MIAMI, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- A sales tax holiday has been proposed in the Florida Legislature to encourage residents to prepare for the annual hurricane season.
The tax-break bill is sponsored by two south Florida Democrats and is modeled after the state's 6-year-old back-to-school shopping break, The Miami Herald said.
Rep. Ron Greenstein and Sen. Skip Campbell said it will give shoppers a financial incentive to prepare for the storms and give retailers a better warning of when the supplies will be in greatest demand.
"This is for all those people who waited in long lines for hurricane supplies only to have stores run out of what they needed just when the hurricanes were coming," Greenstein said.
The bill would exempt only items vital to getting a home ready for a major storm from the 6 percent sales tax.
The holiday would last from June 1-12 at the beginning of the hurricane season and include essentials such as plywood, home generators, flashlights, portable radios and batteries.
A record four hurricanes devastated parts of Florida last year.
