Staff Analysis of the Legislation
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As introduced, this bill was limited to providing an income tax exemption for disaster relief payments associated with Hurricane Michael. As amended, the bill would exempt transportation services -- taxis, limos, and ridesharing such as Uber and Lyft -- from sales taxes, and replace that tax with a 50-cent per ride fee (25 cents for shared rides), subject to annual CPI adjustment. That fee would go to the state, with the stated intent that this money be used for transportation purposes, including transit; if not so appropriated, the fee would be reduced by 50% in the first year and repealed in the second such year. Because of constitutional limitations, the actual use of this money would be subject to the annual state budget process. Additionally, the bill would require that up to 10% of the state heavy-vehicle highway impact fee and $5/night fee on lodging be used for transit purposes. |