The floor is yours: House invites governor to pitch his property tax proposal to select committee

As House Republicans and Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to exchange barbs over taxes and the state’s budget breakdown, legislators charged with looking at property taxes challenged the governor to offer his ideas to them in person.

The House select committee set up to study potential property tax cut ideas for the 2026 ballot announced on Tuesday it had sent a letter to the governor inviting him to “participate in an upcoming meeting as we work to deliver meaningful lasting property tax relief for Floridians.”

DeSantis has already ridiculed the House Select Committee on Property Taxes as a “dog and pony show” designed to come up with reasons why the state should not push for deep cuts in property taxes. He has mocked the committee membership as being stacked with “far left Democrats” who have no interest in serious proposals.

But House Republicans have retorted that the governor has not come up with any detailed plans on his own on how to cut property taxes. DeSantis did suggest legislators consider sending a $1,000 rebate to homeowners later this year to help with their property taxes bills.

The Legislature never seriously considered the rebate idea and House Speaker Daniel Perez ripped into it shortly before the select committee met on Tuesday.

“These checks do not actually lower tax rates,” Perez said. “These checks do not solve the property tax problem. They are just state taxpayers apologizing for local government spending, which is the kind of irresponsible idea I associate with California policymakers.”

The letter from select committee co-chairs Toby Overdorf and Vicki Lopez asks DeSantis to come to the next meeting of the committee “to present your ideas directly” on “lasting and sustainable tax relief.”

DeSantis has been pushing for property tax changes for months and has criticized Perez and House Republicans for moving ahead with a plan to cut sales taxes instead.

Earlier this month Perez created the select committee and charged it with crafting constitutional amendments that could be passed by lawmakers at the start of next year’s session in January, then go to the ballot in November 2026.

DeSantis has held a spate of news conferences across the state in the past week attacking the House and Perez. In press appearances, joined by Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, the governor has asked attendees to raise their hands whether they support his proposal to eliminate property taxes or the House’s proposal to reduce sales tax.

Perez on Tuesday criticized DeSantis for these appearances, noting that he travels on a state plane supported by taxpayer dollars. He likened the governor’s antics to that of a middle school student on social media.

“The fact that the governor is choosing to continue to get on his private plane, paid for by taxpayers by the way, and go to every part of the state only to hit the House is something that he is choosing to do. It is not what I would do if I were the governor, but he’s entitled to make that decision.

“I know today he took his private plane out to Ohio. If he were to spend  more time here in this Capitol having conversations with myself and other members of the House he’d understand my position, why we are in that position,” Perez said.

“And if he’s able to convince us otherwise and have us move in another direction, maybe his direction, he has every opportunity to do so. The difference between the governor and the House is the House is always willing to have a tough conversation. We’re always willing to answer the tough questions. We’re always willing to have the debate. The governor isn’t willing to have a conversation, period. Period. There’s no difference between him and any seventh grader in Miami-Dade County right now who tweets.”

Perez has criticized the governor for not proffering any plan to permanently reduce property taxes. By contrast, Perez has charged the select committee with developing a plan and directed it to explore a variety of potential reforms, including:

• Requiring every city, county, and special district to hold a referendum on the question of eliminating property taxes on homestead properties.
• Creating a new $500,000 homestead exemption, as well as a $1 million homestead exemption for properties owned by Floridians aged 65 and older, or who have had a homestead for 30 years, applicable to all non-school taxes.
• Authorizing the Legislature to increase the homestead exemption to any value by general law rather than constitutional amendment.
• Modifying the assessment increase limitations on property values: For homestead properties, changing the cap from the lower of 3% of the consumer price index to a flat 3% over any three-year period for all taxes. For non-homestead properties, changing the cap from 10% annually to 15% over any three-year period for all non-school taxes.
• Protecting homeownership by eliminating the ability to foreclose on a homestead property due to a property tax lien.

DeSantis and the House have been clashing since before the 2025 session, starting with a special session disagreement over immigration policy and extending to the row over the chamber’s investigation into the Hope Florida Foundation and now tax relief.

The dispute has become so rancorous that Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power last week suggested a summit so GOP leaders could “collaborate, unite, and deliver relief and lasting results for Florida families.” DeSantis dismissed that idea.