It Finally Happened

[OnePyroTec]

My friend is a reporter who covers the Florida State Legislature in Tallahassee and he emailed me part of his story.

April 1, 2015
Tallahassee

Speaker of the house Steve Crisafulli commented that the house voted 85-31 (4 abstained) to pass the tax increase on non-cigarette tobacco products from the current 85% to 220% and that the bill should pass the senate with minimal opposition.

The current rate of 85% was already one of the highest in the nation but Crisafulli feels that the legislation could be a template for other states.

The bill was included in adjunct legislation to the state budget that also passed today. The legislative package was jointly sponsored by representatives Sharon Pritchett (Broward), Ray Lake (Duval), Amanda Murphy (Pasco) and Mike Miller (Orange) and its language ties all smoking together so that it is now effectively illegal to use tobacco products anywhere in public in the state of Florida.

Stock up folks.

My question is who will be left on the hook for the budget when it fails? It looks great on paper to project how much $$$ they will take in based on sales & taxes collected the previous years, then raising it 2.5 times. In reality, they are forcing the closure of many businesses and loss of jobs so in turn the tax $$$ collected will drop so they won't have the budgeted money that they plan on spending.