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Florida’s Governor and many state lawmakers have been preaching tax cuts for the better part of 2015. As Matt Galka tells us, the Florida House has already passed their version – and now the Senate made some changes – so the numbers are still being worked out.

The Florida Senate wants a longer back to school sales tax holiday.  The 10 day break on school supplies was part of their nearly $430 million dollar tax cut.  The House’s version had only three days.

“It’s very popular with the public, it’s hard for people to plan just one particular day. We tried to change to accommodate the dates because there are school systems that are starting earlier,” said Sen. Dorothy Hukill (R-Port Orange).

The Senate is also giving cell phone users a 20 dollar break on 100 dollar cell phone bills.  It’s closer to what the Governor had been pushing during regular session – although it falls short of his 43 dollar cell phone tax cut goal.

“We want to try to help the Governor achieve his agenda and his tax cuts so we’re working hard to do that,” said Senate budget chairman Tom Lee.

What the Senate’s plan doesn’t include is a small business Saturday sales tax holiday which could hurt local stores. Senator Thad Altman (R-Cape Canaveral) was disappointed the holiday didn’t make the cut.

“There are a lot of rural areas that may not have the big box stores but there’s a lot of small businesses and they’re sort of under siege already so it at least gives them a little piece of the action,” he said.

But with 9 days left in the scheduled special session – the final amount of tax breaks is still to be determined.

A one year suspension of sales tax on college textbooks is also in the Senate’s plan. The House had been calling for just three days – one at the beginning of the fall, spring, and summer semesters – to give students a break on textbook taxes.