Gov. Charlie Crist, we are continuously reminded, is on a roll. The popular Republican hybrid has been riding high since hitting the daily double with John McCain and Amendment 1.
No one doubts Crist’s political instincts – ever since taking one for the team and sacrificially running against the unbeatable Bob Graham in the 1998 senate race. It brought Crist statewide name recognition and a bunch of IOUs. And his gut obviously didn’t desert him when it came to getting out in front on behalf of fellow maverick McCain as well as the delusory property-tax cut.
But if Crist really wants to take one for the home team — as in the state of Florida and its long-term economic viability — there’s something that needs all the political capital and bully-pulpit skills he can muster. Right now.
How about trying really hard to help fix a broken tax system, one that hasn’t changed meaningfully since LeRoy Collins was governor? One that has yielded – thanks to the end of the rapid-growth era and the onset of mortgage meltdowns and property-tax cut fever — a $2 billion shortfall. And, no, that locust-like, once-every-20-years Taxation and Budget Reform Commission won’t do anything dramatic.
It’s time for Florida’s quintessential populist — the one who’s “open-minded” and all about doing “the people’s business” — to do the right thing by getting behind the sort of tax reform that Florida’s 21st-century economy demands. The sort of tax reform that would make possible truly substantial property-tax cuts across the board. The sort of tax reform that is, perforce, politically dicey and would take guts as well as “open-mindedness.”
To wit:
*There’s the $100 billion laundry list of sales-tax exemptions, a sizable chunk of which is NOT for food, prescription drugs, health services and solar-energy investments.
*We are a service economy. Yet, we don’t tax services. Sure, it cost Bob Martinez in his re-election bid, but a real leader with a real feel for the financial fix that Florida is in today won’t continue to treat services like another political third rail.
*And as Florida Tax Watch has noted, this state could reduce property taxes by at least $2 billion annually if Florida collected sales taxes owed on Internet purchases. Of course, it’s problematic, but nearly two dozen states belong to the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, which hopes to build enough leverage to prod Congress into mandating collection of e-sales taxes by retailers. Florida is not among those states.
*And then there’s Floridians’ birthright: No to even a minimal state income tax, the least regressive alternative of all.
Meanwhile, Crist keeps manipulating the ad hoc shells of the revenue-raising game. Expand the lottery. Sell the lottery. Lease bridges. Raid a trust fund. Oversell Seminole gambling. Impose strip-club surcharges. Delegate state services to locals.
The time for making the tough, gutsy calls is never politically ideal. But with the governor riding high and Florida’s future riding on serious revenue reform, the time right now is as good as it will get.