Updated Nov. 12, 2026, 11:17 a.m. ET
- Gov. Ron DeSantis wants a special session to implement the property tax-cutting Amendment 3 before he leaves office.
- Incoming Republican legislative leaders may prefer to wait until the new governor-elect is in office.
- The amendment is projected to cut billions in tax revenue from cities and counties, impacting local services.
With the property tax-cutting Amendment 3 poised to kick in four days before he leaves office, Gov. Ron DeSantis is in a hurry to shape what may be among the most lasting parts of his political legacy.
But fellow Republicans in the Legislature may not be ready to go along with him.
More than a week after DeSantis raised the idea of a special session before year’s end to approve legislation implementing the property tax plan and imposing new restrictions on the tax-and-fee-raising authority of local governments, the Legislature’s incoming leaders have said little.
Those close to House Speaker-designate Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, and incoming Senate President Jim Boyd, R-Bradenton, said the men want to wait to let Gov.-elect Byron Donalds play a role if an Amendment 3 special session occurs.
Garrison and Boyd will be confirmed as the Legislature’s new leaders during a post-election organization session in Tallahassee on Nov. 17. But Donalds won’t take office till Jan. 5 – the same day DeSantis departs.
When it comes to establishing the regulatory structure around Amendment 3, however, the two-term DeSantis wants to still be at the wheel.
“We want to make sure we land it in a good way,” DeSantis said the day after Election Day, when Florida voters approved the constitutional amendment with 62% of the vote.
Amendment may have helped GOP stave off big loss in Florida
DeSantis credited the amendment for helping turn out Republican voters and helping the GOP in Florida mostly stave off the so-called “blue tsunami” which resulted in his party sustaining massive losses in Congress, governors’ races, legislatures and state offices around the country.
Even though Republicans retained all of Florida’s statewide offices, Democrats regained a footing in the Florida House, cutting deeply into the GOP majority. Democrats are positioned to be a factor in any decisions involving property taxes going forward. The regular, two-month session of the Legislature begins in March.
“I don’t know if there’s a necessity to do anything immediately about it,” incoming House Democratic Leader Christine Hunschofsky of Parkland said about Amendment 3. “This is something that has to be done carefully and thoughtfully.”
After the organization session, there also will be new member training sessions, spanning a couple of days. And the first week of committee hearings is set to begin Nov. 30 at the Florida Capitol.
For his part, DeSantis said he’d let the leaders pick the dates for a special session to flesh out details surrounding the property tax cut. Such administrative questions as how permanent residency in Florida is determined, a matter key to the expanded tax break, may be among the issues yet to be sorted out.
DeSantis wants more clamps put on local governments
DeSantis also aired some controversial ideas.
The amendment will strip $5 billion in tax revenue next year from cities and counties and almost $12 billion by 2031, according to state economists. The five-year total hit is almost $46 billion less in property tax collections, threatening the finances and services provided in many Florida communities.
County governments and the state’s 100 largest cities are going to lose more than 20% of their tax collections over the next five years, raising questions about funding for public safety, parks, garbage pickup and plenty more.
But DeSantis also wants to put clamps on how governments can impose new taxes or fees to replace some of those dollars. The governor said he’s heard talk of governments trying to do an “end run around the amendment” and taxing homeowners in other ways.
“They said it’ll be tax shift. It’s not going to be a tax shift,” DeSantis said. “It’s going to be a reduction.”
Amendment 3 would boost the state’s homestead exemption on non-school property taxes from the current $50,000 to $150,000 in 2027 and then to $250,000 in 2028. A five-year Florida residency is required before homeowners qualify for the expanded exemption.
The amendment doesn’t affect 2026 tax bills. And even though the measure goes on the books January 1, Florida homeowners won’t see a lower property tax bill until November 2027, after counties go through their annual assessment process.
What’s the rush?
While DeSantis says lawmakers have to act on implementing legislation before the amendment becomes law Jan. 1, that’s not clear.
The state’s Amendment 4 in 2018 restoring the voting rights for many convicted felons was approved by 65% of Florida voters in November and took effect in January.
But accompanying legislation codifying the measure wasn’t signed by DeSantis until June 2019.
Moreover, the minimum wage increase approved by Florida voters in 2020 appears to have taken effect without implementing legislation.
Most of the parties involved in the decision-making on a special session didn’t return phone calls or emails about how they plan to proceed.
The only public commentary from the incoming leaders came just before Election Day, when they spoke with reporter Dara Kam of State Affairs Florida on her podcast.
“Personally, I believe that it can wait until we reconvene in January. I think the new administration ought to have a say in that, so we’ll play that by ear and see what develops and what we need to do,” Boyd said.
Garrison also seemed to put the idea of coming back soon to the Capitol for a special session on Amendment 3 on the back burner, paraphrasing a Jay-Z song.
As to “whether that involves special session (or) regular session? I mean, I got 99 problems right now, and that ain’t one,” he said.
John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@usatodayco.com, or on X at @JKennedyReport.
