Legislative Session Update – Week Three and Four
The Senate and House Appropriations Committees have approved their budgets for state universities. The Senate budget provides $41.6M for the University of Florida, up 5% percent over last year. The House budget is approximately the same as last year. We are very pleased not to face additional budget cuts in this difficult year.
Those committees have increased the amount of funding for building construction and maintenance as well as infrastructure. The amount provided to our building at Medical City in Orlando is $20 million in the Senate budget. This is UF’s highest legislative priority for this session, and we are hopeful the House of Representatives will agree to that amount. The academic/research building will be located next to the Sanford-Burnham Institute and will enable close collaboration between Burnham scientists and our faculty. Research will focus on pharmaceuticals, obesity and aging. The College of Pharmacy will offer courses there, as well.
The House and Senate are considering budget cuts impacting state employees, including in some instances university faculty and staff. The House has proposed a 3 percent salary cut, but allows universities to decide whether to cut salaries or reduce other university operations. A Senate committee has reduced retirement benefits for all state employees. The University of Florida opposes actions that make it more difficult to compete with our peer institutions in other states for employees.
The Senate Higher Education Committee this week approved a bill that directs the Board of Governors to work with the University of Florida on a strategic plan that recognizes our differences from the other state universities and gives UF more freedom to pursue a global agenda. This legislation now moves to the Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee.
A House committee has adopted a principle of providing the same level of funding to all medical school students, regardless of the university he or she attends. The committee also acknowledged that the amount of state funding necessary to support a medical student for one year is $55,000. Due to budget constraints, the House did not provide the $9.4M this is required to implement this provision. It is helpful to have that policy in place for the future. The Senate has not adopted this policy.
The legislature is considering a bill that would allow patients to collect much higher medical malpractice damages from universities. Presently, the sovereign immunity cap on damages is $100,000. In this case, the legislature is considering a bill that would preempt the cap and allow the patient to collect [as much as] $23 million in damages – an amount based on the ability of the insurance company to pay, rather than the merits of the case. The legislation would make it very difficult – if not impossible – for the Self-Insurance Program to get insurance for UF’s faculty practice.
A House committee has passed a bill to allow Duval County to place on the ballot a tax to help support indigent care at Shands Hospital in Jacksonville. The tax would have to be approved by a majority of the voters in order to be collected. This bill is necessary because the hospital cannot continue to operate if it has to cover the cost of this care.
Legislative Session Update – Week Two
The House and Senate appropriations committees this week announced their funding levels for the state’s university system. This is very early in the session, and more details about the University of Florida’s budget will be forthcoming in the next few weeks. But we do know that both the House and the Senate anticipate a 15% tuition increase. When taking into account the additional tuition revenues and state funding, the Senate budget shows a 3 percent increase for higher education, while the House budget is about even with the 2009-10 appropriation.
Neither the Senate nor the House provide the additional funding needed by the UF College of Medicine, which is supported at a lower level than medical schools at the state’s other public universities. One of the UF priorities is to increase our state support and make sure all medical school students are funded equitably by the state.
The House proposed budget contains a cut in compensation and/or retirement benefits for state employees, including the faculty and staff at UF. At this time this type of reduction is not included in the Senate bill. Last year, President Machen was successful in exempting university employees from a proposed pay cut because he feels it is important to maintain salaries in order to be competitive with other leading public universities.
The Senate Higher Education Appropriations committee discussed changes to Bright Futures scholarships during week two due to the increasing cost of the program and the budget challenges facing the state. A UF priority is the formation of a Bright Futures Blue Ribbon Commission that would study the program and make recommendations next year to the legislature on how to continue to keep the Bright Futures program viable.
In 2009, Senate President Jeff Atwater created the Senate Select Committee on Florida’s Inland Waters to take testimony from Floridians on any and all water issues. The result is a report that includes a list of issues of concern identified by the participants and a list of recommendations from the joint committee. UF’s Water Institute was recognized for its state, national and global reputation, and its dedication to science by being included in the final report. One of the 12 recommendations submitted by the committee is to use existing state water institutes and councils, such as the University of Florida’s Water Institute, to provide recommendations to address water issues based on the best available science to the Legislature .
Thank you for your support,
Gators for Higher Education
Melissa A. Orth
Director, Government Relations
Office of the Vice President for University Relations
University of Florida
PO Box 113157 / 111 Tigert Hall
Gainesville, FL 32611-3157
352.392.4574 Ph / 352.846.3124 Fax
Gators for Higher Education http://gatorsforhighered.ufl.edu/
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