AVENTURA, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Thursday morning at a deli in Aventura, previewing the state’s upcoming back-to-school sales tax holiday.
“This is an opportunity to be able to save real money,” DeSantis said. “(It) will allow you to save money on the most important school supplies, including pretty much any school supplies selling for $50 or less is tax free. Clothing, footwear and other apparel $100 or less, tax free. Learning aids up to $30, tax free. Personal computers and other accessories with a sales price of $1,500 or less when purchased for non-commercial, home or personal use is tax free. So all of those things, if you’re doing it as a parent and particularly if you have more than one kid, that adds up very, very quickly. So I appreciate the legislature stepping up and renewing this, I think it’s important that we’re able to provide relief for Florida families, particularly given how things have gone up so much over the last three and a half years.”
Florida’s statewide sales tax holiday begins on Monday, July 29, and runs through Sunday, Aug. 11. Tax-free savings apply to both in-store and online orders on a variety of different items that students and parents need to be ready for the new school year.
To learn more about the holiday, the included items or to view frequently asked questions, visit the Florida Department of Revenue’s website or read our guide by clicking here.
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In answering questions from the crowd, DeSantis attacked what he called President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ silence toward Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared in a joint session of Congress on Wednesday to deliver a fiery address.
“You have the leader of one of our strongest allies for my whole lifetime speaking in front of Congress, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and yet Kamala can’t go there and greet him. How do you treat- it’s not a way to treat an ally. She had no interest,” DeSantis said.
Harris and Biden are scheduled to meet with Netanyahu on Thursday. In relation to protests Wednesday at Union Station in Washington, D.C., while Netanyahu was in Congress, Harris issued a statement Thursday to “condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the State of Israel and kill Jews.”
“I think the message is very clear. They are not friends of the State of Israel and they are not friends of the Jewish people. You would be out there blaring from the rafters against what Hamas did if you wanted to show leadership, yet they’re very silent. Why? Why? Why is Harris silent? Because she has to appeal to the ‘Hamas Caucus’ in her own party to be able to win election or at least she thinks that that’s the case, and I just think it’s disgraceful to be able to see that. I think it’s disgraceful that you wouldn’t recognize a strong ally,” DeSantis said.
Biden as president has signed off on billions of dollars in aid to Israel since the Oct. 7 attack and his administration has stood in alliance with the Middle Eastern country, all while efforts to toe the line in response to increasing societal condemnation of the nine-month war — so far leaving more than 39,000 Palestinians dead and about 120 hostages still in Gaza, with about a third of the latter believed to be dead in addition to the 1,200 killed Oct. 7 in Israel — have included decisions to freeze the delivery of certain bombs and of the U.S. abstaining from a UN Security Council vote in March calling for a cease-fire and the release of hostages.
DeSantis was joined at Mo’s Bagels and Deli by Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris.
Watch the news conference again in the video player below or by clicking here.
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