by Kathleen Haughney
The News Service of Florida
Florida’s universities wanted $100 million in state money
to jump - start new initiatives to pump up higher education, and in turn, they said, bolster Florida’s floundering economy.
Instead, they’re likely to get $10 million.
As Florida lawmakers began to parse the differences between the House and Senate budget proposals, some programs had to take a cut. Senate and House negotiators decided to gut the program from an initial appropriation of $50 million to $10 million.
It’s a far cry from what the universities initially wanted. At a January meeting of the Board of Governors, Chancellor Frank Brogan unveiled the new program, “New Florida,” and a $1.75 billion infusion of new state dollars into the university system budget over a five-year period. When Gov. Charlie Crist unveiled his budget, he proposed $100 million in funding.
But in a budget year with a more than $3 billion shortfall, new programs just weren’t going to get the money with lawmakers cutting existing state programs left and right. Lawmakers said they simply didn’t have the money for it.
Brogan said he’ll take what he can get. Given the past two years, he said he is happy with the overall budget outlook for the state university system, which will likely not include any major cuts. Though not the amount of money he originally envisioned, Brogan said it will still enable the universities to look at new programs or initiatives in science and math.
“In this economic environment, the statement that that makes is dramatic,” he said.
“It’s $10 million more than we would have gotten, and just staying flat is a win in this climate. Everything is getting slashed,” said University of North Florida President John Delaney.
“I always viewed this as a multi-year issue. The Legislature operates like a pendulum. You just have to wait for it to swing your way. It is swinging our way,” he said.
The New Florida program unveiled by the board is aimed at creating a more knowledge-based economy, so that the state does not have to rely on tourism and agriculture. The initiative is specifically geared toward churning out additional science and math degrees.
“Those are the largest producers of economic development.” Brogan said.
By 2015, the university system wants to boost degree production by 25,000 and bring in an additional $500 million annually in research funding. It also hopes to increase annual patent awards by 100 annually, boost annual new business startups by 10 and heighten annual licensing revenue by $20 million.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce and other business groups have been supportive of the program, pushing the idea that a revitalized education system is the key to rebuilding the economy. The Chamber and the Council of 100, a pro-business public policy advocacy group, released a report in early January with wide ranging recommendations for the education system from voluntary pre-kindergarten to higher education.
For the university system, the report proposed doubling the funding for the higher education system and raising the standards for the popular Bright Futures scholarship program. The Senate has approved more difficult standards for Bright Futures, but the House has not. That issue will be worked out through the conference process as well.