HB 0009

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to the Joint Legislative Sales and Use Tax
3Exemption Review Committee; creating s. 11.95, F.S.;
4creating the Joint Legislative Sales and Use Tax Exemption
5Review Committee for the purpose of reviewing exemptions
6from the general state sales and use tax; providing for
7appointments to and organization of the committee;
8specifying duties and procedures with respect to such
9review; providing for open meetings; providing for
10reports; requiring continuing periodic review of sales and
11use tax exemptions; providing a period of exemption from
12review for newly enacted exemptions; providing
13applicability to other legislation proposing to modify,
14repeal, or enact an exemption; providing an effective
15date.
16
17Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
18
19     Section 1.  Section 11.95, Florida Statutes, is created to
20read:
21     11.95  Joint Legislative Sales and Use Tax Exemption Review
22Committee.--
23     (1)  The Joint Legislative Sales and Use Tax Exemption
24Review Committee is created to conduct comprehensive, periodic
25reviews of all exemptions from the general state sales and use
26tax. The committee shall consist of nine senators appointed by
27the President of the Senate and nine representatives appointed
28by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The terms of the
29members of the initial committee for each review cycle shall
30commence upon appointment and shall run to the general election
31preceding the organization of the next Legislature. The terms of
32the members of subsequent committees for each review cycle shall
33be for 2 years and shall run from the organization of one
34Legislature to the general election preceding the organization
35of the next Legislature. A vacancy shall be filled in the same
36manner as the original appointment. During even-numbered years,
37the chair of the committee shall be appointed by the President
38of the Senate, and the vice chair of the committee shall be
39appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives. During
40odd-numbered years, the chair of the committee shall be
41appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and
42the vice chair of the committee shall be appointed by the
43President of the Senate.
44     (2)  The committee for each review cycle shall have its
45initial meeting no later than December 1 of the year of its
46first regular session and thereafter as necessary at the call of
47the chair at the time and place designated by the chair. A
48quorum shall consist of a majority of the committee members from
49each house. During the interim between regular sessions, the
50committee may conduct its meetings through teleconferences or
51other similar means. All meetings of the committee shall be open
52and noticed to the public and subject to order and decorum in
53accordance with s. 4(e), Art. III of the State Constitution.
54     (3)  The committee shall be governed by joint rules adopted
55by the Legislature pursuant to authority to adopt rules under s.
564, Art. III of the State Constitution.
57     (4)  For purposes of this section, the term:
58     (a)  "General state sales and use tax" means the sales and
59use tax imposed under chapter 212.
60     (b)  "Exemption" means a provision in chapter 212 that
61relieves from taxation a sale, use, or other transaction that
62would, but for such provision, be subject to tax under chapter
63212. A transaction that is beyond the reach of chapter 212 by
64reason of definitional or other exclusions shall not be deemed
65the subject of an exemption for purposes of this section.
66Included among the transactions excluded from taxation under
67chapter 212 and therefore not the subject of an exemption to be
68reviewed by the committee under this section are the following:
69     1.  Sales that are not retail sales pursuant to s.
70212.02(14).
71     2.  Export sales under s. 212.06(5)(a).
72     3.  Sales for resale under s. 212.07.
73     4.  Occasional and isolated sales.
74     5.  The sale or use of intangible property.
75     6.  The sale of real property.
76     7.  The sale or use of services, excepting only those
77services enumerated as taxable in chapter 212.
78     (c)  "Single exemption" means an exemption that describes a
79single transaction or an exemption set forth in a section,
80subsection, or paragraph of chapter 212, whichever describes the
81fewest number of transactions.
82     (5)  The committee shall have the power and duty to conduct
83a comprehensive review of all current exemptions from the
84general state sales and use tax. The committee shall establish
85criteria by which each exemption shall be evaluated. In
86developing the evaluation criteria, the committee shall consider
87the following principles of taxation:
88     (a)  Equity.--The Florida tax system should treat
89individuals equitably. It should impose similar tax burdens on
90people in similar circumstances and should minimize
91regressivity.
92     (b)  Compliance.--The Florida tax system should facilitate
93taxpayer compliance. It should be simple and easy to understand
94so as to minimize compliance costs and increase the visibility
95and awareness of the taxes being paid. Enforcement and
96collection of tax revenues should be done in a fair, consistent,
97professional, predictable, and cost-effective manner.
98     (c)  Pro-competitiveness.--The Florida tax system should be
99responsive to interstate and international competition in order
100to encourage savings and investment in plants, equipment,
101people, and technology in Florida.
102     (d)  Neutrality.--The Florida tax system should affect
103competitors uniformly and not become a tool for "social
104engineering." It should minimize government involvement in
105investment decisions, making any such involvement explicit, and
106should minimize pyramiding.
107     (e)  Stability.--The Florida tax system should produce
108revenues in a stable and reliable manner that is sufficient to
109fund appropriate governmental functions and expenditures.
110     (f)  Integration.--The Florida tax system should balance
111the need for integration of federal, state, and local taxation.
112     (g)  Public purpose.--Any sales and use tax exemption under
113the Florida tax system should be based upon a determination that
114the exemption promotes an important state interest, including,
115but not limited to, economic development, job creation and
116retention, economic diversification, and community
117revitalization.
118     (6)  In conducting its review of each exemption from the
119general state sales and use tax, the committee shall make
120findings of fact and recommend whether the exemption should be
121retained, modified, or repealed. Each recommendation must be
122made by majority vote of the committee members. If a majority
123vote of the committee members cannot be achieved, the committee
124must recommend that the exemption be retained. The findings of
125fact and recommendations of the committee shall be made by
126reports to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
127House of Representatives.
128     (7)  The committee may use its discretion in determining
129the order in which it reviews the exemptions; however, the
130committee should review approximately one-third of the
131exemptions each year of a 3-year review period. No exemption
132shall be reviewed more than once during any 3-year review
133period. For the initial 3-year review, the committee shall
134submit, to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the
135House of Representatives, its reports not later than 30 days
136prior to each regular session in the years 2006, 2007, and 2008.
137The committee shall begin a new 3-year review cycle of all
138exemptions from the general state sales and use tax every 10
139years following the termination of the previous review cycle.
140For each subsequent 3-year review, the committee shall submit
141its reports not later than 30 days prior to the regular session
142of each year of that review period, beginning with the 10th year
143after the year of the final report for the previous review.
144     (8)  At the regular session following submission of each
145annual report to the presiding officers of the Legislature, the
146ranking member of each house of the Legislature on the committee
147shall sponsor and file for introduction in his or her respective
148house of the Legislature bills presenting for modification or
149repeal those exemptions from the general state sales and use tax
150that were recommended by the committee for modification or
151repeal in the report submitted immediately prior to the session
152in which introduced. However, if either such member voted
153against the recommendation of the committee, another member of
154the committee from that house of the Legislature who voted for
155the recommendation of the committee shall sponsor the bill in
156that house of the Legislature. Each bill filed under this
157subsection shall be exempt from any filing limits applicable in
158either house of the Legislature and shall be limited to a single
159exemption and for that purpose only. Upon introduction, each
160bill filed under this subsection shall be placed on the calendar
161of the respective house of the Legislature without reference to
162any committee and must be submitted to a vote of the members of
163the house of the Legislature in which introduced no later than
164the eighth week of the session in which introduced, unless the
165substance of the bill has already been voted on by the members
166of the other house of the Legislature in another bill during
167that session and defeated. In addition, each bill filed under
168this subsection that receives a majority vote in the house of
169the Legislature in which introduced must be submitted to a vote
170of the members of the other house of the Legislature during that
171session, unless the substance of the bill has already been voted
172on by the members of the other house of the Legislature in
173another bill during that session and defeated.
174     (9)  In no event shall the repeal of an exemption take
175effect sooner than 180 days following its passage by the
176Legislature.
177     (10)  Any new exemption from taxation under chapter 212 is
178exempt from review under this section for 6 years after it takes
179effect.
180     (11)  Nothing contained in this section shall preclude, or
181be construed to limit, a legislator from filing for any
182legislative session a bill proposing to modify, repeal, or enact
183any exemption from the general state sales and use tax or the
184imposition of such taxation on the sales of any service.
185     Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.