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Sunburn — The morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics — 7.7.21 (July 7, 2021)
Florida Politics
Florida TaxWatch’s Annual Meeting begins — 112;
Edward Waters College becomes Edward Waters University; Florida TaxWatch; Connecting veterans with mental health care (July 4, 2021)
This Week in Jacksonville (News4JAX)
Also, Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic Calabro discusses the nonpartisan group’s view of the state budget that just went into effect this week.
Government watchdog gives Florida’s $101.6B high marks (July 2, 2021)
This Week in Jacksonville (News4JAX)
And Hardee County took multiple hits not long after coming in the crosshairs of Florida TaxWatch’s turkey list. DeSantis vetoed $150,000 set aside for the Cracker Museum & Pioneer Village expansion in Zolfo Springs. Another $16,000 for a Hardee County Citrus Facility also didn’t survive the signing ceremony.
Florida’s $100 billion budget takes effect (July 1, 2021)
Capitol News Service
Dominic Calabro of Florida TaxWatch said the spending plan is sound and somewhat surprising following the pandemic. "We saw the GDP at the national level annualized 34 percent reduction GDP. Annualized. But Florida ultimately only had a three percent reduction. So now, our gross domestic product of Florida is actually higher today on an annualized basis than it was, you know, a year, a year and a half ago."
Retailers navigate Florida 'Freedom Week' sales tax holiday (July 1, 2021)
WFTS ABC Action News
From the perspective of the Florida Taxwatch, they’re also glad to have it and think it’s coming at a great time.
“I think it shows a great deal of sensitivity. It’s unique,” said Dominic M. Calabro, President, and CEO of Florida Taxwatch.
Mark Lane: Gov. Ron DeSantis signs bill that detours Roads to Nowhere (June 30, 2021)
Daytona Beach News Journal
“The Suncoast Connector is a risky project with a significant price tag and little transportation need, proposed in a highly sensitive environmental area that is vulnerable to coastal flooding and rising sea levels,” a Florida TaxWatch study sensibly concluded. And, as a bonus, the report noted that it also subverted the usual road-planning process.
Also published in:
Gainesville Sun
Florida TaxWatch: Sunshine State Ready for Freedom Week Sales Tax Holiday (June 30, 2021)
Florida Daily
With Freedom Week Sales Tax Holiday starting on Thursday and running through Wednesday, July 7, Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic Calabro weighed in on it this week.
Florida M-CORES dead, but two-thirds of proposed toll road ‘boondoggle’ still on books (June 29, 2021)
The Center Square
Three task forces created to study each of the proposed toll roads could not justify the need for them. Florida TaxWatch in a 2020 analysis called M-CORES a “boondoggle.”
Florida TaxWatch Looks at the Challenges K-12 Education Faces After the Pandemic (June 29, 2021)
Florida Daily
At the end of last week, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) released “Beyond the Pandemic: Long Term Changes and Challenges for K-12 Education in Florida,” a report which highlights the unprecedented disruptions in learning caused by COVID-19 and the concern for long-term economic and societal risks to students, families, and communities in Florida.
‘FREEDOM WEEK’ TO OFFER SALES TAX BREAKS (June 29, 2021)
News Service of Florida
Dominic Calabro, president and CEO of the Tallahassee-based group Florida TaxWatch, said people need to “re-establish a sense of normalcy that they lost to the pandemic.”
Also published in:
Jim Turner and Tom Urban
Bradenton Herald
WOGX FOX 51
Gulf County News
Washington County News
Apalachicola Times
Click Orlando
South Florida Sun Sentinel
Florida Trend
CW34 (West Palm Beach)
FOX 13 (Tampa Bay)
Miami Herald
The Miami Times
ABC 7 (Southwest Florida)
Florida Times-Union (Newspaper)
South Dade Newsleader
South Florida Sun Sentinel (Newspaper)
Florida TaxWatch encourages Floridians to take advantage of Freedom Week Sales Tax Holiday? (June 28, 2021)
South Central Florida Life
“As a trusted government watchdog and a longstanding advocate for the best interests of hard-working taxpayers, Florida TaxWatch commends Governor DeSantis, Senate President Wilton Simpson, and House Speaker Chris Sprowls for implementing the Freedom Week Sales Tax Holiday in 2021," said Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic M. Calabro.
Gov. DeSantis enacts repeal of three controversial highway projects; in effect, one remains (June 25, 2021)
Florida Politics
The repealer bill kills a Southwest-Central Florida MCORES highway project that would have run through Florida Panther habitat, a project condemned early by TaxWatch as a boondoggle that would be unable to pay for itself with toll revenues.
Fact-checking Nikki Fried’s attack on Ron DeSantis (June 16, 2021)
PolitiFact
Business groups including Florida TaxWatch and the Florida Retail Federation had urged state legislators to pass such a law so that it applied equally to businesses operating inside and outside Florida that sell to Florida customers.
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