California's top income tax rate is over 13%.
Florida's is zero.
And 143 million tourists explained why Ron DeSantis just handed every Florida family $1,900.
Tourists Are Paying Florida's Bills So Residents Don't Have To
The $134 billion those visitors pumped into Florida's economy last year didn't just fill hotel rooms and theme-park cash registers.
It paid for Florida's entire way of life.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2099505073437254111?s=20
VISIT FLORIDA ran the numbers and found that tourism saves every Florida household $1,900 a year in taxes they would otherwise owe.
No income tax.
No wealth tax.
No "millionaires' surcharge" dreamed up by bureaucrats in Sacramento.
Just 143 million visitors who showed up, spent their money, and went home.
DeSantis said it plainly at the Governor's Conference on Tourism in West Palm Beach: "We have a huge percentage of our sales tax that's not paid by Florida residents."
The Heritage Foundation called Florida the proof of concept every blue-state governor refuses to study – a conservative tax posture that attracts people, businesses, and investment while the left-wing model bleeds them dry.
The COVID Decision Democrats Still Won't Admit Was Right
While Gavin Newsom was padlocking California's beaches and torching his hospitality sector, DeSantis was on the phone with Dana White.
"I called him. I said, just do it in Florida," DeSantis said of the UFC president who was desperately trying to find somewhere – anywhere – to resume fights.
Jacksonville got the fights.
Florida got the momentum.
When the rest of the country was hiding, Florida was open – and tourists poured in from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia.
DeSantis called it "a convergence of the SEC on 30A."
Those weren't just beach days.
Those were $101.9 billion in tourism spending in 2021 alone – more than Florida had ever recorded in the pre-pandemic boom years of 2019.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2097834369779950005?s=20
The comparison with blue-state governance isn't subtle.
Las Vegas – where politicians govern like Democrats – saw international tourism crater in 2025 while Florida broke records for the second consecutive year.
The Balance Sheet No Democrat Governor Can Match
DeSantis didn't just get lucky with beaches and sunshine.
He built the conditions for this result through eight years of decisions that would make every blue-state governor break out in hives.
Four consecutive years of declining state spending.
The rainy-day fund sat at $1.5 billion when DeSantis took office in 2019 – it's now maxed out at its constitutional limit of $5 billion, and Florida holds AAA credit ratings from every major agency.
Florida has paid off more than half of every dollar of state debt accumulated since statehood, all ahead of schedule.
Total reserves now sit at $18 billion.
Meanwhile, California is burning through deficits, Illinois is drowning in pension debt, and New York is watching its tax base walk out the door.
Nearly $10 billion in Everglades restoration protected the waterways tourists and Floridians depend on – money that cycles back into the tourism economy that funds everything else.
Now Amendment 3 is on the table – what DeSantis described as potentially the largest property-tax cut in Florida history for homesteaded homeowners.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantis/status/2097836143731486913?s=20
The Heritage Foundation is watching blue states pursue wealth taxes and income-tax hikes in real time while Florida moves in the exact opposite direction.
When California residents and businesses flee to Florida by the hundreds of thousands, they aren't just chasing sunshine.
They're escaping a political class that treats every dollar in your pocket as a problem to be solved with a new tax.
One hundred forty-three million visitors already voted with their feet.
The only question is why every red-state governor isn't running this same play.
Sources:
- Governor Ron DeSantis, "Florida Tourism Generated $134 Billion as DeSantis Touts Record-Breaking Visitor Numbers," Fox 49, September 14, 2026.
- Governor Ron DeSantis Office, "Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Another Record-Breaking Year for Florida Tourism," flgov.com, February 20, 2026.
- Governor Ron DeSantis Office, "Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Florida Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget," flgov.com, June 29, 2026.
- VISIT FLORIDA, "Tourism in Florida Delivers $133.6 Billion in Economic Impact, Nearly $2,000 per Household in Tax Savings in 2024," flgov.com, November 25, 2025.
- Nicole Huyer, "Florida's Tax Strategy Sets a National Example," Heritage Foundation, May 29, 2026.
- VISIT FLORIDA Research FAQ, visitflorida.org, 2026.
