G O V E R N M E N T A L R E L A T I O N S
G O V E R N M E N T A L R E L A T I O N SVolume 6, Number 5
March 31, 1997
Higher education and budget issues were the focus of the fourth week of the legislative session.
Both the House and the Senate released their preliminary budgets last week. Once again, the House budget is more favorable to the State University System, and to Florida State University, than is the Senate's. We are, however, still very early in the budget process.
Last week, Senator John Grant (R) from Tampa, an FSU Alumnus, introduced a bill that would limit future increases in the student Activity and Service fee, Health fee and Athletics fee. According to the bill, the Legislature will set a range determining how much each fee can increase. The bill will be heard this week in the Senate Education Committee. The Senate also voted out a tuition proposal last week. Instead of a ten percent across the board tuition increase, students would pay differing amounts for upper and lower level courses. Also, at this point in the session, it appears as though the technology fee is dead.
The State University Management Efficiency bills will be heard again this week, and the deadline to file amendments to the budget bills in the House and Senate is today.
This week we will hit the half way point of the session. If you need copies of bills and their analysis, or have questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact me a 644-4453 or by e-mail at kdaly@govrel.fsu.edu.
Kathleen Daly
March 31-April 4, 1997
HOUSE
Tuesday, April 1
8:30am-12:00pm
Wednesday, April 2
10:00am-12:00pm
Thursday, April 3
11:00am-2:00pm
SENATE
Thursday, April 3
9:00am-10:30am
2:00pm-4:30pm
This week is budget week in the Legislature. The House and Senate budget committees will be voting out their spending plans on Wednesday, April 2, 1997.
HOUSE BUDGET
Funding the State University System's highest priorities, including providing access to students and maximizing programs which match private funds, were the spending philosophies of the House. The budget highlights include:
SENATE BUDGET
Once again, the House and Senate budgets are very different, not only in dollar amounts, but spending philosophies as well. The Senate funded the following:
MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY
Representative Lee Constantine's bill, House Bill 755 represents several substantial policy shifts toward deregulating the State University System from other state agencies control. Some of those provisions include:
*Record Keeping Flexibility: Deletes the SUS reporting requirements for OPS employees, and modifies accountability to be consistent with Performance Based Program Budgeting.
*Purchasing Flexibility: Allows the SUS can to establish its own purchasing rule outside the Department of Management Services, and increases the threshold for the purchase of goods and equipment from $500,000 to $1,000,000.
*Presidential Authority: Authorizes university presidents to approve contracts and purchase goods and equipment, up to $1,000,000, subject to BOR rules; and adjust property records.
*Land Acquisition Efficiency: Permits the SUS to expedite with certain guidelines, the acquisition of land.
*Other Issues: The bill establishes National Hispanic Scholars, National Achievement Scholar finalist, and National Merit Scholars and finalists as residents for tuition purposes; and repeals obsolete rulemaking requirements.
HB 755 has moved to the House Committee on Finance and Taxation. Senate Bill 1414, which is similar to HB 755 passed the Senate Education Committee last week, and will be heard tomorrow in the Senate Government Operations Committee.
MINORITY TEACHER EDUCATION SCHOLARS PROGRAM
House Bill 1009, sponsored by Representative Luis Morse, passed the House Committee on Colleges and Universities last week unanimously. The bill creates a program to award scholarships to students and incentives to postsecondary education institutions for increasing the number of minority teachers in Florida public schools. The bill creates a new section of Florida Law. The funding decisions for the scholarship incentive program will be made in the Education Appropriations Committee as part of the annual appropriations process. HB1009 is now waiting to be heard in the House Education Appropriations Committee.
ADOPTED CHILDREN STUDENT FEES
Senator Tom Rossin is sponsoring Committee Substitute/Senate Bill 1084 which exempts children adopted from the Department of Children and Families from all undergraduate fees, including registration fees, matriculation fees, laboratory fees, fees associated with enroll ment in college-preparatory instruction, college-level communication and computation skills testing program fees in the State Community College System, the State University System, and other adult general education programs. CS/SB 1084 passed the Senate Education Committee as a Committee Sustitute and is now in the Senate Ways & Means Committee.
Florida State University
Governmental Relations
Kathleen Daly, Director
110 Westcott Building
Tallahassee, FL 32306
