''It's hard to imagine that any of us -- even the most conservative of us -- would want to do that,'' Alexander said.

''With that said, it's still going to be hard to meet our obligations without some additional taxes,'' he said. ``What makes the most sense is a cigarette tax that we use to reduce our health care costs.''

House leaders don't buy that argument. They say they're still focusing on reducing spending.

''Before we ask for another dollar of new taxes and ask the people of Florida and businesses to pay more, we have to find more ways to reduce spending... and present a plan to get Florida's economy going again,'' said House Republican Leader Adam Hasner of Delray Beach. Hasner said the House won't have the plan ready for another two weeks.

Meanwhile, more than 10 bills are on the fast track to either abolish or transfer growth management programs, eliminate impact fees, abolish state oversight, change concurrency requirements and expedite permiting. Another bill would protect the tobacco industry from having to post a bond to file an appeal in class action lawsuits.

Environmentalists argue that the streamlining and regulation cutbacks are being pushed this year under the guise of stimulating the economy.

''We believe this piecemeal approach will not result in positive changes to our economy where the current inventory of homes is 300,000 dwelling units and our remaining natural areas continue to be subject to ongoing development pressures,'' said Charles Pattison, director of 1000 Friends of Florida, a growth watchdog organizations.

Pattison argues that while some of the proposed bills have positive aspect, lawmakers should take a more comprehensive and thoughtful approach to reform.

''This issue isn't about streamlining for the sake of streamlining,'' Hasner said. ``We want Florida's economy to recover and we believe that to do that we need to keep the tax burden as low as possible.''

Gaetz believes that many of the sales tax exemptions and business tax breaks have outlived their goal of bringing in business that Florida wouldn't otherwise have.

''It becomes welfare for a business and that's not good public policy,'' he said. But, he added, the different approaches to tax policy is likely to require ``some very hard bargaining between the Senate and the House.''

A meeting of the House Finance and Tax Committee ended abruptly Monday after Democrats refused to come forward with suggestions for sales tax exemptions that could be eliminated. Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, said that Democrats ''abdicated their responsibility'' when they complained about sales tax exemptions and then refused to offer any up to be repealed.

On the other hand, she admitted, Republicans haven't offered any sale tax breaks for repeal either.

''It's a cynical political game,'' complained Rep. Keith Fitzgerald, a Sarasota Democrat after the meeting. ``Obviously the endgame has always been Democrats should be the ones to raise taxes.''

Meanwhile, Alexander is waiting for the House and the governor to reach the same conclusion Senate leaders have -- that new revenues are inevitable.

''I've spent a fair amount of time trying to understand choices and options and while there clearly are ways to make efficiencies, at the end of the day, it's hard to see how we can do that,'' he said. ``If the House and the governor have ideas how to make that work responsibily, we're happy to listen.''

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamiHerald.com

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