Pruitt: Don't expect major changes on property taxes

Senate President Ken Pruitt said Wednesday that he has little interest in doing anything more on property taxes or going backwards on current property insurance legislation.

That doesn't mean the Senate won't pass a just a bill to make property tax bills more clear.

On property taxes, "If (senators) file a bill, I'm not going to stop anyone from filing a bill....If we share with them that there will be no leadership assistance with it, hopefully they'll know that there's no appetite over here."

On insurance: "Major public policy takes time, and I believe on insurance, it's even more so...I don't see us doing anything major."

Pruitt's press spokeswoman called to clarify that on insurance Pruitt didn't mean the Senate won't do anything on property insurance, it's just that he has no interest in passing anything that would run counter to the reforms passed last year.

Comments

[ed]

why bother convening the legislature if they are not going to review the property tax & property insurance situations??? makes one wonder why anyone would vote for incumbents!!!

WOW...what leadership!!

Shocker. This would be much like those of us that actually have a real job coming in and saying 'you know, don't expect me to do much related to my actual job while I'm here. I don't have much of an appetite for it.' If you feel that way Ken, maybe it's time you move on and OUT of Tallahassee...

It's time to get rid of these idiots in the Senate especially the democrats.

Every single democrat in the Senate voted to scuttle meaningful property tax relief. Throw out Republican Pruitt too.

So take your $240 of amendment 1 tax relief and thank the legislature for their leadership. You may as well hand it directly over to your insurance company.

Their is no leadership in Tallahassee. It's that simple.

Nice try 4:35, but the Republicans control the House, Senate, and the Governor's office. They cannot lead. That's self evident.

It doesn't matter what the senate is babbling about. The House of Rep. is where the property tax & insurance bills will start. I have heard property taxes will be at top of agenda for the new session. The Senate will be under pressure once it gets going again like last year. Speaker Rubio has already talked about putting 1.35% Property Tax Cap amendment on the agenda.

4:39pm, the Democrats can and has block meaningful property tax bill from going to a vote by the public.
It does not matter about control just like Pelosi in the US Congress is being blocked by not getting 60 votes in U.S. Senate.

These democrats led by fatcat Steve Geller are supporting local government's drunken spending. They even wanted Amendment 1 to not pass, but the people ignored them.

It is time for Charlie to play hard ball with the Senate. They have blocked everything that would lower taxes for years. Getting rid of Pruitt won't do it. It is systemic with that chamber. They need to have every bill vetoed until they fall in line.

The House should just pass tons of property tax bills and let the citizens put pressure on the Senate.

That is how it's played.

Pruitt is saying, "let them eat cake." We should say, "kick the bums out!!!!!"

Marco has nothing to lose. Generate it in the House, then stall every bill the Senate sends over as part of their agenda...Sine die comes faster than you think.

[terminator]

4:39
I know Marco and the House will push hard but realistically, if it took some heavy lifting to get the Senate to barely do anything last year (A 1), let's face it, whatever the House proposes won't get very far.
Both Rubio and Pruitt are term limited and lame ducks this session.
That's why Pruitt is pushing a bill to create an elected Education Commissioner.
Hard to believe a guy with less than a community college education thinks he can leverage his political career into that job.
I sincerely hope voters remember in 2008 and 2010, the people who DID NOTHING on property tax relief and property insurance reform (Pruitt, Webster, Geller, Crist and most of the rest of the Senate) and never vote for these guys for any political position again.
Remember all of Pruitt and Chuck's promises....this is only the beginning they said, this is only the first bite of the apple?
Yeah right. Bite me guys!

[tomcat]

Hey, stop complaining and think about this for a minute before rushing to judgement. The insurance industry told the legislature in late 2006 that reinsurance costs were driving up their ratres. the legislature said, fine, if we give you less expensive reinsurance from the state, will you lower your raes. Insurers said yes. 12 months later, almost 60% of companies have dropped their rates an average of 15% (first time in FL history)and the Insurance Commissioenr has denied all 22 company filings that asked for INCREASES. The Senate is now dropping the hammer on those companies that said they would lower rates but did not. This was a massive process and needs time to set in (many policyholders won't see their rate reducitons until they renew their policies this Spring. Now CFO Sink wants to reverse the rate reductions and Pruitt is saying hold on -- let last year's legislation "sink" in before we change it again.

At least the House controls the budget this year... (right?)

[terminator]

tomcat:
you must be a senate staffer.

is your assessment supposed to mollify Florida policyholders regarding the exorbitant rates they're currently paying?

[Taxed2death]

In Broward, taxes are up to 2.2% of market value, the equivalent of increasing the principal balance on your mortgage by 28% at a 7% interest rate.

Tax revenues wont be so great once the Revenue Collector becomes the largest land owner in Florida

The companies who said they would lower rates...and did not...did they purchase the reinsurance from the state?

Sink was right on the whole insurance issue...while lower rates might feel warm and fuzzy now, this exposes the state to massive risk.

Didn't our bond rating go down because of it?

By law, the only thing the legislature must do is pass a budget.
Am I happy that around 4,000 bills are introduced each year? No, most of them are stinkers.
Would I prefer that they had given us real tax reform last year? Of course. But until, and unless they stop introducing "feel good" bills, and start working together to get good legislation passed, don't expect much. How many bills were introduced last year that would supposedly fixed the tax problem? I really don't know, but it seemed like every legislator was so busy playing "my bill is better", and competing for the limelight, that they forgot the people they were sent to represent.
I believe we have a few really good legislators in Tallahassee, but the egos seem to inflate with each passing day they are there.

terminator, 5:11pm

You may be right, but that is how the political game of hardball is played.

The House will pass property tax bill supported by the people. The Senate will whine and moan.

The people & press will get the issue. The tax bill comes with no relief and the political riots starts again against local government and the senate. It's the long route to property tax relief, but I have no problem with it. Let the "games" begin.

A recent poll put Property Tax as the no. 1 issue facing Floridians followed by property insurance.

The Legislature needs to put a lot of focus on these 2 issues.

My State Farm insurance premium did not go down. It went up near 15%.

Now I'm waiting on my property tax bill.

[Dee]

If Republicans cannot get the job done on property tax and insurance then it is time to throw them out and let the Socialists have a whack at it and tax some of these status quo loving fat cats back into reality.

Allstate just non-renewed my Homeowners policy after 17 years of no claims and now Citizens is offering me a policy with a premium increase of 132%. Of course Royal Palm was going to come to the rescue but at a 157% increase they represent the old adage with friends like that who needs enemies.

The free market is just not working any longer in this insurance area. It is time for a state mutual association that retains capital. Had this been done the past 20 years things would be just peachy.

There is no need for Floridians to continue funding massive CEO bonuses and feel good marketing of auto insurance when we can just cut them out altogether. Since insurance companies cannot make money off of all the other products they offer if people cannot live and that demands property insurance.

As a way to build up the State Mutual capital base and maintain it insurors who do not offer property insurance at lower rates than the State Mutual should have to pay a percentage of revenue earned in Florida into it. Of course this could not just be tacked on to the policy costs they offer. Instead they would be restricted as they are now so it would be a real reduction in profit in order to compensate the state and its citizens for the priviledge of resolving the problem after being led to the cliff by the industry and being made to catch ourselves by the fingernails.

Call it the Pay or Play Plan. I would love to see the straight face when the Insurance Industry threatened to exit the Annuity & Long Term Care markets in Florida. Maybe they would pull out of the Auto market so we would not have to endure their non-stop BS commercials and responsible people would no longer have to subsidize the non-insureds and provide the Trail Bar with easy money.

Mad Max would have nothing on the average Florida driver then.

[terminator]

6:29
I really hope you're right. I would welcome it.
Unfortunately, about 99% of their time this year will be taken up with budget cutting bloodletting.
I don't have much faith in Florida voters. Look how gullible they were by voting for CC and buying into A1.
They seem to have short term memory and return the same old failures to office over and over.

[A Blue Voter]

It's a slow process, but I think the people of Florida are finally coming to the realization that you can't fund essential services without taxes. Maybe next they will even wise up to the fact that you relentless tax cutting neocons don't actually have their best interests at heart, and are just using them as tools to play out your "destroy the government" agenda.

[Steve]

The People are very tired of their elected officials refusing to listen to the People. Senator Pruitt should be impeached. The People need to send a strong message to either do what the majority wants done - or go home!

"The People are very tired of their elected officials refusing to listen to the People. Senator Pruitt should be impeached. The People need to send a strong message to either do what the majority wants done - or go home!"

Translation: We've spent all this time and money spinning the issue and the voters are waking up to our lies anyways - hurry up and ram another cut down their throats before we're all tossed out on our butts.

I say bring on President Dockery!!!!

dee,
it's mainly the democrats and a few republicans blocking meaningful property tax relief

Have you seen the democrats voting on the property tax bills last year?

Almost all of them were supporting local government's drunken spending habits.

A Blue Voter, I think you mis-read the people. Jan 29th's strong support vote on Amendment 1 sent a mandate that Floridians want more meaningful property tax relief.

[curt kenyon]

This absolutely disgusts me...
Ken Pruitt represents everything that's wrong with this state and he must be replaced. In a few years, when the real taxpayers have migrated away from this welfare state and there's nothing left but the parasites and pundits, we'll see the real legacy of Ken and his contemporaries.

What did you expect when the president of the Senate's only academic background is the Indian River Community College? Garbage in, garbage out! Go home, Ken!!! Try seeling real estate again for a living in this economy and see what the rest of us are facing.

... told you!

[tomcat]

terminator,
I am not a Senate staffer. I do, however, read the papers.

The Senate is the only group up there with any real sense of making good public policy. The other chamber is too busy grandstanding and demagoguing, and repeating things were tried and failed 10 years ago.
But most of this debate really doesn't matter because 99 percent of the people outside capital circle do not make a difference between the House and Senate. They just think "Legislature," and blame the whole body.
I've been thankful too many times in the last couple of years that the Senate is there to pull in the reins.

[xman]

I guess we know who NOT to vote for next time around. He just doesn't get it. Listen to the people idiot!

Xman

AAAAAHHHHAHAHAHAHA! I laugh at all you A1 dupes that bought the BS line that this is a "first step" tax "cut" or "reform" - geller said this same thing the day after it was approved and now pruitt is confirming that taxes as an issue is done!!

and now we are all stuck with this monstrosity of a property tax code.

LOL So true, 10:07 remember all the 'Vote Yes for Amendment 1 then work for more later!" cut and pastes?

Either way, a huge property tax relief bill is coming.

The 1.35% Property Tax Cap Amendment will be on Nov.'s ballot or in 2010.

It will have enough signatures by then if they fail to put it on the ballot.
Once it's on the ballot, IT WILL PASS just like Amendment 1. Florida residents will not pass up any relief.