Florida Senate moving quickly on vehicle-registration fee cut

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The Florida Senate is quickly revisiting plans to reduce vehicle-registration fees in the 2014 legislative session.

Appropriations Committee Chairman Joe Negron said the state Transportation Committee will pick up the proposal (SB 156) on Wednesday. The bill will reduce the 2009 rate increases approved to help close budget shortfalls. Vehicle-registration rollbacks could save Florida vehicle owners as much as $230 million.

During the 2013 session, Senators attempted similar fee reductions. However, the bill died on the Senate floor, mainly because it would eliminate some insurance industry tax breaks. The new bill abandons the insurance-tax issue.

Negron anticipates Gov. Rick Scott will make vehicle-fee reductions a part of his $500 million package of tax and fee cuts planned for 2014.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.