Volume 23, Number 1

Happy New Year!  The start of a fresh year brings yet another legislative session. With the 2015 Legislative Session ending abruptly in May, only to reconvene in June to complete the annual budget plan, which segued into two special sessions and interim committee meetings in the fall, legislative season never really ended. Now, for complicated reasons, the legislature will convene the regular 60-day 2016 Legislative Session tomorrow. The good news is that it will (hopefully!) conclude on March 11th.

Revenue projections for fiscal year 2016-17 show a $1.34 billion surplus over last year, some of which is in non-recurring revenue.  Current Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) revenue projections, released last week, show a decrease in available funding for educational facilities construction and fixed capital outlay needs for the education sectors, including the State University System (SUS).

Governor Scott released his nearly $79 billion budget recommendations to the legislature in late November. He recommends $50 million in new performance funds for the SUS and requires universities to provide $50 million from base funding. He also recommends $50 million for the SUS PECO needs to expand STEM facilities only. The Board of Governors (BOG) PECO recommendations total $80 million for the system. These of course are just recommendations. Only the legislature is authorized to appropriate state funds.

Florida State University’s 2016 Legislative Priorities are set and posted. The highlights include a $10 million increase in preeminence funding and a boost in recurring SUS performance dollars by an additional 100 million. Funding to complete the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science (EOAS) building and a $6.6 million increase to the College of Engineering budget, which was recommended by the Governor, are also among our top priorities. (See related story) To view the priorities document, please go to Advocateforfloridastate.fsu.edu.

At the start of the session today, state legislators have filed 1,469 bills. The FSU Governmental Relations office is tracking over 319 of them, a number that is sure increase. Bills being watched include those pertaining to guns on campus, legislation that codifies the BOG performance metrics, a proposal to amend the preeminence statute and initiatives to promote college affordability. For an overview of these and other proposals, please see the Spotlight on Bills section of this newsletter.

Advocacy efforts are continuing. Our 42-member Seminole Caucus, chaired by Senator Bill Montford, will convene again on January 20th to discuss the university priorities and strategize on how to achieve our goals for the session. 

If you have not yet registered with the Advocate for Florida State website, which provides legislative updates and alerts, along with a simplified way to contact your legislators, please do so now at advocateforfloridastate.fsu.edu (see related story). Your voice is important.

Keep up with all of the legislative proceedings through live and taped coverage of the session on The Florida Channel (local cable channel 4). 

As always, please feel free to contact me at kdaly@fsu.edu or at (850) 644-4453 with questions and concerns, or for copies of bills and their analysis. 

FSU Day at the Capitol

The annual salute to Florida State’s significant contributions to our state will take place on Tuesday, February 2, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.

FSU Day at the Capitol has become one of the most popular traditions during the legislative session, and provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase our University’s programs and accomplishments to our friends in the legislature.

Through this event, Florida State is able to emphasize the University's long and proud heritage, and bring attention to the extraordinary achievements of our students, faculty and staff.

Preceding the day’s festivities, a “Seminole Evening” reception will be held on February 1, starting at 5:30 on the 22nd floor of the Capitol. This special event is sponsored by the FSU Student Government Association and all University supporters are welcome to attend.

As always, FSU Day at the Capitol will include informative displays, which will be positioned throughout the plaza level, second and third floor rotundas. Also featured will be University “celebrities” – administrators, legislative alumni and more – along with performances by the FSU pep band, cheerleaders and Flying High Circus. 

A special celebration of all things FSU will take place in the Capitol courtyard beginning at 11:30with refreshments available for all to enjoy.

If your department has not yet signed up to display your achievements, please contact Toni Moore in the FSU Governmental Relations office at tmoore@fsu.edu or 644-3847.

Mark your calendars now for this Garnet and Gold event on February 2!

2016 Legislative Priorities

Each year, Florida State University administrators identify legislative priorities that are vital to the operation of the university. Below are the top legislative priorities for 2016.

  • Increase preeminence funding by $10 million and boost the University’s performance funding
  • Augment funding for University facilities

Florida State projects that are priorities for augmented facilities funding include:

  • Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science (EOAS) Building, which has been partially funded for construction, is designed to create an environment where earth-science disciplines can interact in a collaborative and interdisciplinary manner. Request for construction phase: $35 million
  • College of Engineering  $6.6 million
  • Interdisciplinary Research and Commercialization Building  $36 million
  • College of Business $2.5 million (planning)
  • Stem Teaching Lab $2.2 million
  • Reinstate the Courtelis Facilities Matching Gift Program -- In 2008, the legislature suspended payments to the Courtelis Matching program, and gifts that qualified for a match since then were placed on a priority list. In 2011, the program itself was suspended and, consequently, no gifts from that point forward qualified for a match. However, Florida State University still had more than $10.5 million in prior gifts waiting to be matched before Courtelis was suspended. These donations are critical to the construction of facilities and Florida State will request that this program be reinstated and the prior-gift backlog be fully funded.
  • College of Law Scholarship/Student Preparedness $1 million

The full 2016 Priorities document can be found through our Advocate for Florida State website – www.advocateforfloridastate.fsu.edu

Employee Guidelines for Legislative Session

The 2016 Session of the Florida Legislature begins tomorrow. Please note the following Florida State University policies:

  • Associate Vice President Kathleen Daly for Governmental Relations is the chief lobbyist for Florida State University.
  • No one on campus other than Ms. Daly and Ms. Laura Brock, College of Medicine, are authorized to lobby for Florida State University or the State University System.

However, the Legislature periodically requests faculty and/or staff to attend committee meetings or to formally respond to questions about certain issues.  FSU employees asked to appear before committee must notify Kathleen Daly at 644-4453and submit a legislative contact form prior to making an appearance.

The form can be found on the Governmental Relations website at http://govrel.fsu.edu/.  If you have trouble accessing this form please contact Governmental Relations at 644-4453 for a hard copy.

Nothing here is intended to discourage FSU employees from exercising their individual rights as citizens or as members of groups or organizations not affiliated with the University.  Such rights include the freedom to express their views on legislation, provided that the views are not presented as those of FSU, the SUS, or a subunit of these.

Let’s ‘rock the capitol’ during the 2016 legislative session

Making Florida State’s legislative priorities real during the 2016 session will require active input from university alumni and friends.

Our vision is solid, our needs are real and we absolutely must have the energetic support of the Florida State faithful to rock the capitol during the legislative session which begins tomorrow.  Proposed legislation is already moving and well underway, so we definitely need our alumni and supporters to engage with our priorities right now – and stay engaged throughout the year – if we’re going to achieve our legislative goals.

FSU has made supporters’ activism simple through its Advocate for Florida State website – www.advocateforfloridastate.fsu.edu  – where comprehensive information on the university’s legislative priorities is available to alumni and friends.

Plus when you register on the site, your email messages are automatically directed to the Florida legislative members who represent you.  We encourage you to go to the Advocate site and sign-up today.

Spotlight on Bills

CS SB 524 – State University System Performance-based Incentives, by Senator Don Gaetz (R – Destin), incorporates into the Florida Statutes on July 1, 2016, and modifies public postsecondary education performance funding and educator liability insurance program provisions affected by the 2015-2016 General Appropriations Act (GAA) and Implementing Bill by:

  • Requiring the Board of Governors (BOG) to adopt a regulation implementing the State University System (SUS) Performance-Based Incentive Program. The program must include wage thresholds that reflect the added value of a baccalaureate degree and minimum performance funding eligibility thresholds that, if not met, will make an institution ineligible for the state’s investment in performance funding.
  • Requiring the State Board of Education (SBE or state board) to establish, by rule, performance-based metrics for the Florida College System (FCS) and minimum performance funding eligibility thresholds that, if any FCS institution does not meet, will make the institution ineligible for a share of the state’s investment in performance funding. Likewise, any FCS institution that fails to meet the threshold for the institutional investment shall have a portion of its institutional investment withheld.
  • Eliminating the July 1, 2016, expiration date of the educator liability insurance program that provides a minimum of $2 million in liability coverage for all full-time public school instructional personnel.

The bill also amends the preeminent state research universities program, to require the BOG to designate each state university that meets at least six of the 12 academic and research excellence standards identified in law as an “emerging preeminent state research university.” The bill modifies the academic and research excellence standards of the preeminent state research universities program and establishes funding parameters for universities designated as “preeminent” or “emerging preeminent.”

The bill is now in the Appropriations Committee. The comparable bill in the House, HB 7043 by Representative Erik Frezen (R – Miami, FSU Alum) is now in the Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

HB 7019 – Postsecondary Access and Affordability by Representative Elizabeth Porter (R – Lake City, FSU Alum), promotes college affordability by:

  • Requiring public postsecondary institutions to publicly notice any proposal to increase tuition or fees at least 28 days prior to consideration by the board of trustees.
  • Eliminating the ability for state universities to seek approval from the Board of Governors (BOG) for an increase in the tuition differential fee.
  • Clarifying that preeminent universities may increase the tuition differential by no more than 6 percent only if they meet specific performance benchmarks established by the BOG.
  • Removing the requirement that seventy percent of revenues generated by the tuition differential fee be spent on undergraduate education.
  • Removing the authority for the BOG to delegate the establishment of tuition for graduate and professional programs and out-of-state fees to the university boards of trustees.
  • Requiring the SBE and the BOG to annually identify strategies and initiatives to promote college affordability (including the impact of tuition and fees, financial aid policies, and textbook costs) and submit an annual report to the Governor, Senate President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives.
  • Enhancing the current textbook affordability law to provide students with sufficient time and information to seek out the lowest available prices by:
  • Authorizing state universities and Florida College System institutions to create innovative price structures for instructional materials by incorporating the cost of integrated digital materials into the cost of specific courses.
  • Requiring public postsecondary institutions to conduct cost benefit analyses and report annually to chancellors on implementation of textbook affordability policies;
  • Requiring chancellors to summarize institutional reports and submit a summary to SBE and BOG respectively; and
  • Requiring public postsecondary institution boards of trustees to report, by semester, the cost variance among sections and length of time textbooks and other materials are in use for all general education courses.

The bill is now in the Education Committee.  The Senate companion, SB 984 by Senator John Legg (R – Lutz) is scheduled to be heard in the Higher Education Subcommittee this afternoon. 

HB 7019 – Career and Adult Education by Representative Jake Raburn (R – Valrico), establishes fees for applied technology diploma programs offered by public school districts commensurate with fees for college credit programs at Florida College System institutions. Additionally, the bill requires each school district and Florida College System institution that offers an adult education program to provide at least one online option that enables students to earn a standard high school diploma or its equivalent. The bill also allows a candidate to take the high school equivalency examination after reaching the age of 16 if a formal declaration of intent to terminate school enrollment is filed with the school district.  The bill is now in the Education Committee. A comparable bill in the Senate, SB 1060 by Senator John Legg (R – Lutz) is scheduled to be heard in the Higher Education Subcommittee this afternoon. 

HB 4001-- Licenses to Carry Concealed Weapons or Firearms by Representative Greg Steube (R – Sarasota), repeals s. 790.06(12)(a)13., F.S., to allow persons who have a valid concealed carry license to carry a concealed weapon or firearm into any college or university facility.  The bill has passed out of committee and is waiting to be heard by the full House.  The Senate companion, SB 68, by Senator Greg Evers (R – Pensacola) is now in the Judiciary Committee.

HB 4031 – Licenses to Carry Concealed Weapons or Firearms by Representative Bryan Avila (R – Hialeah), deletes provisions prohibiting concealed carry licensees from openly carrying handgun or carrying concealed weapon or firearm into specified public meetings or into career centers.  The bill is in the Criminal Justice Committee.  There is no Senate companion at this time.

Session Schedule

Senate Schedule
Tuesday, January 12, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Friday, January 15, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon

House Session
Tuesday, January 12, 9:30 a.m. until completion
Thursday, January 14, 4:00 p.m. until completion
Friday, January 15, 10:30 a.m. until completion

Joint Session
Tuesday, January 12, 11:00 a.m. until completion