TALLAHASSEE, FL  -- Even though the state budget is at the printers at this very moment, Gov. Charlie Crist and a House and a Senate member think there could still be time to get a gas tax holiday through the House and Senate.

Crist said this morning he's still working members on the idea, and asked Rep. Nick Thompsn, R-Fort Myers, and Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey for their help persuading others.
Fasano said later he will offer a Senate amendment on a related bill, to provide a two-week holiday with a 10-cent cut in gas taxes, between July 1-14 to include the travel-heavy Independence Day holiday.

He has not talked to other Senate leadership about it, however.
But the revenue impact would be acceptable, he said, because the $50 million in taxes the state would forego would come from a reserve fund that has that much unspent money. "So there's no impact on, no money coming from, the budget they're printing today," he said.

Thompson said he supports the idea, and he's talking with other House members and leadership about it. But the timing is a problem in that chamber, he said, and having the budget already finished doesn't make it any easier.

But, he said, he and the governor's staff are still checking the logistics.  "I think it's a great idea," Fasano said. "My constituents are always asking what we can do about gas prices, and there's really not much the state can do. But we could at least do this much."