Fla. groups at odds over meal tax

TALLAHASSEE Fla. Two hospitality industry associations have squared off over the suggested imposition of a 2-percent restaurant tax to help close the state’s $2 billion budget deficit.

Stuart Blumberg, president and chief executive of the Greater Miami & The Beaches Hotel Association, has proposed that the state levy a 2-percent tax on restaurants to ease the shortfall. His measure would exempt Miami-Dade County, the home of h