Florida homeowners have been writing the government a rent check every year for their own homes.
DeSantis went on Fox News Monday night and promised an end to it – but he still hasn't told anyone what the plan actually is.
But now his own Republican House Speaker just went on television and said he's still waiting for a proposal – and time is running out.
DeSantis Guarantees What He Can't Deliver
Here is what DeSantis said on The Ingraham Angle Monday.
"Now we are going to go and get an amendment on the ballot,” he said. “Voters have to approve it, which will say your homestead residence (is going to) be exempt from property tax,” he continued. “So we're working on how to structure that.”
“I've got to get the votes in the Legislature, but I guarantee you that will be on the ballot,” he added.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2048914919911788806?s=20
Working on how to structure it.
After 18 months of Fox News hits, speeches, and campaign-style rallies, the governor of Florida went on national television and guaranteed something he has not yet figured out how to do.
House Speaker Daniel Perez – a Republican who already passed property tax elimination through his own chamber – put it plainly last weekend on This Week in South Florida.
"For the last 18 months or so, he's been saying to the public and on Fox News and on anyone that's willing to listen that he's going to abolish property taxes,” he said. “I'm still waiting for a proposal that has anything to do with property taxes."
Not a Democrat. His own Speaker.
https://twitter.com/thatgrimes/status/2046947560313487804?s=20
The Clock is Running Out on DeSantis
To get a constitutional amendment on the November 2026 ballot, the Florida Legislature needs to approve ballot language with 60% supermajority votes in both chambers.
They need to do it before August.
That's the hard deadline.
The House already did their part.
They passed a proposal eliminating non-school homestead property taxes on February 19 – 80 votes to 30, straight party lines.
The Senate never touched it. DeSantis didn't support it either.
He actually called the House proposals "milquetoast" – not a serious attempt to get it done.
Then he called a special session for April 28 – today – and property taxes weren't on the agenda.
Republican legislators noticed. One texted a reporter: "LOL at no mention of property tax reform."
Senate Appropriations Chairman Ed Hooper has been even more blunt about why the Senate won't rush: "There's 67 totally different counties in this state, and a property tax issue that is great for one county could crush 31 poor counties."
That's a real problem.
Eliminating homestead property taxes would cost Florida's local governments $13.3 billion annually.
For small rural counties, that's not a budget cut – it's a collapse.
DeSantis floated the idea of the state subsidizing rural county losses, calling those counties' property tax collections "budget dust."
The incoming House Speaker Sam Garrison – also a Republican – said he opposes that approach.
So DeSantis doesn't have the language, doesn't have the votes, doesn't have the revenue solution for rural counties, and doesn't have the Senate.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2048075320834621903?s=20
But he does have a Fox News guarantee.
The Promise Republicans Will Be Held To
You have been writing that check every year while DeSantis went on Fox News and promised it would stop.
The political demand for relief is real – a Stetson University poll released last week found 77% of Florida voters would support homestead property tax elimination if it made the ballot.
That's a landslide sitting in the bank.
Nobody has gone to cash it.
Former Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes watched DeSantis operate up close and has a theory about why: "I think the strategy is not to give people a chance to evaluate this."
Time the Fox News hits for maximum political benefit during the primary season – not maximum policy achievement.
https://twitter.com/ReOpenChris/status/2047358563002032469?s=20
The House did the work.
Eighty votes to thirty.
The Senate sat on their hands.
DeSantis didn't support the House plan and didn't produce his own.
He leaves office in January.
The August deadline to get anything on the November ballot is closing fast.
And the guarantee he made to Fox News viewers Monday night – the one about your property tax bill going away – currently exists as six words from the governor himself: "working on how to structure that."
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Gov. DeSantis still doesn't have language, votes for 'revolutionary' property tax repeal plan," Florida Politics, April 27, 2026.
- Jesse Scheckner, "'Where's our proposal?': Daniel Perez frustrated with inaction on property taxes by Gov. DeSantis, Senate," Florida Politics, April 20, 2026.
- Mitch Perry, "Gov. DeSantis promises Special Session on property taxes, but when?" Florida Politics, April 17, 2026.
- "Florida property tax fight could trigger third special session in Tallahassee," WFLX/News Service of Florida, April 24, 2026.
- "Florida Property Tax Push Exposes Rift Between DeSantis and Lawmakers," Newsweek, April 24, 2026.
- "Rancor among Florida Republicans doomed property tax plan," Orlando Sentinel/Tribune Content Agency, March 14, 2026.
- "Stetson Poll: Republicans Lead in Florida 2026 Races," Stetson University Center for Public Opinion Research, April 2026.
