Okaloosa County BOCC — April 7, 2015 — April 7 2015 Ware Charitable Foundation Shoal River Ranch

Page B6 | Daily News | Wednesday, March 25,2015 LOCAL & STATE Horida House wants to cut taxes on cellphones and textbooks TALLAHASSEE (AP) — With abudget stalemate still possible, the Republican- controlled Florida House on Tuesday rolled out a hefty package of tax cuts and tax breaks it wants to push through during this year's session. House leaders are pitch- ing almost $700 million in tax cuts, including a substantial cut in the taxes charged on cellphones and cable tele- vision, a three-day back to school sales tax h and exempting college ks from sales taxes. “We want to send that money back to the kitchen tables all across this great state, because the decisions made at the kitchen table about how to spend money are always better than the decisions made by politicians far away,” said Rep. Matt Gaelz, a thlgalton Beach Republican and main spon- sor of the tax package. The House package includes more than a dozen tax breaks, ranging from sparing school booster groups from paying taxes for conces- sions to creating a sales tax holiday for small businesses in late November. It also includes tax breaks being sought by some of the state’s business interest groups, including a slight reduction in the tax now charged on commercial leases. The biggest part of the $690 million package is a reduction in the taxes now charged on cellphones and cable television. The pro- posed cut would save the average Floridian about $40 ayear and would divert about $500 million out of the state's main budget account. Acut in the tax known offi- cially as the “communication services tax” is one of this year's top priorities for Gov. Rick Scott. Scott himself rolled out a $673 million tax cut pack- age, but House leadersarent embracing all of the changes he is seeking, Scott wanted another small cut in the state’s income tax — which was a key part of his “7-7- 7" plan to turn around the state’s — but House leaders did not include it in their package. Gaetz said House mem- bers decided instead to offer tax breaks in targeted busi- ness areas, Whilethe Houserolledout progr: its tax package with fanfare, Senate Republicans have remained relatively mum on what taxes they would sup- port cutting this year. Senate President Andy Gardiner said his chamber wants to resolve other bud- get items before deciding on ataxcut package. Senate Republicans worry that Florida will lose more than $1 billion in fed- eral aid now being used to help hospitals treat the poor and uninsured. The Senate has crafted a replacement am but the House has not included the extramoney in its budget proposal. Right now the House and Sen- ate proposed budgets differ by more than $4 billion in "ld:ilol%l't think we're any- where near even talking about what the number is,” Gardiner said on Tuesday. “There’s still a lot of things that have to be resolved before you can get to that point.” Scott rejects Confederates for hall of fame TALLAHASSEE (AP) — Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet rejected nominations of three Confederate soldiers for the Florida Veterans' Hall of Fame Tuesday after being told they weren't eligible because they didn't serve in the US. Membersofthe Sons of Con- federate Veterans argued they should be included because they honorably servedthe state and became prominent citizens after the Civil War. But the state NAACP opposed their nomination. Tal- lahassee NAACP President Dale Landry said the men sym- bolized a time of hatred and slaveryin U S, history and that inducting them would be like flying a Confederate flag over the Capitol. The men included Edward A Perry,whobecame governor of Florida; Samuel W Pasco, who became a US. senator and for whom Pasco County is named; and David Lang, who became Florida adjutant general and is considered by some the father of the Florida National Guard, according to information submitted with their nominations. Plans. calendar days from the release of this ad to comment on the plan. reallocate $47,