It will be interesting to watch the Doctors and the Chiropractors going after each other in a primary challenge to Jones next year.

Will the survivor come out with enough left to fend off a serious Dem challenger?

Stay tuned.

The amendment phases out SOH. And eliminates it for all future home owners.

Posted by: | August 26, 2007 at 10:07 PM:

Not true.

If the amendment passes:

If one elects, chooses - on a one time basis - to keep Save Our Homes, then you are locked into Save Our Homes until either you are dead or no longer a home owner.

[John]

Although the super exemption amendment does not cut taxes enough for property owners, IT'S A GOOD START. I'm voting for it. Let's get it passed and then ask the Legislature to do more and reduce the drunken spending of local government.