Florida House delivers on DeSantis’ property tax promise — what happens next?

The Florida House passed a bill on Thursday roughly along party lines seeking to repeal property taxes on everything except for those funding schools — a concept closely resembling what Gov. Ron DeSantis has been campaigning on for a year, but has yet to deliver a proposal on.

“Our actions today are not sudden, nor do they meet any reasonable definition of quick,” Miami House Speaker Daniel Perez said before the bill passed. “The governor pushed this topic into the forefront of our political conversation one year ago.”

The governor has said in the past that he wants to deal with the property tax discussion later this year during campaign season, when Republicans can rally voters on it as an answer to an affordability crisis.

“We could potentially have a special session on property tax right in the middle of the Republican primary season in July or August,” DeSantis said last October, “when the voters are watching.”

DeSantis continues to lean that way, posting Thursday on X, “it’s better to do it right than do it quick!”

The House and Senate must pass the same joint resolution to get a proposal in front of voters on Nov. 3 that would cut property taxes, which are governed by the constitution and cannot be changed by the Legislature through a law. To become law, voters would need to approve it by at least 60%.

But the House and Senate haven’t agreed on much this legislative session, and their property tax ideas are far apart. The chambers have had tension since the Senate balked at a sales tax cut last year amid concerns about a coming recession as fewer people are projected to move to Florida in the future.

On Wednesday, state Sen. Ed Hooper told reporters that the Senate’s own offer on property tax reform will be released in the coming weeks with the tax package during budget discussions that have begun.

But he said it will be more modest than the House’s “generous” tax cut. A sticking point: The Senate proposes to set money aside in the budget to help rural communities make up their deficits due to the potential tax cut, Hooper said, but the House doesn’t.

“We have to agree with the House or it goes nowhere,” Hooper told reporters. “Whatever we send to the voters has to be agreed upon, totally, and that may be where the difficulty begins.”

The House bill, HJR 203, passed 80-30. Democrats argue it would harm law enforcement and limit social services, like after-school programs or access to parks. State economists project it would cost local governments more than $13.3 billion annually. The bill prohibits cities and counties from decreasing funding for public safety, which representatives from the local governments say isn’t possible.

“Local law enforcement is primarily funded through property tax revenue. At this point, it is not clear how local law enforcement services would be funded without shifting costs elsewhere,” Charles Chapman, a legislative advocate for the Florida League of Cities, said in a statement.

‘Past resentments’

The House and Senate have had a difficult time seeing eye to eye on most major policy and budget issues this year — a hangover from last session over the sales tax cut proposal and after the House investigated spending by the governor. The tension pushed Senate President Ben Albritton toward DeSantis. His staff is working with the governor’s office on a tax-cut pitch.

But the challenges in coming up with a proposal that voters will support go beyond personalities.

In the last decade, two modest proposals to increase the homestead exemption have both failed. In 2022, voters rejected increasing the non-school homestead property tax exemption by $50,000 for public servants, and in 2018, they rejected increasing it by $25,000 for everyone. Both are incremental compared to what the House passed on Thursday, which is close to what DeSantis has pushed for over the past year.

DeSantis used his platform to help defeat two popular ballot amendments in 2024, and he’s been adamant that Floridians shouldn’t continue to pay the government to live in homes they already own in a difficult financial climate. Still, he has acknowledged the difficulty in gaining voters’ support.

“What can we get on the ballot?” DeSantis said last March at a press conference. “What can get past the legislature to get on the ballot? And then what can we marshal 60% of the electorate [to vote for]?”

The House proposal changed on the floor to more closely resemble what DeSantis has called for – a near-total repeal of taxes for people who live in their homes, immediately – indicating Perez is challenging the governor to come to the table.

“We will talk to anyone; anytime; about anything,” Perez said Thursday. “We will never let personalities or past resentments impede our work.”

But he made room to have a negotiation beyond the legislative session, saying “we will not be pushed by artificial deadlines,” and “we continue to be open to any of the Senate’s ideas — provided those ideas ever materialize as actions.”

In line with what DeSantis has called for, the House proposal would exempt taxes for people who live in their homes, but not for people who own second homes or businesses. Those groups, and renters, will have to foot the financial burden, meaning the costs could simply shift as opposed to going away.

Given that dynamic, Perez was asked on Wednesday by a reporter whether his proposal would go far enough in offering Floridians meaningful financial relief.

“No one knows the answer to that question,” Perez said. “I think we’re going to try our best to make sure that ... we make it more affordable here in the state of Florida to live, to grow, to raise your family, to grow your business. Property taxes are part of that conversation.”

Perez added: “Give the people a chance to vote, and come up with a product. The House is the only one that has come up with a product.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 12:35 PM.