TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist signed a no-new-taxes pledge Thursday, indicating that while he's running for the U.S. Senate he might veto some of the fees and taxes legislators raised to balance Florida's budget.

In the Americans for Tax Reform pledge for federal candidates, Crist promises to oppose income-tax increases. Crist's Republican rival for the Senate seat, Marco Rubio, also signed the pledge on Thursday. Crist and Rubio had signed a similar pledge for state officeholders.

But Crist is about to break that promise if he doesn't veto most of the $2.2 billion in new taxes and fees that legislators approved May 8.

Any major vetoes by Crist are likely to cause hard feelings among lawmakers and probably would guarantee a special session of the Legislature because the budget would be out of balance. Controlled by Republicans, the Legislature had to put in a week of overtime work to settle major disputes over taxes and savings.

CHOICES

Crist has three options: Sign the $66.5 billion budget, veto specific items, or allow it to become law without his signature. Asked whether he would exercise the last option, Crist said Wednesday: ``I haven't decided yet.''

To make sure Crist can't wield his veto pen with ease, legislative leaders explicitly tied most fee and tax increases to specific parts of the budget.

If Crist vetoes the largest tax hike, a ''surcharge'' of $1 more for every pack of cigarettes, it would remove the lion's share of state money for Medicaid. And that would cost the state $2 billion in federal matching money for the program serving 2.6 million Floridians. Many fee increases, such as for driver licenses and car and truck registration tags, are tied to $900 million for K-12 schools.

''If he vetoes the revenues, the budget would come apart,'' said Senate budget chief J.D. Alexander of Lake Wales. ``The governor told me personally he wouldn't veto the tobacco surcharge, for what it's worth.''

That means Crist would either have to break his word to Alexander or to Americans for Tax Reform. Even if Crist doesn't sign the budget and it becomes law, he will violate the portion of the pledge that applies to governors in which they promise to veto tax increases. The new pledge Crist signed concerns income taxes, which don't exist in Florida.

Earlier this month, in the final days of the session, the Washington-based anti-tax group struck up an ad- and letter-writing campaign against the tobacco-tax hike. Big tobacco has supported Americans for Tax Reform for years.

`NOT WARM AND FUZZY'

For months, Crist has ducked questions about the cigarette tax, saying he is ''not warm and fuzzy about tax increases.'' Ever since he announced his Senate bid Tuesday, Crist has grown more laconic, refusing to even opine on what should happen with the Guantánamo Bay prison camp for terrorism suspects.

After telling reporters Wednesday that he did not want to talk politics, Crist was asked how he would juggle a campaign with his current duties: ``Very carefully.''

Miami Herald staff writer Beth Reinhard contributed to this report. Marc Caputo can be reached at mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com.

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