Crist pushes gas tax holiday

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist's latest populist pitch to tax-weary constituents: Cut the state gas tax by 10 cents for two weeks this summer.

Sound good? Not to key Florida legislators, who say the state doesn't have the money in one of the tightest years on record.

But that's not stopping Crist, who has persuaded a Pasco County lawmaker to push for the cut. The governor proposes raiding the state's general tax fund to make up for the $50-million loss in road-building money.

Taking a cue from his friend, Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Crist has used a string of radio and TV appearances to push for the tax break, most recently Monday on Fox & Friends in which he praised McCain for promoting the idea.

"It's hard to do in a tight budget year, but people need relief," he said, according to a transcript released by McCain's campaign.

Crist persuaded Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, to file an amendment to a revenue bill (SB 1838) that would suspend 10 cents of the state's 15.6-cent per gallon gas tax for a two-week period from July 1-14.

The estimated loss in road-building taxes would be made up with general revenue dollars — which are largely fed by sales taxes. The idea took the Senate's chief budget-writer, Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Osprey, by surprise.

"There's no money in general (tax) revenue," Carlton said.

Carlton noted that money was so tight that lawmakers scaled back the length of the back-to-school sales tax holiday and eliminated a second holiday for hurricane-related items. Next year's $66-billion budget, expected to be approved later this week, also includes a cut to public schools and health care cuts approaching $1-billion.

The idea of using general tax dollars to make up for a gas-tax shortfall is clearly to appease two road-building champions — Fasano and Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, who said he isn't a fan of the latest idea.

With only four days left in the session, it's apparent Crist also needs traction in the House, too.

"I'm not familiar with it," said Rep. Ray Sansom, R-Destin, the lead House budget-writer. Sansom said no one from the Governor's Office has explained the proposal to him.

Freshman Rep. Nick Thompson, R-Fort Myers, Crist's point man on the issue in the House, said he hasn't figured out a procedural way to propose it yet.

The notion that there's no money available isn't likely to be too persuasive an argument. Overnight Sunday, key lawmakers found $50-million to continue Everglades restoration after that program had been ignored by budget-writers.

Legislators have cut the gas tax only once before, by 8 cents a gallon during a three-week period in August 2004. But the effort went largely unnoticed, masked by the volatility of gasoline prices due to global factors.

Doug Callaway, president of Floridians for Better Transportation, an advocacy group backed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, called the tax cut "an ill-advised idea." Federal gasoline taxes have not increased since 1993 and state gas taxes not since 1990, Callaway said, meaning that the increases at the pump are not related to taxes.

In Tallahassee, a late-session cut in the gas tax also appears to be a tough sell with Democrats.

"Where are they getting the money from? My understanding is the money isn't there," said Senate Minority Leader Steve Geller, D-Cooper City.

Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263. Jennifer Liberto can be reached at jliberto@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.