No more sales tax on baby necessities, pet meds, gas stoves in Florida under new DeSantis proposal

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced on Wednesday a new $114.8 billion budget proposal that would place a permanent sales tax exemption on baby necessities, pet medications, and gas stoves, Fox News Digital reported.

DeSantis introduced the "Framework for Freedom Budget" for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which proposed $1.5 billion in tax cuts, including four permanent and several temporary tax cuts.

The governor's plan aims to cut costs and put money back in the pockets of Floridians.

A permanent sales tax exemption would apply to baby and toddler necessities, including cribs and strollers, over-the-counter pet medications, and gas stoves.

During a Wednesday press conference, DeSantis stated, "It's hard enough raising kids as it is. Now, you get baby food, diapers, wipes, baby clothes, the whole shebang, including things like cribs and strollers, which are very, very expensive. So that is going to be permanently tax-free in the state of Florida. We're also doing a permanent exclusion on all over-the-counter pet medications, because they're parts of our families too."

"And then we just added – because I think it needs to be done – no tax permanently on gas stoves. They want your gas stove, and we're not going to let that happen," DeSantis continued, referring to a proposed ban on gas stoves. "It's just the principle of, you know, this is ridiculous. And they do want to go after it. They got blowback, so they kind of had to back off."

The budget also proposes a temporary tax holiday on "children's books, children's toys, children's athletic equipment, certain household items and clothing, disaster preparedness items, outdoor recreation items, dental and oral hygiene products, pet food, hand and power tools, energy star appliances, and natural gas."

A one-year sales tax exception applies to household items under $25, such as toothpaste, dental floss, soap, shampoo, laundry detergent, and toilet paper.

"We're also doing one-year sales tax holidays for household items under $25," DeSantis stated. "And so that'll be everything from detergent to trash bags. These are necessities, and people are going to be able to get those tax-free."

The framework budget also proposes pay raises to state employees, including "an across-the-board 5 percent pay increase for all state employees," an additional 10% raise for certain "hard-to-hire" positions, and $23 per hour for correctional officers.

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